Can my co-op association be held responsible for repairs made by one of the owners?

Question

A few years ago a new owner to our co-op association made an extensive remodel to his unit. This included some repaires to the common area (beams underneath the building) for which he never billed the association for. He did a good job.

Now he is selling his unit. Can he come back and charge us
for the repaires? The other owners never approved the work and he never approached us to approve it or to pay any expenses. Can he sue us?

wonderful answers..thank-you!
this guy just sold the unit for 2.7 million cash!

wonderful answers..thank-you!
this guy just sold the unit for 2.7 million cash!

Answer 1

This should be spelled out in the deed and ownership agreements, so that's the first place to look. If the owner can demonstrate that the work was done to correct critical safety problems, then you might in good will reimburse him. However, if the owner never attempted to collect and there is no evidence it was done to correct an imminent safety hazard, then the association should not pay.

That said, anyone can sue you for any reason. Chances are that this one will be thrown out of court, unless there is language in the deed/agreement that allows such reimbursement.

Answer 2

Even though you may own your unit ALL co-ops and strata's have strict guidelines and rules regarding what can be done within your unit. The co-op is not liable for the costs of any repairs to the common areas that are done without authorization and strata council approval. He actually broke the rules when he remodelled his unit without the associations approval. One reason for needing the associations approval is that because all the units are so close and look the same. They need to make sure all of them maintain their value. A remodelled unit may increase in it's value, say for example by $25,000 if the other units have not been updated the one that is $25,000 more will inflate the average selling price of all the units and because they are not renovated buyers will think the value does not reflect the property worth. Even if he did a good job there may be another problem... Beams underneath the building are probably structural and load bearing and must be passed by building inspectors and engineers. I would suggest you get the association to have them inspected and passed and then they can write a nice thank you card to the owner who did the work.. BUT he can't ask for any money that he spent.... because he did not get approval. PS if the beams fail etc.. The Co-op association will be held liable even if they did not know about the work.