Water Damage

Who Will Pay for the Water Damage in my Florida Condo - From: https://www.floridacondoattorneys.com/water-damage-in-my-florida-condo/

If you have suffered water damage in your Florida condominium, it is important to understand your rights and obligations. Whether or not you will have any responsibility to pay for the resulting damage will depend primarily on its cause. Generally speaking, if the damage was caused by an "insurable event," meaning something unusual, unexpected and sudden, your condo association is responsible for repairing damage to the common elements (drywall, infrastructure) while you will be responsible for repairs inside your unit. Your homeowner's policy should cover such interior damage. However, if your condo association has been negligent - by, for example, ignoring a leaky pipe or failing to properly maintain a common element - then the association may be responsible for all damages. Different rules apply when the damage is caused by a neighboring unit. A Florida condo attorney can help you navigate the complexities of Florida Condo Law and the interplay between the law, the association's governing documents and insurance coverage, and your homeowner's policy.

The Condo Association Will Likely Be Responsible for the Common Elements

In general, your condo association should pay for water damage to the condominium's common elements as long as it was caused by an insurable event. The association's responsibility includes damaged ceilings and drywall, as well as damaged wiring behind the walls. This includes any resultant mold growth. That said, many condo insurance policies have very limited coverage for damage due to mold, and your association will likely try to minimize their responsibility for what may be a very expensive mold remediation process.

An experienced Florida condo attorney can help protect your interests as an owner. Florida condo and homeowners associations keep expensive local law firms on retainer so they are able to fight and delay your claims, while paying these law firms with your dues. We provide legal representation to the individual owner so you are not forced to deal with experienced property managers and association attorneys on your own.

You Will Be Responsible for the Finished Interior Surface

As a condo owner you will likely be responsible for repairs to the finished interior surface or the covering of the drywall. In other words, if your walls or ceiling sustain water or mold damage, the association must replace the drywall but you will likely be responsible for repainting or replacing wallpaper. You will also be responsible for repairing or replacing kitchen cabinets, floor coverings, personal property such as furniture within the unit, as well as:

• Electrical fixtures
• Appliances
• Water heaters
• Water filters
• Countertops
• Window treatments

Your homeowner's insurance should cover all damage not covered by the association's policy.

If the Association was Negligent It May Be Responsible for All Damages

If, for example, the association has been notified of a problem with a common element and ignored the problem, or failed to properly maintain the comment elements (such as the roof or exterior building walls), the association may be responsible for all damage, including interior damage to your unit, caused by the problem. On the other hand, if a condo owner is found to have violated a condo rule, resulting in water damage, the owner may be responsible for all damage (including damage to common elements).

A Neighboring Condo Owner May Be Responsible

When a neighbor's unit is the source of the water damage, the association may be responsible for common drywall repairs if the cause of the leak was not foreseeable, such as a burst water heater. However, if the owner of the neighboring unit failed to timely fix a known or foreseeable issue - such as accidentally leaving a faucet running, resulting in flooding of the unit below - the owner of the upstairs unit would be responsible for all portions of the condo property not covered by the association's insurance, as well as any damage to the unit below.

Be Aware of Possible Hidden Costs

The full extent of costs related to water and mold damage to your condo unit may not be apparent at first. Toxic mold can lead to serious health problems for the condo's occupants. To maximize your recovery for these related health costs, you should consult a Florida condo attorney.

It is important to understand your rights and responsibilities before signing an insurance settlement agreement. Without the advice of an experienced attorney, you may end up being short-changed by your condo association or your own insurance company.

We serve the legal needs of individual condominium owners, home owners and cooperative owners in resolving disputes with their associations throughout Florida, including Broward, Dade and Palm Beach Counties, as well as Miami, Naples, Brickell, Hollywood, Davie, Pembroke Pines, Hallandale, Sunny Isles, Aventura, North Miami, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach. We never represent the associations or their boards so we always know who we are fighting for.

How a Florida Condo Attorney Can Help You Maximize Your Recovery for Water Damage

If you have suffered water or mold damage to your Florida condominium, we welcome you to contact us at (954) 966-3909. Please note that free case evaluation is by telephone and does not include legal advice. Office consults with legal advice are available on a flat fee basis.

Condo Mold & Water Damage: Who is Responsible? - From: https://www.floridacondoattorneys.com/condo-mold-water-damage-who-is-responsible/

As a Condo Attorney that represents individual Condo Owners in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Naples and many cities throughout Florida, the question I get asked the most is:

• Who is responsible for mold contamination and water damage in my condominium?

