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Dear Poles,
Last month, a huge tree fell on our one-story house. My apartment is damaged and there is a leak going into the attic of my apartment. The association has put a tarpaulin on the roof, but it is repeatedly removed. Every time this happens, I send an email to management. It’s currently hurricane season in Florida, and lately, we’ve had severe storms every day. I am concerned about mold and mildew growing in the attic. How long is it reasonable to wait for the association to fix the hole in the roof?
Signature, V.K
Dear VK
I’m sorry to hear about what happened to your apartment. At the very least, it appears that the condo is not waiving its responsibility to repair the roof damage that was caused by the insured event and is therefore clearly their responsibility under Florida State Section 718.111(11).
After all, the condominium has an obligation to repair the roof in a reasonable manner. It is difficult to say what caused the delay. If the association simply ignores the damage to your roof and doesn’t actually intend to repair it, it will end up being legally responsible for the damage to your unit, although it may take a lawsuit to enforce that liability. If instead the association is in the process of soliciting bids due to the size of the project; or if they hired a contractor who had to order parts that were delayed due to supply chain delays that everyone faces, that would be a different situation. But, in any case, the council is still obliged to properly dry your tarpaulin roof, and if they didn’t make sure the tarpaulin was installed correctly, this could be another example of their negligence, which could lead to liability.
Have you checked the attic to see if it is actually damp or if there is currently a mold problem? Might be worth a look (or if you can’t do it, hire a handyman to do it for you). This would at least give you some comfort that there is no active damage occurring, or if there is in fact active attic damage, it would instead prove that more aggressive action against your association is needed. Either way, it sounds like you need to get more information and push a little harder. You may want to consider sending a registered letter to the board of directors, asking them questions about whether they have hired someone to repair the roof, if so, what the timeline would be, if not, when they intend to hire someone, etc. d. At least then you’ll get formal answers (and if the board refuses to give you substantive answers to these questions as required by statute, and to the extent that later litigation ensues, they may be barred from recovering their legal fees).
Dear Poles,
Our apartment board had a signed contract for roofing work. In this contract, drawn up by an attorney, the insured assumed all risk and responsibility for all increases in materials and labor. Strahar signed and agreed to the terms.
Then the president decided, at the insurer’s request, to give the insurer more money to the association, and he signed a second contract written by the insurer, voiding the first contract.
The board did not vote in favor of this new contract, which gives the insurer $260,000.00 more. The president breached their fiduciary duty. Did he commit fraud?
Signature of A.N
Dear A.N.,
I’m not sure I would characterize the President’s actions as fraud, as it is unclear what his intentions were and what personal gain he received. He probably used bad judgment and his action was probably ultra vires (without proper legal authority) and so if the board wanted to be extremely aggressive, maybe he could be held personally liable for the contract.
After all, your board has complete control over the president and can remove him or her at will. Is this a board that usually allows their president to have full control of the association without their input and may have even delegated responsibility for this contract to him? Or is this a board where the president has truly become an unauthorized free agent and the board is ready to remove him as an officer and potentially take legal action against him? Ultimately, this is a matter for the board, perhaps with additional advice from the association’s attorney.
Ryan Poliakoff, partner at Backer Aboud Poliakoff & Foelster, LLP, is a board certified specialist in condominium and planned development law. This column is dedicated to the memory of Gary Polyakov, a pioneer of the community legal industry, tireless advocate, author of treatises, books and hundreds of articles. Ryan Polyakov and Gary Polyakov are co-authors of New Neighborhoods—The Consumer’s Guide to Condominiums, Co-Op and HOA Living. Send your questions to condocolumn@gmail.com. Don’t forget to include your location.
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