From HOA Law Blog-Association Does Not Have to Stop Water Intrusion Into Condominium Units

Saw this interesting article from David Swedelson's Blog on an unpublished opinion/case law on water intrusion into a condo unit...

 

Association Does Not Have to Stop Water Intrusion Into Condominium Units

Calemine v. Jared Court Homeowners Association, Inc.
In an unpublished opinion, the California Court of Appeals, relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in Lamden, upheld a trial court ruling that a condominium association, acting in good faith and in the best interests of the community, can decide not to take action to stop water from intruding or leaking into a unit due to construction defects in common areas.
Jared Court, an 18 unit townhouse style condominium association located in Woodland Hills, California, is made up of four buildings and common area that includes a tennis court, swimming pool, concrete walkways, front patios and mature landscaping. The CC&Rs require that the Association "maintain the portion of the project not occupied by the units [the common area], in good, clean, attractive and sanitary order and repair."

Each unit in Jared Court has a similar townhouse style three-level design. The lowest level consists of a garage and a windowless "bonus room"; the second level contains an entry foyer, living room, family and dining room, kitchen and powder room; and the upper level has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
In 1982, shortly after the association was completed, unit owners became aware that water was leaking through the foundation and into the garage and bonus room areas. The association sued the developer/builder for construction defects and received a settlement of $335,000. Using the settlement funds, the association hired a contractor to repair and waterproof the interior of the below-grade surfaces of the garages and bonus rooms.
The repairs performed by that contractor were defective and did not resolve the water intrusion issues. The association sued that contractor in 1996 and settled that second generation defect case for $565,000. During the lawsuit, the association hired a consultant/expert who estimated that it would cost approximately $1,020,896 to repair the defects and stop the water intrusion; and that the repairs would involve extensive trenching and disruption to the common areas.

READ THE REST OF DAVID's ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE TO GO TO HOALAWBLOG

ICC ICC-ES Websites Back Up and Running

CODE COUNCIL NETWORKS UP AND RUNNING

The International Code Council has established new security safeguards to its networks, completing repairs which shut down access to ICC networks including website, staff email and telephones during the week of September 13. Access to Code Council staff and its website is fully operational as of today, September 21. The Code Council apologizes for the delays and inconvenience the shutdown created for its stakeholders. Any deadlines which expired during the shutdown have been extended one week from the original deadline, where feasible. Our internal review concluded that due to existing policies regarding protection of member and customer data, this information remained secure as we addressed the cause of the security breach to our networks. We will continue to focus on protecting the Code Council's networks and providing a safe, usable and convenient experience for users of our systems. Thank you for your support and your patience.

FRom Kronick Moskovitz Tiedemann & Girard's (KMTG) Blog; SB-800 "Defect" Claims

Passing On a Good Article from a law firm...

Lawyers Send Vague Construction Defect Notices in Attempt to Subvert SB 800’s Right of Repair

It seemed like such a simple concept. If there are any problems with your new home, you ask the homebuilder to fix the problems. If the builder makes the repair, the problem is solved and there’s no need to go to court. If the builder doesn’t fix the problems, you can go to court to force it to pay for the needed repairs.
That was the common sense idea behind the groundbreaking SB 800 construction defect litigation reform known as the "Right to Repair Law". But since its adoption in 2002, some of the lawyers who were cut out of the process by SB 800 began to devise ways to get back into the action. Instead of telling the builder what is specifically wrong with the home, these lawyers send builders vague and non-specific notices of general defects such as “soils/drainage problems,” “slab efflorescence/peeling/chafing,” structural/framing defects/deficiencies,” window condensation – multiple locations,” “heating/cooling deficiencies,” and “window leaks – multiple locations.”
Imagine the dilemma of the builder who is given this list of repairs. It can’t determine what the problem is or where it is located. How can it fix a defect that is not even described in the slightest detail? If homeowners can assert unknown and speculative claims, there can be no right to repair. The claim will almost certainly go to litigation instead.

READ THE WHOLE ARTICLE AT KPMG's Bpg by Clicking Here

ICC and ICC-ES Websites Down, Some one Hacked into "em

Notice to International Code Council Web Users Based on a security breach with the International Code Council website and with its web mail over the past weekend, the Code Council has shut down website and email access for the remainder of this week as it develops new safeguards. This action prevents staff access to email and to network telephones located in our four area offices. While no data has been compromised, the Code Council is taking extra steps to make sure its web and email capabilities are strengthened. Data regarding our customers, members and our staff is not accessible via our network and remains secure. Also, for this very reason, the Code Council's policy is to not retain credit card information thus avoiding any security threats. We expect that our systems will be operational no later than Monday, September 20. We apologize for the inconvenience this decision has caused our many members, customers and stakeholders. The many improvements we have made to our system in the past several months are intact and we will resume our plans to implement the next round of improvements once this issue is resolved. Any deadlines that would have been effective during this shut down will be extended by the time period of inaccessibility. Messages left on staff voicemail are accessible by staff. We will make every effort to return calls in a prompt manner. Several means of reaching the Code Council remain functional. Please check our temporary website at www.iccsafe.org for updates on this information. Current functional areas include: Charlotte Annual Conference and Final Action Hearings Registration Training and Education: click on ICC Campus Job Postings: click on ICC Job Listings The ICC Foundation Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to address this issue. Due to the security breach, this is unfortunately a one-way communication and we are unable to respond to replies to this email. We will keep you informed as best as possible via email, Twitter, and Facebook. The International Code Council

From Our Friends at Davis-Stirling-Moral Obligations

MORAL OBLIGATION

QUESTION: I’m President of a large condo association. The board found that bills were not paid to some vendors almost 10 years ago and the vendors have written the amounts off as bad debt. However, some board members want to go back and pay those old debts. We have had a large turnover in owners. Is it fair to ask those new owners to pay for this old debt?
ANSWER: Whether legally obligated or not, the association is morally obligated to pay the debt. To not pay for benefits received when the association has the ability to do so is in effect a theft of goods and services from those vendors.



Copyright
ADAMS KESSLER
Reprinted from
Davis-Stirling.com by Adams Kessler PLC

ICC-ES Revises Policy on 2009 Codes

ICC-ES Revises Policy on 2009 Codes

ICC-ES has changed its long-standing policy that required evaluation reports to comply with the newest edition of the International Codes beginning January 1 of the year following publication. Effective July 1, 2010, report holders will have the option to have their products evaluated under the 2006 or 2009 International Codes, or both. The change in policy is intended to give report holders and applicants more leeway to decide when to address the requirements of newer codes, a decision that is driven by their customers and the jurisdictions in which they sell.

As part of this process, evaluation reports on the ICC-ES website will be re-organized to better distinguish the code year on which the report is based.