Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts
I own and reside singly in a condo in a 55-unit condominium. I have lived there for 8 years. Currently each unit pays for their own electricity. Water is included in the condo fee. This means that the water charges are budgeted and divided by the number of units. Admittedly some water is used for common areas: laundry, cleaning of common areas, landscaping. I have no issue with that being included as a common expense. Over past years the number of residents in condos has markedly increased. There are now units which have anywhere from 3 to 5+ occupants. Next year's budget (2016) for water is listed as 35,000 though I am figuring on 30,000 because of water for common areas. Dividing by 55 means that my share is 545.45. On my floor there are 11 units; there are 23 people living on my floor. (I am talking about my floor because it is the only one that I know the number of occupants.). If the cost were divided by the number of persons, my share would be 260.87. Actual numbers projected for water usage for 2015 come to 48,000. If I deduct 5000 for common areas that leaves 43,000. Those numbers would make numbers 781.82 (divided by 55) or 373.91 (divided by 23).
I will bring this up to the condo association. My question is whether I can independently install a sub-meter for my apartment. Even the Water & Sewer department has said that they feel the current billing system is unfair. I cannot afford to subsidize the water usage of those who use much more than I do.
I imagine that options for the Association would be sub-metering, dividing by number of persons, or a surcharge for units with more than 2 occupants. Do you have any other ideas? I would still like to know whether I could legally sub-meter myself and pay what I owe to the Association. I would prefer the kind of sub-meter which would allow remote monitoring.
2 Answers from Attorneys
You would need the permission of the Condo Association to install your own meter and you would need an approval to changing the allocation by the Condo Association and maybe to amend the Condo Documents.
I tend to doubt the Board can change the water and sewer charges without an amendment of the Condo Docs, but cannot be sure without reading them.
I agree with attorney Roth. You should not tamper with common property without an appropriate vote of the association. You may have enough support among other owners to push a change through. Good luck!
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