Did previous owner know about the pipes?

I am writing to you because I believe you to be an honest expert on local homeowners associations and the rights of its homeowners.

My husband and I moved to Sun City Summerlin in January. We live in a duplex and are governed by a sub HOA. We understand that we pay a monthly fee for which they maintain the exterior of our home and grounds. We cannot add, place or remove anything from these areas that they maintain.

We received a notice in May that said there were two black pipes coming out of the wall of our garage and this was in violation and we needed to remove them immediately.

I spoke with a community management company representative who handles violations and sent him an email showing these pipes were here before we bought the house. They go to a water softener system. I included pictures and excerpts from our engineer’s report, showing they were here, but needed to be repaired as they were leaking.

We made the necessary repairs and the pipes were brought up to code and covered with black insulation. I offered to paint the pipes to match the color of the stucco. I say since they were existing they were considered grandfathered and should be allowable.

We had originally contacted the plumber who did the repairs and were quoted a price of $800 to run the pipes under the garage wall and into the garage.

A: You need to send a certified/return receipt letter to the board and to the management company summarizing the facts, from the very first time you received a letter. You should list in chronological sequence from the date of purchase of your home to communication with the management company and the work that has been done by the plumber, including any sales documents and current photographs. The letter should explicitly ask the association and management what precisely the association wants you to correct this alleged violation.

If the association requires the $800 work be performed, then you should ask for HOA documentation about this violation while you were in escrow with the previous owner.

You should also ask for any documentation that was sent to the previous owner to correct this violation. If the previous owner was aware of this violation and did not disclose it to you, then you have recourse against the previous owner (assuming that they still live in the state) per the seller’s real property disclosure law. The seller could be liable to reimburse you for the cost of the proposed $800 plumbing work.

You may need to ask for an extension of time to have this work performed. In this economy, not everyone has an extra $800 lying around for such repairs.

Barbara Holland, certified property manager, broker and supervisory certified association manager, is president and owner of H&L Realty and Management Co. Questions may be sent to Association Q&A, P.O. Box 7440, Las Vegas, NV 89125. Fax is 702-385-3759, email is support@hlrealty.com.