3
O P I N I O N
H ave you or any of your friends owned a condominium? If so, you have probably heard frequent complaints about the homeowners’ association, their fumbles with managing the building, or, even worse, a lawsuit they have filed about construction defects and the difficulties they’ve had addressing the claim. The condo conundrum Does the specter or a 9 1/2-year lawsuit deter you from the HOA market? Try adding a 20-year maintenance clause to protect your firm.
Ed Friedrichs
lawsuit was filed against us after a subsequent 9 1/2 years. Everyone – contractors, subs, suppliers, and, of course, us – were sued nearly 20 years after construction. We all threw money into a kitty to make it go away, despite the fact that most of the problems were due to faulty maintenance by the HOA. With a little investigation, we found a “While I was working as an architect, I strongly resisted accepting commissions to do condominium buildings, largely based on the number of lawsuits filed against architectural firms.”
While I was working as an architect, I strongly resisted accepting commissions to do condominium buildings, largely based on the number of lawsuits filed against architectural firms. Typically, 9 1/2 years after the certificate of occupancy was issued, and six months before the statute of limitations had run out, the architect, contractors, and others involved were sued by HOAs. In some areas, this pattern was rampant. For example, in San Diego County alone, 100 percent of condominium HOAs had filed such suits. I’ve pondered this HOA conundrum for years, especially after having had to pay the price once or twice. We had one project that particularly annoyed us, since it was initially built as an apartment building and converted to condominiums nine years later. Sure enough, a
See ED FRIEDRICHS, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER October 23, 2017, ISSUE 1221
Made with FlippingBook Annual report