Deferred, Unfunded Maintenance A "Ticking Time Bomb" For Condo Associations; Tanking Real Estate Market, Unit Foreclosures Complicate Problem

The San Diego Union Tribune reports:

• Dilapidated stairways, rickety decks, leaky roofs, moldy walls and corroded sewer pipes. These are the sort of structural headaches confronting scores of homeowner associations as costly repairs to older complexes drain their communal treasuries. After years of deferred maintenance, compounded by tightfisted members' unwillingness to pay higher monthly fees, condominium associations are facing a looming financial crisis, condo experts say.

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• “Deferred and unfunded maintenance is a ticking time bomb because so many homeowner associations are unprepared for it,” longtime condo attorney Erik Basil said. “What sometimes happens is association members don't want to contemplate having to write a $1,000 or $5,000 check, so they pretend there's nothing wrong, and that's what has occurred for the last 10 years.”

• The problems associated with stalled repairs have worried Conlon's association for some time and are being complicated by the slide in home values and the credit meltdown.

For more, see Postponed repair work catching up with condos.