- Feb 7, 2011
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The saga of my super fucked plumbling issues (fucking long):
I own a condo. The building has 8 units, 4 units on the bottom floor and 4 on the top floor. I own a top floor unit.
On or around 4/10 one of my neighbors reported pooling water outside of the building to the property management company. I was not aware of the leak as it's on a side of the building that I don't normally walk past. The property management company had their landscapers conduct an investigation and determined that the pooling water was not an irrigation issue. The company has refused to acknowledge to me when this investigation took place or how long after they received the initial complaint.
After determining that the leak was not an irrigation issue the landscapers stated that the water may be coming from the unit below mine. The property management company did not hire plumbers to assess the leak, potential damage, or to determine the source of cause of the leak, despite the fact that the leak may have affected multiple units, or caused damage to the structure of the building. They did contact my downstairs neighbors and told them that it was their responsibility to hire their own plumber to deal with the leak.
On 4/23 my neighbors in unit called a handyman to come out and inspect the leak. He was unable to determine the cause of the leak due to bushes being in the way, but he contacted me and stated that he believed that the leak was coming from the water line that feeds my upstairs unit.
Either during the investigation by the landscapers or the investigation by the handyman the pressure regulator for my waterline was damaged causing the water pressure in my unit to significantly increase.
I contacted the water company and they were unable to confirm whether the leak was coming from my unit or whether my water usage had increased as they did not have up to date monitoring of my water usage. They sent out a technician to my unit who determined that there was a water leak somewhere in the main water line that runs from the street supplying my unit . This water line runs approximately 100 feet under concrete walkways from the street to the side of the building. I had the technician shut off the water to my property.
Per the association rules "upon notification of a water leak and depending on the nature and location of the leak, the association's manager may contact an association plumbing vendor to inspect and determine the source of the water and to assess the damage and necessary repairs" additionally the rules state "Absent written association authorization, owners are not permitted to conduct repairs to the common property."
I contacted the property management company to see if they could send out a plumber to determine the location of the water leak as the leak was occurring outside of my unit, somewhere in the common property of the community, which I did not have a legal right to dig up. The property management company refused to provide a plumber, denied any responsibility for repairs, but also denied me any written permission to effectuate repairs. The only thing they were willing to do was have the bushes removed.
As my water was shut off and I didn't have time to spend arguing with the property management company I contacted a plumbing company myself and had them complete repairs over 2 days. The repairs included fixing the leak, replacing old PVC pipe with copper pipe, and replacing the pressure regulator which had been damaged by either the landscapers or handyman.
One and a half weeks after the leak had been fixed by my plumbers the property management company sent out their own plumber to assess the leak. This was approximately one month after the leak had initially been reported to them. The plumber was confused as to why he had been sent out after the leak had already been fixed. He also stated that the bushes which had been growing above the water pipe could have damaged the pipe and and could have been the cause of the leak, in which case the property management company would have been responsible for repairs; however, he was unable to make any determination as the bushes has already been removed and the leak had already been fixed.
I believe that Total Property Management acted negligently in the following ways:
1. They did not notify anyone of the water leak in a timely manner, preventing timely repairs.
2. They did not have certified plumbers conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the water leak despite it potentially affecting multiple units.
3. They refused to help effectuate repairs.
4. They allowed unlicensed people to conduct investigations which lead to additional damage to my water line.
Due to the leak taking longer to repair than it should have my water bill for the month of April was triple my normal monthly payment, and due to the damage to my water pressure regulator by either the landscapers or handyman hired by my neighbors I ended up having to replace my pressure regulator as part of the repairs, which cost an additional $1,371.00.
I was fighting with the property management company, but then my HOA fired the company and starting June 1st we have a new company servicing the property. I guess I wasn't the only one that the property management company had pissed off. This means now I'm having to work with the new property management company to determine what responsibilities the HOA has with regards to reimbursing me, also working with my homeowners insurance to see if they'll reimburse me for repairs (unlikely because I have a walls-in policy and there wasn't any actual damage to my unit or my neighbors' units), and I may end up having to sue the old property management company in small claims court.
The silver lining in all this is that I have multiple friends who are Harvard educated lawyers who are willing to help me with my case against the property management company for shits and giggles.
In total repairs cost over $3500. Thankfully I don't live paycheck to paycheck so paying for it wasn't a huge deal, but I still want to be reimbursed.
