Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California
We own a condo on the second floor, but have been living without heated water for 3+ weeks.
My mom replaced the water heater, thinking that it was broken. We paid $1K to get it replaced and paid for the labor -- however, the problem didn't stop. We continued to not have hot water.
We didn't know what the problem was and hired some plumbers to run some tests to locate if there was a potential leak in our hot water pipes. Finally, they were able to identify that there was indeed a leak somewhere, but it was not anywhere within our unit. It was coming from a leak in pipes underneath the condo BELOW us on the first floor, underneath THEIR floor.
In order to better assess the exact location and to fix this problem, we would need to break the downstairs units' concrete or hardwood to get to this leak.
Our HOA has not been much help at all. They continue to tell us that it's our problem because it relates to only our own unit, and we need to talk to our insurance company if we want to get it covered. Our insurance company won't cover it, if it is "wear and tear", but there's no way to tell if it's that or a "burst". Our HOA just gave us the information to a plumber who knows the floor plan and piping structure, to talk to and figure out how to get to this leak.
As you can imagine, this will altogether be very expensive to fix, not to mention that we've already spent money trying to diagnose the location of this leak and from purchasing a brand new water heater that wasn't necessary in the first place. I personally believe the liability is on the builders and the HOA, since this is a problem that will be affecting the unit downstairs (if we are breaking their floor to get to a pipe affecting us, obviously we would need to pay money to repair it back after we fix the leak).
I need some legal advice about this and know my rights regarding this kind of issue. Living without heated water for this long has been a huge frustration and we want to make sure we are compensated fairly from the liable party to cover this enormous cost. If the piping was created within our own unit, it would have been much easier and cheaper to repair.
Thank you for your help, I really appreciate it..
3 Answers from Attorneys
Remember that you are the HOA so you wil be paying the appropriate percentage of the cost of repair.
I do not see how the HOA can say that you have sole responsibility. Your investigation shows the problem is in a common pipe in an area outside your unit. In a condo situation, you are liable for problems within the inside of the outer walls of your unit. The pipe seems to be part of the shared property of at least all the units connected to that pipe; normally that type of problem is treated as being one of all the units in the HOA, but certailnly at least of the units served by the pipe. Logically, if the HOA is not liable because the problem as to you is the non-functioning of the pipe in your unit, then the below neighbor would also be responsible for the non-functioning of the pipe in his area and any damages proximately caused to others by that. If the defect is below their floor, then the owner of the area beneath their floor is at fault, which is the HOA. If you let your bathtub overflow and go into the units below, everyone would agree you are at fault; yet the HOA is arguing the opposite.
Your plumber can tell you the anticipated life expectancy of that type of piping; its failing before then is not "normal wear and tear" but rather caused by something else. The original builder, if it has been no more than 10 years since the construction, might be liable for putting in defective piping or not checking whether the pipes were under excessive strain or movement.
Your question is very confusing. How can your hot water problem be related to a pipe in another unit if each unit has its own hot water heater? No condo would ever be built with the hot water heater of one unit connected to hot water piping in another unit. Either there is central hot water, or the hot water from your in-unit hot water heater goes only to your unit. The only way a pipe outside your unit could affect hot water from an in-unit hot water heater in your unit would be if it was the water supply line to your unit, but if that was bad all your water would be affected, not just hot. In addition, if that was the case, when they installed the new heater they would have known that they were not getting water from the inlet pipe. So something is wrong with your understanding of the facts or you have been told something incorrect. I would be happy to try to help you sort this out, but I can't based on the information you have given. If you would like to email me or give me a call I can try to help walk you through figuring out what the true situation is and then assist you with your legal rights. I have over twenty years of construction law and litigation experience.
If the plumber believes that the piping plan is unnecessarily complex, then you may want a second opinion from an architect. If the original architect was negligent in designing such a plan, you may have a cause against him, Contact me directly.
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