First, one must identify the source of the water intrusion that caused the damage and ultimately led to the mold growth. More likely than not the water intrusion came from a common element like the roof, common plumbing lines or even from a crack in an outer wall. Another likely source could be from another condo unit, usually from above. This is especially common in South Florida cities like Fort Lauderdale, Aventura, South Beach, Miami and Naples where many of the condo owners live out of state and keep these Florida Condominiums for seasonal use like snowbirds or simply as a good real estate investment. The problem is that most of these units are not being monitored by their owners or the Condo Association. Another problem is moisture driven mold that usually comes from vacant units that are in foreclosure and are not running any type of air conditioning. The heat along with excessive moisture and humidity levels in these vacant units can affect your unit and you may not even know it until you start getting sick.

If the source of the water intrusion is from the Common Elements than the Association is responsible for the cause of the water intrusion. Many Condominium Boards will try and shift the blame for a failed roof repair or faulty plumbing line to the contractor that did the work. Unfortunately, individual condo owners are not aware that the Condo Association owes them a Non-Delegable Duty to maintain these Common Elements and they cannot shift the responsibility to a third party in this type of situation. This duty owed by the Association is contractual pursuant to the Declaration of Condominium and Statutory a set forth in the Florida Condominium Act in Section 718. While most individuals read Section 718.111 to require the Individual Condo Owner to insure the Unit from paint in and the Association to insure from the drywall out, there is a considerable amount of confusion as to who is really responsible in the event the water intrusion and/or mold contamination was caused by the failure to maintain a common element. Usually, if the mold or damage came from water that originated outside the unit, most insurance companies writing policies for individuals will deny the claim citing the source of the water intrusion as the reason for the denial. This leaves the individual with no alternative but to look to the Association. Moreover, even if the individual's carrier does cover the interior damage, the source of the water intrusion, i.e., leaky roof, faulty plumbing, etc., must first be repaired before doing any work to the interior.

In an earlier Article on this topic I cautioned Condo Owners to be careful when hiring companies to inspect and/or assess for mold damage:

• Prior to 2011 companies would come in to "assess" for mold and water damage, write up a huge estimate and then solicit you to hire them to do the repairs and mold remediation. This clearly presented a conflict of interests.

The Law now prohibits a mold assessor from also performing the mold remediation work to avoid this inherent conflict of interests. For many of these reasons, water damage and mold contamination cases can be difficult for owners to resolve on their own. Condo Associations have big Law Firms and trained Property Managers advising them on these matters and they use your money to pay for them. If you are tired of dealing with the matter on your own, you should seek out legal advice from an experienced Trial Attorney that represents individual Condo Owners.

The Law Offices of Herb M. Milgrim, P.A., is a Florida Law Firm that represents individual Condo Owners, Homeowners and Cooperative Owners that have disputes or are contemplating Litigation or a Lawsuit against their Association. We provide prospective clients with a *Free Case Evaluation. You can call us and tell us about your case to see if we can help you. Once we have been retained we review all of the relevant documents and governing Florida Laws and advise our clients on the best course of action. Call us now (954) 966-3909!

If you have water or mold damage in your condominium, townhouse or cooperative in Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Sunny Isles, Downtown Miami, Aventura, Davie, Dania Beach, Cooper City, Pembroke Pines, Tamarac, Coral Springs, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Naples or anywhere in Florida be sure to contact us for a free case evaluation.

* FREE CASE EVALUATION IS BY TELEPHONE AND DOES NOT INCLUDE LEGAL ADVICE. OFFICE CONSULTS WITH LEGAL ADVICE ARE AVAILABLE ON A FLAT FEE BASIS.

Mold and Water Damage and The Condo Association's Duty to Maintain Common Elements - From: https://www.floridacondoattorneys.com/condo-mold-water-damage-associations-duty-maintain-common-elements/

I am sitting here in my law office in Hollywood, near Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Aventura and the rain is pouring down. I figure with all the rain we are getting today it is probably a good day to make a visual inspection of my own home for signs of water intrusion. As a homeowner of a single-family home, I am the one ultimately responsible if water comes in through the roof or a crack in the foundation. Therefore it is important that I address my responsibilities. Unfortunately for many Florida condominium owners, Association Board Members and Property Management Companies charged with similar responsibilities are not as diligent.

