Help! Distressed in Boston from Condo Repairs

Posted on 19. May, 2009 by Distressed-inBoston in Introduce Yourself or Your Problem

I just moved to Marrimack, NH, and a month after I moved into this condo, broken pipes ruined the place and everything inside it. I have been living in a hotel for almost 4 months now while waiting the condo to be rebuilt. The condo management has been impossible to reach.

I haven't had the ability to make a choice about what or who to use for any particular job, nor ask for a date for job to be finished or anything. The management company stepped in and took over, and ever since then I feel like I don't even own the condo - they come and go as they please, they promise me when somethings will be done and then the place stays empty most of the time and no work is being done.
I feel like if I had hired people to do the work, they would at least show up if I paid them ,but as it is the condo associasion's money to rebuild - the delinquincy with which they run their workers is insane - they usually give me less than 24 hrs to either pick wall colors or to clean out the attick to reinsulate, and then I drop everything to do what they ask for, just to find that no workers came in on the said date and the condo stays half built empty for the 4th month. It is only 1,100 square feet and should have been done 2 months ago.

I have gone over my insurance allowance of displacement and don't know what else I can do to make them finish the place so I can move back in and resume my life.

Please tell me what I can do to expedite the process - I just want my home back, and I can't even get an email back from these people. Do I need to hire a lawyer? Bribe them? Beg them? to stick to their promises?

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TomMay 20, 2009 - 12:16pm

Suggestions for Distressed in Boston

Distressed in Boston,

Sorry to hear about your situation. Here's what I think you should do. These actions are designed to shame the management company and condo association to be responsive to you. Often a call from a government offical or member of Congress will get the ball rolling. No one likes bad publicity.

Make a journal of all of your interactions with the Management Company or Condo Association
Forget emails. Send a letter (certified- receipt requested) to the Management Company and Condo Associaton requesting a status of the construction and when you will be able to inhabit your condo again. Also ask for what remedies they will provide if you can not inhabit your condo in the near term.
Call the building department in Boston and independently verify what is holding up the construction. Sometimes the building department stops the work until matters are corrected. Explain your situation.
Call the Mayor's office and find out if there is a department that deals with condos, complaints, etc. Odds are you are not the first this has happened to nor the last.
If you are going to have problems paying your mortgage, call your mortgage company right now and inform them. Put everything in writing and document phone calls. See if they will work with you on this, but not at the expense of damaging your credit rating.
After you have done that, call the State of Massachussetts Governor's office. Ask to speak to someone in the Attorney General's office about your situation and what legal remedies are open to you.
Get the name of your State legislator and call his/her office. Visit them if you can.
Call your member of Congress and ask them for help. you can search for your US Congressman by State as well as your US Senator's contact information.

Provide everyone above with the names and phone numbers of the Condo Association and Management Company. I would see how things work out first and if you get no where, then go see a lawyer. Try to find one that deals with condo associations and management companies though.

Sometimes also a letter from an attorney also lights a fire under people to do the right thing. You may also want help from an attorney drafting a letter in item 2.

If anyone has any other advice please comment below