I had a leak in my apartment's plumbing into the unit below which happens to be owned by the condo board's president (CPB). I stopped the water flow immediately and the issue was resolved.
I told the CPB three times I would pay for his damages. The first time the morning of the incident, again via text, and another time in person when I ran into him in the hallway of our building.
Shortly thereafter I receive an aggressively written letter from the Condo's lawyer demanding:
1- I pay for his damages
2 - Provide Liability insurance of $1MM
3- I provide access to my unit for inspection (access to the units is written into the condo by laws)
I satisfied # 1 & #2 on the list.
The letter was full of false claims and exaggerations. They claim they made multiple requests to get access to my unit. With the exception of the request the morning of the incident there was no requests (no calls, no emails, no texts) until i received the letter. The letter described the leak as a flood that caused extensive damage. I do not know the claim amount, but it's greater than $1000 as that's the deductible. There was a drywall repair guy in there for about 3 hours. I could hear him cutting the sheetrock and then I could hear him patching. He must be the highest paid drywall repair guy. Waiting to see the claim.
I created a claim with my insurance and have agreed to pay the CBP for his damages.
The CBP's lawyer continues to demand access to my unit and says he will take file for access via the courts if I don't respond by Friday. He's moved this deadline twice as I haven't responded to his prior threats yet.
I do not want the condo board in my apartment because:
1. I am doing some minor renovations for which they will try to assess large fees. They will require their renovation fee, a fee for the building manager to coordinate deliveries, a fee for the architect and engineer to review the plans. We're talking about tiling, new toilets, vanity, paint. The leak was NOT caused by my renovations. Side note the building manager and the CBP manage other buildings together elsewhere so there is a potential conflict of interest.
Everything I am doing is LEGAL for a homeowner to do himself. I had a meeting with the Department of Buildings (DOB) and they verified every element of my renovation.
2. After I came forward and told my CBP I am willing to pay for his damages via my insurance, he still chose to have his lawyer write a nasty, confrontational letter to me. I am afraid if I let him or his architect in here, they could drum up fees for minor renovations or make requests to have other structural repair work done in my home at my expense. The CBP has lied before and I don't want to expose myself to potentially being extorted by him.
Can a civil court force me to allow entry?
Separately the CBP breaks many of the rules in the condo's by laws. He has also alters the rules to suit his own needs. An example - An adjacent unit owner was trying to sell his unit and the by laws were altered to say no open houses on Sunday's (NYC's biggest open house day). The adjacent unit also happens to be above the CBP's unit. Now the CBP is having open houses to rent one of his units on Sunday's. The seller of that unit could have lost a potential buyer.
I have a list of these offenses and might use them to get his lawyer to back off.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I told the CPB three times I would pay for his damages. The first time the morning of the incident, again via text, and another time in person when I ran into him in the hallway of our building.
Shortly thereafter I receive an aggressively written letter from the Condo's lawyer demanding:
1- I pay for his damages
2 - Provide Liability insurance of $1MM
3- I provide access to my unit for inspection (access to the units is written into the condo by laws)
I satisfied # 1 & #2 on the list.
The letter was full of false claims and exaggerations. They claim they made multiple requests to get access to my unit. With the exception of the request the morning of the incident there was no requests (no calls, no emails, no texts) until i received the letter. The letter described the leak as a flood that caused extensive damage. I do not know the claim amount, but it's greater than $1000 as that's the deductible. There was a drywall repair guy in there for about 3 hours. I could hear him cutting the sheetrock and then I could hear him patching. He must be the highest paid drywall repair guy. Waiting to see the claim.
I created a claim with my insurance and have agreed to pay the CBP for his damages.
The CBP's lawyer continues to demand access to my unit and says he will take file for access via the courts if I don't respond by Friday. He's moved this deadline twice as I haven't responded to his prior threats yet.
I do not want the condo board in my apartment because:
1. I am doing some minor renovations for which they will try to assess large fees. They will require their renovation fee, a fee for the building manager to coordinate deliveries, a fee for the architect and engineer to review the plans. We're talking about tiling, new toilets, vanity, paint. The leak was NOT caused by my renovations. Side note the building manager and the CBP manage other buildings together elsewhere so there is a potential conflict of interest.
Everything I am doing is LEGAL for a homeowner to do himself. I had a meeting with the Department of Buildings (DOB) and they verified every element of my renovation.
2. After I came forward and told my CBP I am willing to pay for his damages via my insurance, he still chose to have his lawyer write a nasty, confrontational letter to me. I am afraid if I let him or his architect in here, they could drum up fees for minor renovations or make requests to have other structural repair work done in my home at my expense. The CBP has lied before and I don't want to expose myself to potentially being extorted by him.
Can a civil court force me to allow entry?
Separately the CBP breaks many of the rules in the condo's by laws. He has also alters the rules to suit his own needs. An example - An adjacent unit owner was trying to sell his unit and the by laws were altered to say no open houses on Sunday's (NYC's biggest open house day). The adjacent unit also happens to be above the CBP's unit. Now the CBP is having open houses to rent one of his units on Sunday's. The seller of that unit could have lost a potential buyer.
I have a list of these offenses and might use them to get his lawyer to back off.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
