Are you a condominium owner or HOA in Texas? Boards & HOAs need to address issues that have arisen with poor construction. There are four systems that come into play when having a successful construction defect claim. Contact our legal team today to know what your options are:  210.961.8000.

TRANSCRIPT

We’re talking today about homeowner’s associations and condominium boards. The population in Texas has really skyrocketed, and there have been a lot of condominium buildings built over the past decade or so. As a result of so much construction, statistically speaking, there is some construction that has been done that’s not quite up to snuff, and condominium boards and homeowner’s associations have to address the issues that have arisen with poor construction.

The general law in Texas is that a condominium association or an HOA has 10 years from the date of Substantial Completion to recover for problems in construction. Now that is the general rule, but, in addition, you need to know that the statute of limitations for breach of contract is four years from the date that you knew, or should have known, that there were problems or damages of a magnitude that something really should be done.

In addition to that, another complicating factor for homeowner’s associations and condominium boards is that the bylaws which were probably drafted by the developer who built the project or drafted such that there are restrictions and very specific steps that a board needs to go through, or that an owner needs to go through before they’re able to recover for poor construction. And, so, a detailed review of those documents is going to be real important to any evaluation.

Typically, we see five or six different systems at issue when it comes to condominiums and homeowner’s associations.

One is window systems. Window systems are notoriously difficult to install. They’re part of the envelope system, the building envelope. And, so, the window is supposed to function along with the building envelope to keep the internal environment at a constant state and to keep moisture out. Well, we see windows sometimes installed backwards or upside down, and we see flashing that hasn’t been done correctly, which results in window leakage and air leakage.

Another system we see problems with are the roof system in the condominium projects. Roofs can leak, perhaps have not been installed properly, but a roof is also a part of the building envelope that needs to be maintained, of course, and needs to be monitored.

Grading and drainage systems are another system that we see at issue on condo projects. A lot of people don’t think about a grading system or the ground around the project being a part of the system, but it is. It is part of the system that’s supposed to pull water away from the building so as to ensure a long life for the building.

HVAC systems are another issue we see with problems from time to time in condominium projects.

So, those are the three or four systems that we see. But one of the big problems that a condo board runs into is that paying lawyers to pursue the developer or paying lawyers to address what the issues are can be expensive. There’s no budget to pursue these types of things. There is a budget to maintain, but nobody’s really planned for a budget to assert your rights against the developer.

Well, the solution we’ve come up with is a no-cost review for any condominium association or homeowner’s association with regard to a construction project. We’re a law firm focused on representing owners, condominium owners, and not developers or general contractors or architects. We’re able to do what we do because we only represent owners.

Our procedure is very simple and straightforward. We’ll review the contract documents and the bylaws.  We’ll advise the board, typically, or unit owners, as to what their rights and remedies are. We’ll give a detailed oral report after we have our experts out to take a look around. And we will detail who is responsible and who the responsible parties are, and let the board know, typically, what their options are.

Call us to learn your rights if you’re an HOA board or a condominium regime, and we’ll let you know what we can do for you, if anything.

Speak with a Gravely Construction Lawyer to Learn your Options.