W.W. from outside of Connecticut writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
I live in a 4-unit condo, where the unit owners are the 4 trustees. We are dysfunctional and have hired a Property Manager to do our bookkeeping and such. The Property Manager has recommended several maintenance issues be addressed since he was hired in 2013, but since 1 condo has >25% beneficiary interest and at least 75% beneficiary interest is needed to make repairs, we cannot make any maintenance repairs on the (historic) building. The deed and bylaws are generic and since the market where I live is going up, none of the repairs adversely affect the value of the property but are sorely needed to maintain the property and its safety (railings on steps, repairing loose brickwork, repointing the exterior brick; cleaning the gutters so the rain doesn’t rot out the window sills; replacing the roof). What do we do?
Mister Condo replies:
W.W., small condos like yours face problems like this far too often. The governing documents have placed the other three owners, including yourself, at the mercy of a single unit owner. Short of buying the recalcitrant unit owner out of the building, you can’t do anything. You say the market is good. Sounds like a good time to sell and buy into a building where all of these modification and maintenance items have been addressed. Unless this hold-out is heading out, nothing is likely to change. Good luck!