What To Do When the Sky Starts Falling

The last thing you want when you’re sitting on your terrace enjoying your view of the Chrysler Building is to have a chair land on your head. The resident of an condo tower with tiered terraces recently escaped this fate when two chairs and a large dining table fell from a terrace above, missing him but damaging his patio tiles as well as a neighbor’s glass railings and furniture. The condo board fixed the unit-owner’s broken tiles and told him which floor the items fell from, but hasn’t done anything beyond that. What can a person do to make sure the upstairs neighbors don’t let potentially deadly missiles sail off their terrace?

“Your condo’s board of managers needs to step up and take ownership of this situation,” attorney Eric D. Sherman, a partner at Pryor Cashman, tells the Ask Real Estate column in the New York Times. The condo board could adopt a house rule, limiting the size and weight of patio furniture, or requiring residents to anchor large objects to the floor, he adds. It could even impose fines for those who don’t comply. Such new rules would likely require a simple majority vote of board members, rather than a super-majority of all unit-owners. 

The unit-owner should write a letter to the board and the managing agent, explaining the events that transpired and expressing concerns that the board has not taken steps to prevent another incident. The neighbor whose railing was damaged should also sign the letter. 

The board might take a measured stance. Reluctant to police residents’ furniture, it may simply circulate a letter reminding residents to bring heavy objects inside ahead of storms. “The furniture is like your living room couch,” says attorney Phyllis Weisberg, managing partner at law practice at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads. “The board is not going to want to get involved.”