HOA and MOLD

[jthibodeau]

What is the name of your state? Georgia
I live in a high rise condo building. The HOA decided to repaint the common area hallways in the building. Upon the removal of the existing wallpaper, mold was discovered. Further investigation proved the existance of mold in the hallways on most of the floors. An Engineering consultant was hired and determined that the mold is a result of several factors: roof leaks around the flashing, lack of insulation in the HVAC stack and stairwell stack, lack of sealing in the Elevator shafts - air was being forced out of these shafts/stacks into the hallways where the air conditioner was not maintaining a humidity level sufficant to help prevent mold. The remediation and renovation costs have been estimated at $1.3 million. A special assesment is up for vote right now at an apporximate one time cost of about $3k per owner. The HOA does have mold insurance, but was denied a claim due to no one single contributing factor to the mold. The HOA board refused to look at other options to help spread out the cost to homeowners such as some type of bond. I'm still somewhat in shock and am not really sure that the board is proceding in the right direction, but to their credit, the mold situation is top priority. It appears to me that the causes of the mold are due to faulting construction or design and these issues could have been caught and fixed in a timely manner had there been periodic maintnance inspections of the HVAC stack, elevator shaft, and of the humidity levels. If this is true, it seems to me that either the builder or the HOA should be held liable for the $1.3 million. Is this true? I guess it is a mute point if the HOA is held liable because the homeowners will ultimatley have to fund any expenses for the HOA. Any ideas or suggestions?What is the name of your state?