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I own a co-op in Westchester county and a few years ago, my upstairs neighbor's toilet was leaking into my ceiling and caused damage to my ceiling/wall. When the super went to inspect he told me it appear the neighbor had done his own renovation and laid new tile on top of the old and reinstalled the toilet and it was uneven, poorly done. After hounding the property manager to get him to address the leak they sent him a letter telling him he had to remove the second layer of tile and have a plumber repair/reinstall the toilet. It took 3 months of me again hounding the property manager to follow up and finally when a plumber shows up to check he simply flushed the upstairs toilet 20 times and since no water leaked during this flushing the owner refused to pay for plumbing repairs and property manager allowed him to send plumber away without resolving issue. They never notified me the plumber was coming or I would have been home for the visit. The property manager then sent the super into my apartment a few days later, without notifying me beforehand, to replace the damaged drywall. Few weeks later I get nasty letter from property manager saying they repaired my ceiling even though it was a shareholder to shareholder issue they weren't required to do and in the future I should handle it directly with the shareholder above as they are not responsible. Well, it's now the future and my ceiling has new water damage. My upstairs neighbor is clearly a jerk who takes no responsibility for any damages he causes me or others and I will not deal with him any more. He has also caused 2 bedbug infestations in the last year because he would not pay for professional exterminator and the latest financial statement shows a $35,000 increase in exterminator fees due to 6+ months of weekly inspection, treatment for common areas, etc. Due to his refusal to exterminate. (Property manager had to get health department to deem it unsanitary and slap notice on his front door to get him to let exterminator in).
If the property manager is aware that a shareholder is negligently causing water damage to another aren't they responsible to have that shareholder make necessary repairs? Should I contact my homeowner's insurance to repair my bathroom and let them go after his insurance? I really don't want to repair my bathroom yet until I know that there is a way to force the upstairs neighbor to make the necessary repairs. This is the 3rd time I need to replace this same section of wall due to this leak. Doesnt the warranty of habitability apply to co-op associations? My property manager is extremely nasty and basically claims they have no responsibility to address issues between shareholders.
This shareholder is a financial burden and giant PITA to everyone who lives here, doesn't the board have a responsibility to do something about him??
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Sorry for the lengthy post.
Probably the safest way of dealing with the upstairs neighbor you describe is to get your insurance carrier involved immediately. They've probably dealt this this kind of situation before and can advise you how to proceed.
As for the bedbugs, I think if you call 311 and lodge a complaint, they will send a Dept of Buildings or Board of Health inspector. If bedbugs are discovered, the agency will oversee the remediation. In this regard, the board has certain mandated responsibilities that the agency will enforce.
Good luck.
I had a water leak from an upstairs neighbor who let his defective toilet overflow, due to dementia. He was a renter with no insurance. But I contacted my insurance company immediately. They were wonderful. They promptly sent an adjuster, then the contractor I selected, cleaned and dried out the apartment...footed the bill for a hotel room, even paying for meals and damaged possessions. Offered several repair options..
Westchester doesn't have 311, wish we did, it is an outstanding system.
I had it worse, board/managing company was informed of fire hazard in a owners apartment multiple times. Every time i saw his adjacent apartment neighbor we would talk about when we would get burnt out, then at 315am it happened, it has been over a year and the building is still not rebuilt , all apartments involved, 60 apartments displaced. Most Homeowners insurance policy's only cover 1 year of relocation payments, something for coop owners to look into, since rebuilding an apartment building requires a lot of permits , and in this area, it will not be accomplished in a year.
Perhaps the entire confrontation would not have occurred if our # 1selling Basement Watchdog Water Alarms to instantly detect water leaks was behind the toilet?
Why not email jerry@glentronics.com to learn our purchasing programs?
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If your board/managing agent refuses to address this matter I would contact your insurance company. This can also cause mold. Unlike our co op our neighbor has broken her toilet 2xs leaked down to the neighbor and guess who picked up her bill? Yes we all did, why she is part of the favorites. She refuses to get a handicap toilet and hits it with her wheelchair. So we have to pay and she gets off free and clear. When you call your insurance company they will advise you what can be done. Best of Luck
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