Why Developing a 'Maintenance Repair and Replacement Standard Policy' Can Benefit Your Community Especially Under the Pending CIOA Changes?
By adopting a 'Maintenance, Repair and Replacement Standard Policy' for your community and regularly communicating the adopted standards with all unit owners, your board will create the following advantages:
- The policy and communication efforts will help to create more awareness and accountability on the part of all unit owners to properly maintain, repair and replace necessary items in their units;
- The policy could help to save money by reducing insurance claim frequency and losses against the association property insurance policy. By doing so the association improves its liability to control insurance premium costs and helps ensure that insurance carriers are willing to insure the community.
- The policy could help to allow the association to assess the association's insurance deductible (as well as other un-insured association expenses related to the event) back to the offending unit owner in circumstances where the loss is a direct result of the unit owner not following the policy as described.
Under the pending Common Ownership Interest Act (COIA) changed of the Connecticut General Statutes (Section 31. Subsection (e) of Section 47-257 - effective July 1, 2010): "If any common expense is caused by the willful misconduct, failure to comply with a written maintenance standard promulgated by the association or gross negligence of any unit owner or tenant or a guest or invitee of a unit owner or tenant, the association may, after notice and hearing, assess the portion of that common expense in excess of any insurance proceeds received by the association under its insurance policy, whether that portion results from the application of a deductable or otherwise, exclusively against the owner's unit.
Therfore under the pending CIOA changes an insurance deductible may be charged back against a unit if the associaiton can show the unit owner failed to abide with a written maintenance standard promulgated by the association, assuming the maintenance standard was reasonable.
A copy of the suggested draft template 'Maintenance, Repair and Replacement Standard Policy' created by Imagineers is provided through this (click here). The draft template developed by Imagineers was intended to offer the many standards to be considered. Each association should carefully review any proposed maintenance standards against current practices and loss run history in your community. Association Board should consider the many benefits derived from creating a Maintenance, Repair and Replacement Standard Policy or updating old policy, especially at this time of CIOA changes.
Thank you for reading the Imagineers Board Newsletter. If you have any question or need any additional information on any articles provided in this newsletter, please contact us at 1-800-560-7268.
Imagineers LLCEmail: Gpassacantando@imagineersllc.com
Phone: 1-800-560-7268
Fax: 860-236-3951
Web: http://www.imagineersllc.com
