Additional Information:

I own a townhouse in MA. It is a complex of about 200 units with many children residents. I received a letter in the mail from the Condo Board stating that repairs needed to be made to a stone wall structure and I was being assessed half of the repair costs because ‘reports’ were made that ‘someone’ from my unit was seen damaging this wall. Before this letter, I was never notified of any damage or wrong doing. Can they legally force me to pay for these repairs even though I did no such damage?

ATTORNEY ANSWER:

Unitowners may be assessed for damages to common areas caused by such unitowners but there needs to be proofs and an opportunity to dispute the claims and for the evidence to be reviewed.  The unitowner might want to have their own estimate from a qualified contractor to fix damaged property. This due process right is sometimes expressly stated in the underlying condominium documents but is implied in the good faith and fair dealing that must happen for unitowners to believe in the fairness of the fines and penalties.  If not, tension escalates and lawsuits could follow that needlessly make a situation more difficult.  While people often disagree on facts and conclusions in a dispute, there must be a fair process to make the administration of condominium life manageable.

The Boston metro lawyers at Goldman & Pease specialize in business law, real estate law, condo law, civil litigation, and estate planning and serve the greater Boston metro region including Alston, Arlington, Belmont, Brighton, Brookline, Cambridge, Canton, Dedham, Dover, Milton, Natick, Needham, Newton, Norwood, Waltham, Watertown, Wayland, Wellesley, Weston, West Roxbury, Westwood, and all of Massachusetts.