Who pays for different types of damage when you live in a condo? We’ll break it down for you here. There are many different types of damage that can occur when owning a condo and it’s not always clear which responsibilities fall on the condo owner and which fall on the HOA.

Condo Repairs – Who Pays for What Damage?

As an overview, the HOA (Homeowners Association) fees usually cover the common or shared areas of a building while the condo owner is typically responsible for anything inside their unit. Let’s take a look at a few specific scenarios below!

Water Damage

Almost all plumbing issues within the unit will fall on the condo owner.

Leaky faucets, broken sinks, and issues with toilets are the responsibilities of the condo owner. If you have access to any of these damaged features in your unit, it is your responsibility to fix these issues as a condo owner.

If you have water damage in your unit that affects another unit, like your downstairs neighbor, you are also responsible for paying that damage.

On the flip side, the HOA will be responsible for repairing any large plumbing issues central to the building.

Any issues that affect multiple units, that are not directly due to an issue within one unit, will be handled by the HOA.

HVAC

Knowing whether HVAC repairs fall under the responsibility of the condo owner or HOA can be tricky.

For HVAC central to the entire building, the HOA will be responsible.

If you are in a unit where you have your own HVAC system, but the duct work is outside of your unit or more central to the building, it can be less clear where this responsibility belongs. In these cases, even if the HVAC is specific to your unit, but accessing the ductwork is not possible from your unit, this will probably fall on the HOA.

For some older Chicago condos, you may be responsible for a window air conditioning unit if your condo does not have central HVAC.

Pests

Any presence of bed bugs, mice, or critters can be alarming if you’re a condo owner!

Within your unit, you are responsible for pest control. However, if the issue seems to be bigger than just your unit, or as a result of a common area situation that is breeding pests, this may fall on the HOA to resolve.

If you are having issues with pests in your unit, odds are that you aren’t the only one. Talk to your HOA and neighbors and see if others are also having this issue, in which case you all can work together to get everything resolved!

Ultimately, be sure to read your HOA rules and regulations in detail to make sure you understand your responsibilities as a condo owner vs. what is covered in your HOA fees. Prompt communication of any issues to your HOA is always the best place to start if you think something might be affecting multiple units. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you have issues in your condo and communicate with your HOA to promptly get any issues repaired!

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