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Condo leaks - who is responsible?

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TonyLoco23

Junior Member
I own a condo unit in Florida.

About 4 months ago, a lady from the unit 2 floors below me knocked on my door to complain that water is dripping into her unit and she thinks that the leak is coming from my unit (no-one lives in the unit directly below me).

We noted that the hallway carpet had been a little damp right next to the wall where my bathroom is. And there is no similar damp spot on the floor of the unit above me, so it seems logical that the leak may be coming from my bathroom.

However there are no signs of any leaks within my unit itself. Furthermore, my neighbor suspects that the leak is actually coming from the unit above anyway because he says he can sometimes hear water rushing from within the walls.

We reported the issue to the janitor in the building and he came into my unit and looked at my bathroom. He did not see any leak but he told me he would do further investigations and get back to us. I did not hear from him again and the next time I saw the lady that had originally complained she told me that the dripping in her unit had stopped.

This afternoon however, I received a voicemail (at 2:23 pm) and when I got home there was also a letter taped to my door from management. It says that they have detected a leak coming from my unit and that I must hire a plumber immediately. If I do not hire a plumber immediately, they will have the janitor go into my unit and stop the leak at a charge of $65/hour. The letter ends by saying "If we do not hear from you by today or tomorrow morning, the janitor will proceed and charges will become effective immediately". Bear in mind that the management office closes at 3:30 pm, so they are really only giving me one morning to respond, on a weekday too!

This all seems a little sudden for a leak that was known to the janitor and the residents for about 6 months now. The management office was closed when I got home, but I did bump into the janitor in the lobby. He told me that he will be going into my place tomorrow and that he will be cutting a hole in the wall to try to figure out where the leak is coming from. If the leak is not coming from my unit then they won't be charging me, which is somewhat contradictory to what the management letter said.

So now I am a little confused, it seems from the tone of their letter that the minute the janitor goes to work in my unit, "charges will become effective", yet the janitor has verbally assured me that they wont charge me if they find that the leak is coming from elsewhere.

Should I request something in writing from management saying that they will not charge me if they find that the leak is not coming from my unit? Or should I request that they amend the letter to say that if I hire a plumber and the plumber finds that the leak is not coming from my unit, they will reimburse me the cost of the plumber?


:confused:
 
Last edited:


HomeGuru

Senior Member
I own a condo unit in Florida.

About 4 months ago, a lady from the unit 2 floors below me knocked on my door to complain that water is dripping into her unit and she thinks that the leak is coming from my unit (no-one lives in the unit directly below me).

We noted that the hallway carpet had been a little damp right next to the wall where my bathroom is. And there is no similar damp spot on the floor of the unit above me, so it seems logical that the leak may be coming from my bathroom.

However there are no signs of any leaks within my unit itself. Furthermore, my neighbor suspects that the leak is actually coming from the unit above anyway because he says he can sometimes hear water rushing from within the walls.

We reported the issue to the janitor in the building and he came into my unit and looked at my bathroom. He did not see any leak but he told me he would do further investigations and get back to us. I did not hear from him again and the next time I saw the lady that had originally complained she told me that the dripping in her unit had stopped.

This afternoon however, I received a voicemail (at 2:23 pm) and when I got home there was also a letter taped to my door from management. It says that they have detected a leak coming from my unit and that I must hire a plumber immediately. If I do not hire a plumber immediately, they will have the janitor go into my unit and stop the leak at a charge of $65/hour. The letter ends by saying "If we do not hear from you by today or tomorrow morning, the janitor will proceed and charges will become effective immediately". Bear in mind that the management office closes at 3:30 pm, so they are really only giving me one morning to respond, on a weekday too!

This all seems a little sudden for a leak that was known to the janitor and the residents for about 6 months now. The management office was closed when I got home, but I did bump into the janitor in the lobby. He told me that he will be going into my place tomorrow and that he will be cutting a hole in the wall to try to figure out where the leak is coming from. If the leak is not coming from my unit then they won't be charging me, which is somewhat contradictory to what the management letter said.

So now I am a little confused, it seems from the tone of their letter that the minute the janitor goes to work in my unit, "charges will become effective", yet the janitor has verbally assured me that they wont charge me if they find that the leak is coming from elsewhere.

Should I request something in writing from management saying that they will not charge me if they find that the leak is not coming from my unit? Or should I request that they amend the letter to say that if I hire a plumber and the plumber finds that the leak is not coming from my unit, they will reimburse me the cost of the plumber?


:confused:


**A: hire your own plumber.
 

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