R.M. from Outside of Connecticut writes:
Dear Mister Condo,
In September, my balcony railing was replaced. I have been paying for the railing for the past 3 years with 2 more years to go. My problem is that the railing was not installed properly. I put a level on it, and the railing is not level at all. Plus, numerous balcony tiles were broken. I have tried dealing with the management company, even sending them a letter and pictures. Numerous phone calls, but no replies. What are my rights? Do I stop paying the assessment for the next 2 years, until they resolve my problem? Thanking you in advance.
Mister Condo replies:
R.M., I am sorry that you have received some shoddy workmanship on your railing replacement. You may have remedies available you but not paying your assessments is not one of them. If you do withhold payment, your association will likely take expensive collections actions against you that will cost you more money. Withholding assessments is ALWAYS a bad idea. Instead of letters and pictures, find out when your Board is next meeting. Attend the meeting and ask to be heard for 2 minutes. Present your letters and pictures at that time and alert the Board to the shabby workmanship. I am guessing that you were not alone in having your railing replaced. Ideally, the Board will have the Property Manager or a Board member come out and inspect the work and make a determination as to what, if anything, can be done. You didn’t hire the contractor; the Board did. The contractor did the work several years ago and likely considers this job closed. However, if there are enough defects or damage, the association may be able to have him come back and correct his mistakes or sue him. It really depends on the contract they signed with him. Either way, you need to continue to pay your assessments and let the Board deal with the poor workmanship. Please realize there may be nothing more that can be done and you will have an unlevel railing until it is time to have it replaced again. I hope that doesn’t happen but it might. Good luck!