condo neighbors' phone lines run thru closet

[neneri]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
Hi--I have a question regarding the following situation:

I recently have started construction to rehab my kitchen, tearing down a closet wall in the process, and discovered that phone lines to my upstairs neighbors' units (3 units per "stack") are located in a pipe running vertically through my closet (the bldg is 90 yr old and was converted into condos in 1980).

One upstairs neighbor is blaming me for a phone outage that has been resolved and a DLS disruption (not yet resolved).

Is this setup legal? And, is my neighbor obligated to re-route the wiring to the outside (or to a common area) directly to her unit? Why should her DSL go through my condo? What are my responsibilities here? Thanks!

 

[NC Aggie]

You may never get a clear answer on who's responsible or if these data lines have to be rerouted but I would start with your condo association if one is in place. I'm assuming when the conduit was originally installed in the building there was a single owner and when the building was converted to condos, they elected to use the existing conduits to feed phone/data lines to each unit or the developer responsible for the rehab installed new conduits in manner they felt was most efficient.

The question though is whether the closet is built into the wall or attached to the wall. Depending on the layout of the building, there really may not be any other feasible option to run these lines other than the adjoining walls of the units. So if this closet is built into the wall and you tore out the closet and damaged the contents within the wall, you may be responsible for damages. Many condo association require condo owners to submit plans for ANY remodeling work for this very reason. If there was a plan review process in place and you submitted your plans, then I would assume the liability for damages may fall back onto the association.