If you broke it, you’re on the hook for repairs

Q: The tub in my condo flooded and my kitchen and the public hallway were damaged. I do not have insurance. My association wants me to pay for the repairs. Do I have to? — Alina

Q: I replaced the shutters on my condo with impact windows. Am I responsible for fixing the holes on the exterior? — Trish

A: If your actions cause damage to another person or business, you are responsible. While your condominium association is responsible for repairing and maintaining the common areas, it is allowed to seek reimbursement if someone purposefully or negligently caused the damage.

This idea does not just apply to condos; it is consistent throughout the law. If you drive over your neighbor’s mailbox, leave your tools out and someone trips, or are texting and bump into another car, you can be held responsible and be asked to pay for the damage you caused.

If you purposefully caused the damage, like the reader leaving holes in the exterior of her unit, you will need to pay for the repair. If you do not, the association will hire someone to do it, and the bill will probably be higher than if you hired the contractor. It is always easier to spend someone else’s money.

The analysis can be more complicated when the damage was not intentional. A flood can be caused by many reasons. If the tub overfilled because you left it on and forgot about it when the phone rang, you can count on footing the bill. If it flooded because a pipe burst that should have been maintained by the building, you may be off the hook. Sometimes bad things happen, and there is no one to blame.

You should talk with your association about the damage and try to come to a compromise that you both can live with. See if they can get their insurance involved and offer to split the deductible, or find a competent contractor that is more reasonably priced than the one your community wants to use.

I cannot recommend strongly enough that you should get insurance even if you live in a condo. While no one likes to pay insurance premiums, it is much harder to pay for accidental damage or write a big check to a lawyer because your unnoticed leaked ruined the apartment below you and they decided to take you to court.

Board-certified real estate lawyer Gary M. Singer writes about industry legal matters and the housing market at SunSentinel.com/real-estate each week. To ask him a question, email him at gary@garysingerlaw.com, or go to SunSentinel.com/askpro.

Gary Singer