Unit Owner Wants Condo Manager to Repair Leaks

M.R. from outside of Connecticut writes:

Dear Mister Condo,

I’ve had a leak in my unit since February, 2016. Management Company says that they keep sending someone out to do the repairs but we are still getting water. They said it was the balcony above a couple of times and then it was the roof. They said they were going to pay for the repairs and even sent a guy out for an estimate. Now they say that it was the balcony above mine and they are not paying for it. My contractor came out last week to give me an estimate and he said that there are 2 cracks above my balcony door and water is still coming in. Sent pics to mgmt. co and asked if my guy can do the repairs. They are supposed to be sending someone out to look at it. I think they’re just stalling and the damage to my unit is getting worse. Who do I call and what can I do about it?

Mister Condo replies:

M.R., I am sorry that you have had water intrusion into your unit and that there has been no clear solution offered to repair the damage until now. Suffering with water intrusion for that amount of time must be intolerable. Regardless of the cause, stopping the water and repairing the damage done should have come first. Typically, your homeowner’s insurance would be the way you would get money (less your deductible) to handle the repair. You would have hired the repairman and the repairs would have been made. Your insurer may have then sought further remedy from either the association or the unit owner above. Your decision to put this repair on the management company may have made sense but at the time and they did tell you they would get involved so you had expectations that they would remedy the problem. As you have seen, they haven’t gotten the job done yet. My guess is that they were involving the Board and seeing if the cause of the leak was theirs or another unit owner. They may or may not be liable for the repair but that is largely irrelevant to you, the unit owner who suffered damage. At the end of the day, unit owners need to watch out for themselves. If you have water coming into your unit, call a repairman first and get the remedy underway as soon as possible. Determining the source and responsibility comes second. I hope it doesn’t happen again but if it does, I hope you will take care of the problem first and then seek recompense afterwards. Good luck!