HOA Disputes – Common Area Failures Can Support Condo Damage Claims Against HOAs

Many of the cases our Los Angeles HOA Dispute Attorneys handle are condo damage cases brought after common areas fail and damage the homeowner’s unit.

Common areas (plumbing, electrical, waterproofing, roof, landscaping/irrigation) fail.  It’s simply a matter of fact.  Often times, deferred maintenance or an HOA’s failure to exercise reasonable care in maintaining common areas cause damage to a homeowner’s individual unit.  When the HOA refuses to make repairs, a homeowner can bring a civil action to seek the cost of repair.  Typically, negligence claims are appropriate in such circumstances.

Under California law, an HOA is charged with the duty to exercise due care in the maintenance of common areas and those areas under its control.  See Frances T. v. Village Green Owners Assn., (1986) 42 Cal. 3d 490, 499.  The Supreme Court of California held in Village Green that “a condominium association may properly be held to a landlord’s standard of care as to the common areas under its control.” Id. at 500.  Thus, a homeowner could sue their HOA for its negligent failure to maintain the common area resulting in damage to the homeowners individual’s unit.

In White v. Cox, (1971) 17 Cal.App.3d 824, the Court held that a condominium owner could sue the unincorporated association for negligently maintaining a sprinkler in a common area of the complex. In so holding, the court recognized that the plaintiff, a member of the unincorporated association, had no “effective control over the operation of the common areas … for in fact he had no more control over operations than he would have had as a stockholder in a corporation which owned and operated the project.” Id. at 830.  Since the condominium association was a management body over which the individual owner had no effective control, the court held that the association could be sued for negligence by an individual member.

If you are a homeowner subject to an HOA and your condo or townhouse has been damaged as a result of some common area failures, contact one of our HOA dispute or Condo Damage Attorneys in Los Angeles today for a free consultation and case evaluation.