I own a condo. The building has 8 units, 4 units on the bottom floor and 4 on the top floor. I own a top floor unit.
On or around 4/10 one of my neighbors reported pooling water outside of the building to the property management company. I was not aware of the leak as it's on a side of the building that I don't normally walk past. The property management company had their landscapers conduct an investigation and determined that the pooling water was not an irrigation issue. The company has refused to acknowledge to me when this investigation took place or how long after they received the initial complaint.
After determining that the leak was not an irrigation issue the landscapers stated that the water may be coming from the unit below mine. The property management company did not hire plumbers to assess the leak, potential damage, or to determine the source of cause of the leak, despite the fact that the leak may have affected multiple units, or caused damage to the structure of the building. They did contact my downstairs neighbors and told them that it was their responsibility to hire their own plumber to deal with the leak.
On 4/23 my neighbors in unit called a handyman to come out and inspect the leak. He was unable to determine the cause of the leak due to bushes being in the way, but he contacted me and stated that he believed that the leak was coming from the water line that feeds my upstairs unit.
Either during the investigation by the landscapers or the investigation by the handyman the pressure regulator for my waterline was damaged causing the water pressure in my unit to significantly increase.
I contacted the water company and they were unable to confirm whether the leak was coming from my unit or whether my water usage had increased as they did not have up to date monitoring of my water usage. They sent out a technician to my unit who determined that there was a water leak somewhere in the main water line that runs from the street supplying my unit . This water line runs approximately 100 feet under concrete walkways from the street to the side of the building. I had the technician shut off the water to my property.
Per the association rules "upon notification of a water leak and depending on the nature and location of the leak, the association's manager may contact an association plumbing vendor to inspect and determine the source of the water and to assess the damage and necessary repairs" additionally the rules state "Absent written association authorization, owners are not permitted to conduct repairs to the common property."
I contacted the property management company to see if they could send out a plumber to determine the location of the water leak as the leak was occurring outside of my unit, somewhere in the common property of the community, which I did not have a legal right to dig up. The property management company refused to provide a plumber, denied any responsibility for repairs, but also denied me any written permission to effectuate repairs. The only thing they were willing to do was have the bushes removed.
As my water was shut off and I didn't have time to spend arguing with the property management company I contacted a plumbing company myself and had them complete repairs over 2 days. The repairs included fixing the leak, replacing old PVC pipe with copper pipe, and replacing the pressure regulator which had been damaged by either the landscapers or handyman.
One and a half weeks after the leak had been fixed by my plumbers the property management company sent out their own plumber to assess the leak. This was approximately one month after the leak had initially been reported to them. The plumber was confused as to why he had been sent out after the leak had already been fixed. He also stated that the bushes which had been growing above the water pipe could have damaged the pipe and and could have been the cause of the leak, in which case the property management company would have been responsible for repairs; however, he was unable to make any determination as the bushes has already been removed and the leak had already been fixed.
I believe that Total Property Management acted negligently in the following ways:
1. They did not notify anyone of the water leak in a timely manner, preventing timely repairs.
2. They did not have certified plumbers conduct an investigation to determine the cause of the water leak despite it potentially affecting multiple units.
3. They refused to help effectuate repairs.
4. They allowed unlicensed people to conduct investigations which lead to additional damage to my water line.
Due to the leak taking longer to repair than it should have my water bill for the month of April was triple my normal monthly payment, and due to the damage to my water pressure regulator by either the landscapers or handyman hired by my neighbors I ended up having to replace my pressure regulator as part of the repairs, which cost an additional $1,371.00.
I was fighting with the property management company, but then my HOA fired the company and starting June 1st we have a new company servicing the property. I guess I wasn't the only one that the property management company had pissed off. This means now I'm having to work with the new property management company to determine what responsibilities the HOA has with regards to reimbursing me, also working with my homeowners insurance to see if they'll reimburse me for repairs (unlikely because I have a walls-in policy and there wasn't any actual damage to my unit or my neighbors' units), and I may end up having to sue the old property management company in small claims court.
The silver lining in all this is that I have multiple friends who are Harvard educated lawyers who are willing to help me with my case against the property management company for shits and giggles.
In total repairs cost over $3500. Thankfully I don't live paycheck to paycheck so paying for it wasn't a huge deal, but I still want to be reimbursed.
