Residents of a condominium in Lakewood claimed new documents uncovered their homeowners' association hid millions of dollars in maintenance costs for years.
Neighbors, now saddled with a collective $3 million assessment to replace a faulty HVAC system at Marine Towers East on Edgewater Drive, told newsnet5.com they bought their homes with no idea they’d soon be on the hook for expensive repairs.
H. Nabil is one of 10 owners suing the Marine Towers East Condominium Association in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. She said she purchased her unit in 2014.
“You bring in an inspector, you ask your real estate agent, you go and inspect the apartment itself,” Nabil said. “But you do not go inspect the pipes in the building. You don’t go into the infrastructure.”
Documents she uncovered showed the condo board knew about the possibility of expensive maintenance years ago. An engineering proposal from the Brewer-Garrett Company, dated April 27, 2011, estimated replacing aging pipes throughout the building would cost $2.7 million.
Then, a 2013 study from Criterium-Liszkay Engineers showed a need for more expensive repairs, including replacing asphalt, the roof, boiler, garage door equipment, the pool heater, generator, front awning washer and dryers and more.
“It shows that they knew about it and they failed to maintain, they failed to disclose,” she said.
On Thursday, the condo board’s president did not immediately respond to phone calls and emails for comment.
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