Home / Practice Areas / HOA / Condo Water Intrusion
Water is coming into your unit and the association won’t fix it.
That is a specific dispute with a legal answer, not just a maintenance complaint. In a condominium, the association is generally responsible for maintaining the common elements the water is coming through. We read your declaration, find out where that duty actually sits, and hold the responsible party to it.
The dispute we handle most: repair refused, damage spreading.
It usually starts the same way. Water stains a ceiling or a wall after heavy rain. You report it. The association says it is your problem, or agrees to look at it and then goes quiet. Months pass, the drywall goes soft, mold appears, and the cost of the repair climbs while nobody accepts responsibility.
Where the duty to repair sits
In a condominium, Chapter 718 obligates the association to maintain, repair and replace the common elements. Roofs, exterior walls, and the pipes running between units are commonly among them. But the split is rarely all-or-nothing: your declaration can allocate limited common elements differently, and the statute leaves certain interior finishes and fixtures with the unit owner even when the water came through a common element. Reading the declaration against the statute is the first real work in one of these cases, and it is what determines who pays for what. A board’s decision to defer a repair is not the end of the conversation.
Making the repair happen
We open the official records under the statute to see what the board actually knew and when, put the association on written notice, work out whether your particular dispute has to go through the state’s pre-suit process or can be filed straight away, and litigate for repair and damages. In parallel we pursue the insurance side: the association’s policy, yours, and any bad-faith exposure for an insurer that sits on a claim.
Related disputes we handle
Mold from long-term intrusion
Health-based claims and remediation costs where a leak went unaddressed for months or years.
Special assessments
Challenging assessments levied without proper notice, quorum or authority under the declaration.
Records & access demands
Official-records requests the board ignores, and the statutory remedies when it does.
Selective enforcement
Rules applied to you and not to your neighbor, which is a recognized defense and a claim.
Board election & governance
Election challenges, conflicts of interest, and breach of fiduciary duty by directors.
Milestone & SIRS fallout
Disputes arising from mandatory structural inspections and reserve-study requirements.
Bring your declaration, your photographs and every message you sent the board. Those three things usually tell us within one meeting whether you have a case.
How we force a stalled repair
Document the damage
Photographs, dates, and every message you sent the board. Bring what you have.
Demand the records
The official records show what the board knew, when, and what it voted to do.
Formal notice
A demand that cites the declaration and the statute, not just a complaint.
Mediation or suit
Statutory pre-suit process where required, then litigation for repair and damages.
Questions we get asked
The association says the leak is my responsibility. Is that true?
Sometimes, and often not. If water is entering through a common element such as the roof, an exterior wall or a shared pipe, the duty to repair that element generally sits with a condominium association. What complicates it is that responsibility for the damage inside your unit can be split differently: certain interior finishes and fixtures may remain yours even when the source was a common element. Which is why the declaration needs to be read rather than argued about over email.
How long do I have to bring a claim about water damage?
It depends on what the claim is. Breach of the declaration, negligence and insurance claims each run on different clocks, and your policy may impose its own notice deadline that is far shorter than any statute. A leak that has been ongoing for months also complicates when the clock started. Do not try to work this out from a general answer online: get advice early, because the deadline is the one thing in this area that cannot be fixed after the fact.
Do I have to go to arbitration or mediation before suing?
It depends entirely on what the dispute is. Florida requires a pre-suit process for many condominium disputes, but the statute carves out several categories, and claims for damage to a unit based on the association’s failure to maintain the common elements are among the carve-outs. In other words, the very claim this page is about may be one you can file directly. Homeowners’ associations run on a separate track under Chapter 720. This is worth getting right, because assuming you must mediate first can cost you months.
Can the association assess me for the repair it refused to make?
It may attempt to. Whether an assessment is valid depends on notice, authority under the declaration and how the board approved it, all of which can be challenged, and all of which are visible in the official records.
Will my own insurance cover this?
Your HO-6 policy may cover interior damage while the association’s master policy covers the common element. Both may deny and point at each other. We pursue the responsible party and the insurer at the same time so the claim does not stall between them.
Who handles condominium disputes
Ricardo M. Corona
Tell us what happened. We’ll tell you where you stand.
A real person reads every message. Consultations are free and confidential, in English or Spanish.
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(305) 547-1234
Hours
Mon–Fri 9am–6pm · Sat 9am–1pm
Office
6700 SW 38th St, Miami, FL 33155
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