This Week's Q & A

Q: I live in a townhouse condominium development containing more than 200 units. The management company recently sent owners a letter informing them that they are responsible for hiring and paying contractors to repair or replace the outside casing boards that surround our windows. I acquired my unit fairly recently and so was not familiar with standard practices. But some of the original owners, who have been here more than 10 years, told me that in the past, the old management company (not the current one) routinely repaired and replaced these trim boards. Our condominium documents simply state that owners are responsible for “windows and doors.” It’s not clear whether “windows” includes the exterior casings. Is there a standard rule that applies?

A: The question of who is responsible for a given condominium expense depends on how the condominium documents define the respective obligations of unit owners and community associations. Both the Master Deed and the Declaration of Trust generally will describe the boundaries between individual units (for which owners are responsible) and common areas, which are the responsibility of the community association. But the Declaration of Trust includes specific language about who is responsible for what, and that’s where you should look first to determine how windows are classified.

Unfortunately, the attorneys I consulted point out, definitions of crucial terms (such as windows) are not always as precise as they should be, and the line between unit owner and community association responsibilities often is quite murky as a result.
As a practical matter, the distinction between the “interior” and “exterior” frame of a window is virtually meaningless; the key issue is whether the outside casing is an integral part of the window unit, or separate from it. Newer condominium documents generally make that distinction clear, I’m told, but older documents often do not. If the casing is part of the unit – that is, if you have to remove the casing in order to replace the window – then it arguably falls under the owners’ general responsibility for “interior” components. However, if the casing is “decorative and preventive,” which appears to be the case here, then it lies outside of the “interior vs. exterior” line, and thus qualifies as a common area item and a community association expense.

Given the probability that your documents are not as clear as they should be on this point, you may want to have an attorney review the language for you, just to be sure of where you stand. A letter from that attorney may help persuade the management company (and the condominium board) that they will have to rethink their assumption about unit owner responsibility for the window casings. If not, then you may have to litigate the question.