Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I recently bought a cond as is and discovered that water damage had caused the ceiling of my bathroom to cave-in and a portion of the wall is also affected.My plumber after cutting open my bathroom ceiling discovered that the damage is as a result of water leakage from the bathtub drainage pipes of the unit directly above mine. The owner of the unit is refusing to cooperate with fixing the problem. HOA is not responsible since it only takes care of things in the common areas. How can I handle this problem with the uncooperating unit owner? My bathroom ceiling is still opened and I cannot re-do it until after the leakage problem in the unit above is fixed.Due to this problem, I am unable to bring my unit to a move in condition.
Peter
2 Answers from Attorneys
You either resolve the problems and repair costs among yourselves, with or without the aid of attorneys, or you file suit to do so. IF it is under $7500 you can use small claims court. If the amounts in question are over that and justify hiring counsel, and you're serious about pursuing this, feel free to contact me.
You should contact your insurance company. If you do not have insurance, you can consider filing a claim with the HOA's insurance company --in my opinion the space between the units is common area. Finally, have an attorney draft a letter to your neighbor to get his/her attention.
Regards,
Bryan
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