Water damage in condo

[SmallLandlord]

What is the name of your state? Florida

My dad is very sick. In the last few days, a situation regarding his condo has kept me on my toes.

The condo below has hired her handyman to renovate the apartment fully so that she can move in.

In her front bathroom, the ceiling was damp. Therefore, she contracted me to handle the cause. Supposedly the water was coming from the toilet. So I got a plumber, and they replaced the seal ring under the front toilet. That gave peace for a while. But only for a very short time.

She was also desperate to have the damage to her ceiling ($500 USD) replaced and paid for by us.

Anyway, her handyman contacted me yesterday that more water was coming. He offered to see for himself if he could find the reason and fix it.

Yesterday he called me again to please come immediately and see the reason for myself. So I went again.

He had opened the wall behind which the downpipe (I think that's what it's called) is. This pipe was iron and only rudimentary. Already with the short touching, further pieces of the pipe fell off. He also replaced that one, which was over 800$.

That must also have been the real reason for the water damage to their ceiling.

Long story short:

Would this not fall under common property in the HOA?

And what about the $500 for her ceiling?

Thanks!

 

[adjusterjack]

Would this not fall under common property in the HOA?

You're going to have to read the CC&Rs to answer that question. As a property claim rep I've adjusted hundreds of condo water damage claims and there are no standards for CC&Rs. They have to be read individually and evaluated in accordance with their own terms.

Generally, however (and I'm not going to fall on my sword if I'm wrong), if it's an interior wall it belongs to the unit. If it's an exterior wall, well, it depends on the CC&Rs.

And what about the $500 for her ceiling?

The good news is that, in the absence of negligence, the upstairs unit owner has no liability for the downstairs damage.

The bad news is that the downstairs person is blaming the upstairs person and demanding money. That's called a "liability claim."

When you have knowledge of a "liability claim" the unit-owner's insurance policy requires that the claim be reported to the insurance company so that the company's claim rep can handle the demands of the downstairs person.

If you don't report it you risk losing the insurance and being out in the cold for non-compliance. That could be quite costly if the damage demand escalates and results in a lawsuit, as I have seen many of them do.

 

[SmallLandlord]

Thank you!