G.G. from outside of Connecticut writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
Our condo roof is over 20 years old (I believe 23 years). Was already patched once when we first started getting water two weeks ago. With more rain it has begun to leak into the ceiling and wall in our kitchen/dining area (shared with a neighbor who currently isn’t having any water issues). The ceiling drywall was so saturated it began pouring into our unit through the seams of the drywall. We tore out the drywall. Damage appears to be very extensive. Our association doesn’t want to file a claim with their insurance. They called roofers (for the second time) to come patch the flat roof over the area. We called contractors for water damage out for an estimate. Who is going to pay for all of the damage? As of now it looks as though the wall behind our cabinets is damaged, cabinets are wet, and the subroof is also saturated and water is still pouring in. Since this wasn’t caused by a storm or anything we did as the unit owner, does that make the building/association liable?
Mister Condo replies:
G.G., I am sorry for your troubles. Water intrusion is a nasty, messy situation that requires professional help to remedy. Typically, your insurance would pay for the damage done to the interior of your unit. In fact, your insurer may be the ones who go after the Board to help pay for the damage, especially if it was caused by negligence to maintain. The Board is not under any obligation to submit an insurance claim. However, that does not free them from the responsibility of repairing the roof (which they did) and the possible claim against them for the damage caused to your unit. My best advice to you is to work with your insurer to collect as much money as possible to cover your loss. You might also want to involve an attorney to see what other legal rights or claims you may have against the association. My guess is that this might take some time to remedy but you will get your damage repaired without too much more than your deductible as an out of pocket expense. Good luck!