Townhouse Roof Repair Responsibility

In a lot of townhomes the hoa is responsible for exterior maintenance.

Townhouse roof repair responsibility.

If you get a contractor to replace that owner s portion of the roof the contractor won t provide a warranty because there s a seam between the two adjoining townhomes. The hoa has a responsibility to ensure the latter events to avoid asking unit owners for special assessments. You don t want to neglect your roof to the point where it begins to cause water damage in your home or worse in your neighbor s. But for attached townhome units where the association has some responsibility for maintenance repair and or replacement of the walls and or building exteriors the answer as to who is responsible for the interior damage can be more complicated.

For example perhaps the tenant stood on the roof to jump into the pool and damaged the shingles while he or she was up there. A lot just say the association shall maintain exterior surfaces that unhelpful wording has led to some push and pull between hoas and owners. Similarly if the governing documents state that the association is responsible for roof repair and maintenance but requires the homeowners to repair maintain and replace the gutters the association should not replace the gutters without amending the governing documents since the responsibility for gutters is the owners not the. In fact hoas are required by law to take out insurance for common areas to protect against unforeseen damage and to cover major repairs such as roof replacement and unexpected plumbing damage.

Occasionally a property owner is able to argue that a tenant caused the damage to the roof. If a townhouse is a rental property owned by a landlord who collects rent from a tenant the landlord is typically responsible for the roof repairs. The problem is the owner s roof joins other roofs. Typically the governing docs provide that the owner is responsible for all the structural components including the roof.