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Is an owner responsible for damages caused by former owner?

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festival

Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa

The former owner of condo drilled some holes in a window frame, which allowed water to seep in and cause damage. There were several former owners, and we don't know which one drilled the holes, but we don't think the current owner drilled the holes. The damage was only discovered six months after the new owner purchased the condo. The owners association does not want to pay for repairs, saying that it is the owner's fault and not the association. Who is responsible for paying for the repairs? Is a current owner responsible for the damages of a former owner?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa

The former owner of condo drilled some holes in a window frame, which allowed water to seep in and cause damage. There were several former owners, and we don't know which one drilled the holes, but we don't think the current owner drilled the holes. The damage was only discovered six months after the new owner purchased the condo. The owners association does not want to pay for repairs, saying that it is the owner's fault and not the association. Who is responsible for paying for the repairs? Is a current owner responsible for the damages of a former owner?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
Seems to me the current owner of the place is on the hook. Why wasn't this caught during inspections?
 

John_DFW

Member
Seems to me the current owner of the place is on the hook. Why wasn't this caught during inspections?
I agree the owner is responsible, with possible exception if the previous owner failed to disclose a known issue.

If it took the owner 6 months to spot, unlikely an inspection would have noticed it. There is a limit to what is done in inspections, and some are better than others.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I agree the owner is responsible, with possible exception if the previous owner failed to disclose a known issue.
What known issue? The one that nobody has any idea about prior to the current owner? The one that was never a problem before the owner acquired the unit?

In any case, the HOA isn't responsible.
 
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Iowa

The former owner of condo drilled some holes in a window frame, which allowed water to seep in and cause damage. There were several former owners, and we don't know which one drilled the holes, but we don't think the current owner drilled the holes. The damage was only discovered six months after the new owner purchased the condo. The owners association does not want to pay for repairs, saying that it is the owner's fault and not the association. Who is responsible for paying for the repairs? Is a current owner responsible for the damages of a former owner?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
What repairs you talking about? Repairs to what? Cost of what? Good ? that you can answer?
 

justalayman

Senior Member
the current owner is responsible for maintenance and repair to his condo. Suggesting any other party is responsible for whatever damages you are referring to is the same as finding a shoddily repaired pipe under the sink that leaked and damaged the cabinet. When a person owns something, they can tear it up if they want to. It's theirs.


As long as there is no problem with damage that should have been disclosed that wasn't, then this is for the current owner to fix.
 

John_DFW

Member
What known issue? The one that nobody has any idea about prior to the current owner? The one that was never a problem before the owner acquired the unit?

In any case, the HOA isn't responsible.

You missed the if and possible part of my statement.

That and the OP would have to prove that the previous owner knew about the issue and failed to disclose it. Things sellers don't know about they obviously can't disclose.


Owner should fix the issue and call it done in my opinion.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
You missed the if and possible part of my statement.

That and the OP would have to prove that the previous owner knew about the issue and failed to disclose it. Things sellers don't know about they obviously can't disclose.


Owner should fix the issue and call it done in my opinion.
I was actually reinforcing what you said.
 

festival

Member
To clarify, the damage that was caused is damage to the common elements that are normally maintained and repaired by the owners association. Normally the owners association pays for repairs to this area. The holes were concealed under the window's screen, so nobody saw them, and this allowed water to get in, which damaged the outer wall. In this case the owners association thinks the that the owner should pay (reimburse) the association for repairs.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
5. "General common elements", unless otherwise provided in
the declaration or lawful amendments thereto, means and includes:
a. The land on which the building is erected.
b. The foundations, basements, floors, exterior walls of each
apartment and of the building, ceilings and roofs, halls, lobbies,
stairways, and entrances and exits or communication ways, elevators,
garbage incinerators and in general all devices or installations
existing for common use.
6. "Limited common elements" means and includes those common
elements which are specified in or determined under the declaration
to be reserved for the use of one or more apartments to the exclusion
of the other apartments, such as special corridors, stairways and
elevators, sanitary services common to the apartments of a particular
floor, and the like.
the holes were hidden by the screen? there are often holes in a screen frame put there by the manufacturer to allow water that gathers in the lower channel to drain?



there are often drain holes in the frame below the screen as well. You can have a buildup of water on the stool of the window which can eventually build up enough to run back onto the outer sill where it will eventually run down into the wall if there is no provisions to allow drainage.

just to be certain, you aren't mistaking any such intentional drainage holes as what you see, correct?

so, where did these holes lead from and to? What is actually damaged and how was it discovered?
 

festival

Member
The holes are clearly drilled through the aluminum of the window frame, definitely not part of the original window, and none of the other windows have them. The holes were for a window-mounted air conditioner, which is long gone and the screen returned to the window. The holes definitely allow water to flow into the wall. The siding is damaged below this point, and there is mold in the wall. The wall is an exterior wall, which is a common element in our Declaration. So the only question is whether the current owner has to pay for damage that was caused by the previous owner.
 

justalayman

Senior Member
tough call, for me anyway. Do not take this with any authority as this is more of a gut reaction than anything.



I believe the COA is liable for the repairs, at least to anything hidden or exterior due to their responsibility for common elements. The interior is likely going to be yours.

I would think the COA has records (or they should) of an installation of an AC unit in a window. At that point, it was their responsibility to determine whether it was installed in such a way it would cause damage to the common elements. Their failure to investigate such a situation is the ultimate cause for the damage. I doubt they would have any recourse against the owner of the time.
 

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