Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington
Home Owner's assesment
Our condo board has approved repairs to our building. The assesment is more than we can afford. We asked the Board for a 90 day extension on part of the assesment and were refused even though there is a large working capital balance. We have been threatened with a lien, collection, and penalties. The original estimate of the repairs was $20,000. It turned out to be $93,000. We were never informed about this difference until the work was 90% finished. 12 units, our portion is $7500. Also there were never multiple bids taken for the project. What are our rights if any? Thank you.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Home Owner's assesment
Under most state statutes, you are obligated to pay for assessments issued by the board of the condominium. Unfortunately, your rights are very limited.
Re: Home Owner's assesment
There are several questions about your query: What do the condo association by laws say about repairs and liens? Why did the assn refuse your request? Were the repairs emergency nature? Why did the board refuse to take from the capital fund? $7500 for your bldg doesn't sound terribly high? What else is going on? My experience with homeowner's assns says that problems are usually more political than legal, i.e., neighbor problems and management problems.
Read through the by laws and other corporate governance documents. What is the procedure for review? It's generally more expensive to fight the assn than to work it out. H/o assns have great latitude to manage the property. WA has fairly new h/o assn statute, RCW 64.38, which makes it easier for h/o assns to govern.
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