Negligent Conversion?

Is the Condominium Converter Liable for Failing to Properly Assemble the Parts of a New Community?

“Negligent conversion” is another way of saying that mistakes were made when joining all of the required pieces of a conversion project together. The converter of an apartment building into condominiums basically has three choices under the existing law in California: (1) Rehabilitate the buildings so that they are in a “like new” condition. (2) Provide cash to the association to offset any deferred repairs, or (3) Set the assessments high enough so that the association will collect enough working capital in time to perform needed repairs. While some combination of these three will work, the converter cannot choose to do “none of the above” as in, do only a few repairs, underfund the budget for what is left to do, and keep assessments artificially low...

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The Board's Dilemma

Every board faces this dilemma sooner or later: how to raise revenue without raising assessments. Since the only revenue the average association can obtain is from owner assessments, that's usually impossible. Owners want the board to maintain and repair the association's property, but they don't want to pay more each month, especially in these difficult economic times. Boards of directors of community associations find themselves torn between two masters--their obligation to care for the project and the political will of the homeowners. This publication was written to help directors find their way through this morass.

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