Damaged Insulation Between the Units
My question involves a condominium located in the State of: Arizona.
Since December of 2011, I started to smell cigarette and marijuana smoke from our A/C unit every time our downstairs neighbor would light up his cigarette and joint.
Each condominium has an A/C unit which is located on the roof and a blower placed above bath tub.
I have called an A/C professional to come out and find out what the problem is. The professional, examined my A/C and my neighbors unit and discovered the following - my neighbors A/C blower was replaced due to leakage, and a partial piece of the structure was rotted out and fell off; additionally, damage was done to the insulation between the units. My neighbors A/C pipes are running through our wall and A/C unit to the roof. Without the insulation, the smoke and other various smells rises up through the walls to our A/C unit blower. Additionally, the rotten would continue to rot and will cause further damage to the building structure. This issue needs to be fixed. There is no possible way to seal it off on our end with out causing problems in the future; it has to be done by the owner of the downstairs unit.
Two letters were sent out (one in early January and second one on 19th of March of 2012) to the association about this issue and nothing has been done. I also contacted City of Tucson, however, they are not sure if there is anything they could do since they said they cant go into the unit an eximine the work that was done on the blower.
I own my unit and downstairs unit is rented out.
What are my legal options here? How do i get the downstairs owners and association to fix the damaged insulation?
Thanks in advance.
Re: Damaged Insulation Between the Units
You start by reviewing the bylaws and owner's agreement to see who is responsible for what. If the HOA is responsible for the repair, as would typically be the case for a problem with water leaking into a shared wall, you follow up with them to see what is going on. If they won't respond and won't act, despite having a duty to do so, you can consider litigation.