Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Well, first of all, I think there's a practical question as to whether mounting a defense is practical under the circumstances. Defending could be expensive, and I'd say based on limited facts that your chances of winning aren't a whole lot greater than 50%. Is the HOA's claim in the $500 area, or $5,000, or maybe $50,000? Toward the low end of this range, I'd be kind of inclined to say pay rather than struggle.

However, getting to the question of what the vague term means, and how it would be interpreted in court, I think my first suggestion would be to determine whether the water heater was within warranty. Some better-quality water heaters are sold with ten-year warranties, although six year warranties are also common. If your heater was in warranty, this raises two possibilities: (a) that it wasn't old and worn out, at least as far as you could tell; and (b) maybe you have a claim under the warranty (but not too likely).

Another thing you might want to inquire into is what the static water pressure delivered to your condo is.......is it unusually high? Then, maybe a plumbing expert could calculate the dynamic pressure surge that caused this failure. Nevertheless, I'm quite uncertain where all this would lead in terms of successfully defending a lawsuit based on failure to maintain the water heater in "first class" condition. The HOA attorney will argue that "first class" means a condition such that it will withstand high dynamic water pressure, and the failure is proof per se that you failed to maintain it properly.

Finally, do you have interim service records to show what maintenance you did, or had done? Something like plumber bills for periodic flushing, or the like? That would help.

Hot water heaters have relief valves. I find it hard to believe that your hot water heater was maintained if it burst, instead of the relief valve lifting and allowing water into the overflow system. Maybe the judge won't know anything about hot water heaters.