Condo Media - February 2016 - 41

When disaster
services are
needed, time is
of the essence.
the time that would otherwise be spent
searching for a vendor. In addition, if
a vendor has even general familiarity
with the property, it may save valuable
time when there's a need to respond to
the property and/or to plan a course
of action for dealing with a particular
emergency or disaster.
Another proactive measure is to
formulate an emergency response
plan. Again, by collecting information
and making decisions in advance, time
may be saved when disaster strikes and
response time is critical.
Disaster restoration companies offer

seminars on developing emergency
response plans. Having attended such
seminars myself, I highly recommend
them. In fact, many of the lessons
learned may be applied not just to an
association or professional setting but
also to one's own home and family.
When offered, these seminars are well
worth the time and investment.
Fairly often, disaster-type situations
raise legal questions about whether
the association or the unit owner is
responsible for certain aspects of
the property and the remediation
expenses. As a general rule, it's best to
have remediation performed first and
to analyze the questions and potential
liabilities following. If left untreated,
damage from forces such as water,
smoke, and mold will worsen and, as
a result, the expense associated with
remediation will grow. If necessary,

an association should take prompt
remediation action while explicitly
reserving the right to assess the unit
owner in the event the remediation is
the unit owner's obligation.
Ultimately, it will be necessary to
determine the party responsible for the
area of impact. Once again, the discussion turns back to the governing documents. An association should examine
the descriptions of the unit boundaries
and common areas and look for any
vague or missing (or contradicting) language before there is a dispute. Then, if
necessary, corrective language may be
introduced by way of amendment.
n GARY M. DADDARIO, ESQ., CCAL,
IS A PARTNER WITH THE LAW FIRM
WINER & BENNETT, LLP.

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February 2016

Condo Media - February 2016

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