I’m on the board of a small condominium. The tenant in one apartment installed a new lock two years ago resulting in the exposure of an unattractive, unpainted section of the apartment door. The tenant had initially agreed to take care of re-painting the door but hasn’t done so. Our by-laws stipulate that doors are part of the common area and owners are responsible for repairing any damage to their portion of the common area.

I’d now like to contact the owner (whom I realize I should have initially contacted) and mandate that they pay for re-painting the door. One board member disagrees that the owner should have to take any action. Among other reasons, this member believes that requiring the owner to re-paint the door would result in some level of tension, or quarreling, among neighbors. Having owned a couple of properties before this one I am used to disagreements among owners and do not see this as a reason to (further) delay a needed repair.

My fellow board member is also concerned that because the board had agreed to institute painting throughout the building, finances permitting, in about two years time, we should just wait. But I’d rather that the owner address the issue now. We are a small building and in the past have delayed painting and upgrades to the building given other, more urgently needed repairs (furnace, roof, etc.).

In reviewing owners' emails I came across this note from 2017: “Good thing we're re-doing the interiors soon.” We have never re-done the interior.

I’d be interested in any comments or suggestions you may have. Thanks.