Can condo management force owners to insure the outside of the building?

Question

Can condo management force owners to insure the outside of the building?

I thought owners were responsible to insure from sheet rock, in. And management is responsible to insure from sheet rock out! I have my condo insurance for sheet rock in.

There were fires in two of the buildings, but not in any unit that I own. The management now wants to charge owners $1000.00 a year insurance that they are responsible for, on each unit.

Is this legal? I am located in Sumter, South Carolina. Management now wants to sue me for insurance that I am not responsible for.

Answer 1

Can condo management force owners to insure the outside of the building?

Yes, and most do.

"Management" is the homeowners association, which is essentially all the owners together as a group. As the group, all the homeowners own the common areas, including the building itself, and are responsible for expenses attributed to it.

Usually, insurance costs are included in the regular HOA assessments, it is unclear from your question whether there are any such assessments and whether the insurance was already included in them. It sounds like in your case the HOA decided to charge a special assessment to pay for the insurance.

You'll need to read through the HOA docs how such decisions are required to be made. Should it be a board approval? Full members' vote? With what majority? Was this process followed? If the HOA threatens to sue you they're confident that they're in the right, but it wouldn't be unheard of for HOAs to be abusing their powers.