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Common Area Retaining Wall Failing Onto Condo Owner Property

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jdbjcp

Junior Member
Hi,

Last year (9 or so months ago) I approached the Association Board via email that the retaining wall that butts up against our property (backyard of the condo) was failing. Nothing has been done to date and the wall has gotten worse. Here are the facts, here are my questions:

1) retaining wall and slope above the wall are common property and are the responsibility of the Association
2) On my behalf, I hired an engineer to come look at the property and am awaiting a letter from him regarding his assessment and position on the matter. He did tell me this is a liability and needs to be fixed as this could potentially cave in and hurt someone on my property
3) I have an ornamental pond (association approved several years ago) that butts up against the retaining wall (several years old).
4) I received information that indicates the board wants to stick me with any costs connected to the retaining wall repair due to the fact that one construction company indicated that there may be difficulty in fixing it due to the pond (more cost). The people I've talked to would likely dig from behind the wall and therefore minimal damage would be caused to our yard.

Questions:
1) What is the responsibility of the board to handle this in a timely manner given the risk?
2) Do I have recourse if this takes a long time given that they haven't moved quickly and I fear my kids/our family/friends being near the wall should it fail while we're outside.....loss of use of parts of our yard for the time being
3) Should I be responsible for the costs associated with the rapair of the wall caused specifically by the fact that the pond butts up against the wall?
4) Should the Association be responsible for repairing the backyard (pond included) to like condition if there is damage caused due to the repair process (landscaping, trees, plants)?
5) Any next steps I should address?

Thanks for all the help.
 


John_DFW

Member
I hate to ask, but has anything come up that indicates the pond contributed to this issue?

I would send the engineers report the the building inspector and request an inspection of the retaining wall. The building inspector can require repairs to be made.
 

jdbjcp

Junior Member
Good question, the retaining wall is failing at another location and the way I constructed the pond, the engineer said it has probably helped that end of the wall from falling in as much as the other end where the failure started.
 

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