New York's Cooperative and Condominium Community
Super is blaming my AC for flood in first floor apartment. In an ongoing series of harassment the latest is that my AC which is located in my 3rd floor apartment flooded the apartment on the first floor. I found this out when I opened up my e-mail and saw a note from the managing agent which had been sent 3 days prior.
“I have been informed that the malfunctioning of your air-conditioner has caused a leak through the living room wall of apartment 1D and caused water damage thereto. You are responsible for maintaining your air-conditioner and are liable for any damages caused by its malfunction. Please make all required repairs to your air conditioner to prevent any further leaks into apartment 1D.”
Since I do not open e-mail each day I was surprised that no one had contacted me and that the supposed condition was allowed to remain as is. I immediately went into action to remedy the situation and removed my 2 ACs because I could see that they were sprinkling and hitting the building with water. I can not call upon the super and I do not allow him access to my apartment because past experiences with him. I was able to remove the ACs by myself, but unable to put them back because they are huge and too heavy. I am a 55 y/o female and live alone so I had to get help from outside and it was a major nuisance for me. When I ran into the managing agent outside the building one morning shortly after this (day or 2) I discussed the matter with him. He informed me that the apartment had been flooded. When I hear this I was shocked and said that I did not believe my AC drip was enough to cause a flood. I then asked the managing agent who made the determination that the flood was caused by my AC and he informed me that it was the super. Since he is on a campaign to make my life miserable I was not surprised to hear this. Currently our building is leaking like a sieve, the roof needs to be replaced and extensive repair is needed on the facade of the building. The super has been here for 10 years and has many supporters in the building. I feel as though this is a witch hunt and that I have become public enemy # 1 because I complained about him.
We have also had some heavy thunderstorms and the person on the 1st floor does not even live in the building. What I think actually happened is she probably left the window open when she came for the annual board meeting and when she returned about a week later found her apartment was flooded. Rather than take responsibility for her own actions she called the MA to complain so that the building would have to cover the costs. When the super was called he made the determination based on his vendetta with me. This also creates another side job for him, so he can make some OTB on co-op time and have me foot the bill. He is slicker than oil.
I have insurance, but I have had this agent for over 20 years and happen to like him very much, so I am not going to allow them to peruse this avenue. They can try but they will not get one nickel. Still I am tired of the ongoing witch hunt and would like to have a little peace instead of the constant barrage of BS I deal with here. Any suggestions?
I am calling my agent today and informing him of the allegations. But I will not allow them to get away with making a fraudulent claim and I am sure that my agent is on my side. This co-op is run very inefficiently and ineffectively. This is the same managing agent who told me it was OK to hire the super to gut and renovate my bathroom as he has done for many others on co-op time. When I asked him who was responsible should something go wrong he said that I would be the responsible party. I was shocked to hear this because if they are allowing him to do this you would think that they would be confident enough to back up his work. I was leery because one of his renovations caused me to be without water for 3 days, in fact the renovation took place in the apartment that was recently flooded. The managing agent also told me that if something went wrong I could go through my insurance. This did not sound right and it is in fact not, why would my insurance cover damage caused by an unlicensed contractor? When I called the village they informed me that it not OK for the super to do any plumbing because he is not licensed in the village (or anywhere else for that matter). They also told me that he could do some electric work, but nothing major. This is the exact opposite of what one board member told me. In fact this board member told me that the super could do any and all plumbing, but no electrical work. I hired a licensed and insured contractor and paid the going rate for labor which was more then double what I would have been charged by the super. The bathroom came out great the contractor treated me with respect and I did not have any complications. But I do resent subsidizing renovations in other apartments that employ him because he does the work on co-op time.
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I'm not understanding why you wouldn't go through your insurance company, especially since you say you have a 20 year relationship with your agent. If the claim is "BS" as you put it, your insurance agent should have no problem denying it and asserting such in writing, which would only give more weight to your harassment claim against the super.
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