D.M. from San Diego County, California writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
My HOA managed to convince enough homeowners to vote for a CC&R “update”. Our original CC&R’s stated that we own “The airspace between the interior unfinished surfaces of the walls”. Everything else was common area. The new CC&R’s now state that we have to repair the common area. Why do we have to fix common area that we do not own? How can they get away with this? Thank you
Mister Condo replies:
D.M., if you are referring to the airspace between the interior unfinished surfaces of the wall, which seems to be the common area in question, then whatever the modified CC&R’s state is what the unit owners are responsible for. I am not sure why the airspace behind the finished walls came into play in the first place. How can a condo owner reach that space without having to tear down their own sheetrock to get there? If the building had a leaky building envelope and some owners were experiencing mold issues, that really should have been an association issue. Be that as it may, unless the vote to modify the CC&Rs was held inappropriately, the new rule will likely stand. Good luck!