One Maine condo owner was stuck between a rock and a hard place because of their condo association's apparent inaction.
"I want to go to the media about mold in my condo not being properly addressed by the board, but fear I'll never be able to sell it if I do," the owner said in a post on an anti-HOA subreddit.
According to the Redditor, they own one condo in an eight-unit building. "The building has been horribly neglected, and in the last year and a half has had bat infestations, bug infestations, sewage backups, water damage, and toxic black mold and other mold infestations," they claimed.
The latest problem was the worst, however. "I found what was later determined to be toxic black mold inside an exterior facing wall in my condo," the original poster revealed. "The insurance adjuster denied the claim because his inspection found that the mold was a result of rain water coming in from an outside common area that is the responsibility of the association."
According to the original poster, it took months to convince the condo association to send a mold remediation company — and what the workers found was worse than anyone imagined.
"They removed part of the floor and saw what was described as 'a small river,'" said the original poster. "It was also discovered that not only was there rain water underneath the floors, but it was mixed with sewage."
Even after the mold remediation, the original poster claimed that the condo association never began repair work — and that because of the association's negligence, the mold came back.
"My lawyer is just not aggressive enough," the original poster lamented in a comment. "He … literally told me 'it's just a matter of being patient and making sure they do everything the right way.' They aren't doing anything the right way!"
What's most frustrating is how easy this issue is to prevent. A simple rain garden in the common area would direct water away from the condo and help with drainage.
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But HOAs and condo associations frequently refuse these affordable and eco-friendly upgrades — even when they would save homeowners money and protect homes.
"If you can get the tenants to file complaints against the landlords for habitability violations you may be able to force a discussion," said one commenter.
Another route would be to push for a change to the condo association's rules.
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