Category Archives: Maintenance

Relocation Costs

Relocation Costs Borne by Homeowner
The scope of items which an association is responsible to maintain and repair can be significant. This is especially true in  condominium projects;  the structural elements of the residential buildings housing the condominium units are often classified as common area that is maintained and repaired by the association. (See “Common Area Maintenance” and “Airspace Condominium Units.”) Undertaking such maintenance and repairs may require owners and occupants within the association’s development to temporarily vacate their units and, as a result, incur hotel expenses and other relocation costs while the repairs are being performed. In these instances, Civil Code Section 4775 states that relocation costs are to be borne by the owners:

“The costs of temporary relocation during the repair and maintenance of the areas within the responsibility of the association shall be borne by the owner of the separate interest affected.” (Civ. Code § 4775(c).)

Termite Treatment
When an association’s maintenance or repair efforts include the treatment of “wood-destroying pests or organisms” (i.e., termites), the occupants which are required to vacate their units during the treatment period are responsible to bear their respective relocation costs, and the association is additionally required to provide advance notice to the owners and the occupants of that fact. (Civ. Code § 4785(b); See also “Termites & Wood-Destroying Pests.”)

Telephone Wiring

Exclusive Use Common Area  (Maintained by Homeowner)
Regardless of what is stated in an HOA’s CC&Rs, “internal and external telephone wiring designed to serve a single separate interest, but located outside the boundaries of the separate interest, is exclusive use common area allocated exclusively to that separate interest.” (Civ. Code § 4145(c).)  As exclusive use common area, the maintenance and repair of telephone wiring serving a homeowner’s unit is the responsibility of the homeowner, not the association.  (Civ. Code §4775(a).)

Access Rights for Maintenance
Regardless of what is stated in a HOA’s CC&Rs, a homeowner is granted access rights over the common area as needed to maintain the telephone wiring serving the homeowner’s unit:

“Notwithstanding the provisions of the declaration, a member is entitled to reasonable access to the common area for the purpose of maintaining the internal and external telephone wiring made part of the exclusive use common area of the member’s separate interest pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 4145.” (Civ. Code § 4790.)

Association Approval for Access
When the homeowner needs to access common area in order to maintain the telephone wiring serving his unit, the homeowner may be required to first obtain the HOA’s approval prior to accessing the common area:

“…The access shall be subject to the consent of the association, whose approval shall not be unreasonably withheld, and which may include the association’s approval of telephone wiring upon the exterior of the common area, and other conditions as the association determines reasonable.” (Civ. Code § 4790.)