As a Trial Attorney that helps individual condo owners, I get calls every day about various condo associations that have not maintained the common roof, walls, slab, or plumbing. In many of these cases, the Condo Board or Property Management tries to blame the problem on someone or something else or they simply try to ignore it altogether. In other cases they hire inexperienced, untrained workers to perform roof repairs and other work that should have been done by properly licensed and highly qualified experts in their field. In almost all of the cases, the individual condo owner has seen their condo unit severely damaged due to water intrusion resulting from the Condo Association's failure to maintain the common elements. In some of the more serious cases, the condo units have become uninhabitable due to the presence of toxic mold.

According to the Florida Department of Health, an increase in the levels of mold in the home can significantly increase the risk of potential health problems. The Florida Department of Health has come up with a guide for individuals to use in conducting their own inspection of their home:

• Look for visible mold growth (it may look cottony, velvety, rough, or leathery and have different colors like white, gray, brown, black, yellow, or green). Mold often appears as a staining or fuzzy growth on furniture or building materials (walls, ceilings, or anything made of wood or paper). Look for signs of moisture or water damage (water leaks, standing water, water stains, condensation, etc.).
• Check around air handling units (air conditioners, furnaces) for standing water. Routinely inspect the evaporator coils, liner surfaces, drain pans and drain lines.
• Search areas where you notice mold odors. If you can smell an earthy or musty odor, you may have a mold problem.
• If mold-allergic people have some of the symptoms listed above when in your home, you may have a mold problem.

If you decide to hire someone to come in to inspect or assess your condo unit for mold or water damage make sure that you hire a reputable company and check to see if they are properly licensed. Prior to 2011 companies would come in to "assess" for mold and water damage, write up a huge estimate and then solicit you to hire them to do the repairs and mold remediation. This clearly presented a conflict of interest. Now the law prohibits this type of practice. Under Florida Law a mold assessor means any person who performs or directly supervises a mold assessment. A mold remediator means any person who performs mold remediation. Mold remediation is the removal, cleaning, sanitizing, demolition, or other treatment, including preventive activities, of mold or mold-contaminated matter. According to Florida Statutes Section 468.8419 a person may not:

• (d) Perform or offer to perform any mold remediation to a structure on which the mold assessor or the mold assessor's company provided a mold assessment within the last 12 months. This paragraph does not apply to a certified contractor who is classified in s. 489.105(3) as a Division I contractor. However, the department may adopt rules requiring that, if such contractor performs the mold assessment and offers to perform the mold remediation, the contract for mold remediation provided to the homeowner discloses that he or she has the right to request competitive bids.

Many individual condo owners in Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County contact me to assist them in getting their Condo Board to take action. Usually the first thing that needs to be done is to get the Condo Association to hire properly licensed contractors to repair the source of the water intrusion in accordance with current building codes and acceptable industry standards. YOU CANNOT REPAIR THE INTERIOR OF THE UNIT OR REMEDIATE FOR MOLD UNTIL THE CONDITION CAUSING THE WATER INTRUSION IS FIRST REPAIRED. Many Condo Association Boards try to argue that the individual unit owner is responsible for the repairs to the interior of the unit and the contents that were damaged as a result of the Association's failure to maintain the common elements. While the Florida Statutes do require individual owners to provide insurance coverage for the interior of their unit that does not relieve the Association of its non-delegable duty to maintain the common elements. In fact, many claims that are submitted to the individual's insurance carrier are denied because the source of the water damage originated from outside of the Condo Unit.

If you are tired of dealing with the matter on your own, you should seek out legal advice from an experienced Trial Attorney that represents condo owners. Your Association keeps expensive Florida Law Firms on Retainer so they can fight and delay your claim, and they pay these expensive Law Firms with your money. You should not be forced to deal with trained Property Managers and Attorneys without having someone fighting for you in your corner?

The Law Offices of Herb M. Milgrim, P.A., is a Florida Law Firm that represents Condo Owners, Homeowners and Cooperative Owners that have disputes or are contemplating Litigation or a Lawsuit against their Association. We provide prospective clients with a *Free Case Evaluation. You can call us and tell us about your case to see if we can help you. Once we have been retained we review all of the relevant documents and governing Florida Laws and advise our clients on the best course of action. Call us now (954) 966-3909!

If you have water or mold damage in your condominium, townhouse or cooperative in Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Sunny Isles, Downtown Miami, Aventura, Davie, Dania Beach, Cooper City, Pembroke Pines, Tamarac, Coral Springs, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, or anywhere in Florida be sure to contact us for a free case evaluation.

* FREE CASE EVALUATION IS BY TELEPHONE AND DOES NOT INCLUDE LEGAL ADVICE. OFFICE CONSULTS WITH LEGAL ADVICE ARE AVAILABLE ON A FLAT FEE BASIS.