mold in my condo

[fineego]

What is the name of your state? New York
I own a condo in Manhattan, due to an exterior wall water line leak, I have mold in my apartment. Luckily this was found prior to my starting an apartment renovation. I am planning to move out because of the renovation, but does the building have any responsibility beyond repairing the exterior and interior walls and floors? I'm thinking they would be responsible for some of the moving and rental costs incurred. Even if I wasn't doing a renovation anyway, I would still have to move out during the remediation as I would be concerned for health reasons as well as losing the use of the kitchen. I am wondering what my rights are. I am hesitant to get a lawyer involved as I love this building and plan to stay here so I don't want there to be any animosity with the board, but on the other hand I don't want to be a pushover and not get what I am intitled to(if anything).
Thanks for your help.

[You Are Guilty]

Originally Posted by fineego

What is the name of your state? New York
I own a condo in Manhattan, due to an exterior wall water line leak, I have mold in my apartment. Luckily this was found prior to my starting an apartment renovation. I am planning to move out because of the renovation, but does the building have any responsibility beyond repairing the exterior and interior walls and floors? I'm thinking they would be responsible for some of the moving and rental costs incurred. Even if I wasn't doing a renovation anyway, I would still have to move out during the remediation as I would be concerned for health reasons as well as losing the use of the kitchen. I am wondering what my rights are. I am hesitant to get a lawyer involved as I love this building and plan to stay here so I don't want there to be any animosity with the board, but on the other hand I don't want to be a pushover and not get what I am intitled to(if anything).
Thanks for your help.

If your building is like every other condo in NYC, the board will ignore you if you do not have a lawyer. (Frankly, they'll probably ignore your lawyer too, until you file a lawsuit). Given that you were renovating anyway, their liability is likely limited, but at a minimum, if you can establish that the water line was in a common area and not a part of your unit, the Board should bear some of the remediation costs.

Of course, if their insurance doesn't cover it (i.e. costs are less than the deductible, or coverage is disclaimed for any number of reasons), you can probably expect an assessment to follow shortly thereafter, so one way or another, in the end, you usually end up paying for it yourself

See if you can find a real estate lawyer who offers a free consult. If not, call the Bar Association for a referral - it's like $50 for a half-hour consult.