How to Deal With Construction Defects in a Newly Constructed Condo

Q: Unit-owners in a newly constructed Manhattan condo noticed extensiveness dampness in their new apartment. A sensor registered the humidity at 70%. The management company investigated, but the problem persists. The unit-owners installed a dehumidifier, but it needs to be emptied several times a day, an unsatisfactory fix. What's a unit-owner to do?

A: The management company is not the ultimate authority on fixing this problem, replies the Ask Real Estate column in The New York Times. Aggrieved unit-owners should approach the condominium board, which has a duty to act in the interest of all unit-owners. But keep in mind that if construction defects are in play, it could be the responsibility of the sponsor, the entity that offered the new condominiums for sale.

Step One: Check your governing documents to see who is responsible for repairing construction defects. The offering plan acts as a disclosure document, and the sponsor must fulfill its obligations as promised to purchasers, says Laura Mehl Sugarman, a partner at the law firm Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff. “For example," she says, "if the offering plan contains a disclosure that this building, or this unit, may experience high rates of humidity, that would make a claim against the sponsor more difficult."

Step Two: There's strength in numbers, so find out if your neighbors are having the same problem, and join forces. To further strengthen your case, check to see if there is dampness in the common areas.

The condominium board ultimately must address this issue or get the sponsor to act, says William Geller, counsel at the law firm Braverman Greenspun.

Step Three: Approach the board president or another board member directly. But be aware, Geller points out, that even though condo board members are supposed to act in the interests of all unit-owners, if the building was recently completed and the board is still under control of the sponsor, the board may be reluctant to press the sponsor to correct the defects.

If these steps fail, unit-owner(s) can hire a lawyer to enforce the board’s obligations, which could lead to a negotiation with the board or the sponsor.

“Many condominium construction disputes are resolved through negotiation," Geller says, "though sometimes litigation becomes necessary.”

Many lawyers advise that aggrieved unit-owners should try to avoid itigation — which can be costly and carries no guarantees. Try to work out a solution, they suggest, and view going to court as a last resort.