Jury Awards Homeowner $308,150 in Damages

This case involved a dispute between a condominium owner / association member (“Owner”) and her homeowners association (“Association”) over Association’s failure to make timely repairs to common area components that allowed water to leak into Owner’s unit. Owner’s condominium unit initially suffered water damage from leaks that originated in the common area back in 2007. At that time, Owner took photographs of the damage and timely reported the leaks to Association’s property manager.

Having not resolved the issues with the damage caused to Owners’ unit by 2011, Owner filed suit against Association. The case was settled in 2012 on terms that included a payment of $85,000.00 to Owner for damage to her unit, and an agreement on the part of Association to make needed repairs to the common areas that were the cause of the water leaks into Owner’s unit. After settling Owner’s lawsuit, Association delayed the repairs that had been agreed to.

Because the common area that had caused the leaks into Owner’s unit had not been repaired, Owner delayed making the repairs to the interior of her unit because she believed that, until the common areas were repaired, the leaks would continue and cause new damage to the interior of her unit. In 2013, while the common area was still in a state of disrepair, Owner’s unit suffered more water damage, which resulted in new claims against Association.

In August of 2014, Owner filed another action against Association in which she alleged: