California Balcony Collapse Highlights HOAs' Risk of Lack of Maintenance
In this week's tip, we send a warning signal about your balconies and porches. It's dangerous not to stay on top of their maintenance.
A California HOA lawyer says there's now increased scrutiny on the state's balconies as a result of a tragic incident in which six people were killed. This isn't just a problem in California. A similar porch collapse happened in Chicago more than 10 years ago, killing 13.
The failure to maintain balconies can be devastating. Though the cause has apparently not been determined—faulty construction and subsequent dry rot are suspected—the heartbreaking balcony collapse in Berkeley, Calif., on June 16 killed five young visitors from Ireland and an American. Seven more people were hospitalized. After the incident at the Liberty Gardens apartment building, another balcony on the building was dismantled.
The Chicago incident happened in 2003 and was the result of more than 100 people gathering on a third-floor wooden back porch, a type common on apartments and condo buildings throughout the city.
The failure of building owners—whether an apartment or association—to maintain balconies is typical and probably common nationwide, asserts David C. Swedelson, the principal at Swedelson & Gottlieb, a law firm that represents associations in the Los Angeles area. "I imagine this is a problem throughout the country," he says. "I'm surprised we haven't seen more problems."
Swedelson says he's often encountered confusion over who's responsible for maintaining balconies. "I'm routinely running into situations in which the board mistakenly believes it's the homeowner's responsibility to maintain balconies, and there's been no maintenance on them," he says.
Find out why there's so much uncertainty, along with the laws and some general guidelines nationwide about who should be responsible for what, in our new article: California HOAs Eye Balconies after Tragedy; You Should, Too.
Best regards,
Matt Humphrey
President