Article Courtesy of The Sun Sentinel
By Daniel Vasquez
Published January 14, 2009
A curious rooftop noise has kept Phyllis Howard from getting a good night's sleep at her Tamarac condo for two months.
Howard, 81, describes it as a recurring and irritatingly constant "bam-bam" sound akin to a coin caught in a clothes dryer — only a bit softer. She says it comes from the roof of her Kings Point condo and starts after midnight, lasting until past 7 a.m.
"I haven't had more than three hours of sleep since Nov. 12 to be exact," Howard said. "Ask me how I know. You don't forget the last time you had a good sleep."
Howard, a retired social worker, contacted her association, maintenance company and handyman. But nobody has been able to hear the noise, quiet it or satisfy Howard.
The maintenance company said it did everything it reasonably could, including paying for $4,000 worth of roof improvements, hiring an exterminator to check if animals had gotten into the roof and temporarily shutting off sprinklers and a nearby water fountain to make sure they were not the sources.
Howard's situation raises some interesting questions: What should you do when faced with an aggravating quality of life issue? And at what point has an association or maintenance company done enough to address your problem?
Make your case
Within a day of hearing the noise and losing sleep, Howard alerted her board. Later she called a company to visit her home to make sure the noise was not related to a year-old air conditioning unit.
Howard says the association president and handyman visited, but said they heard nothing. She also talked to neighbors, but none had a similar noise problem.
She said she is now left with calling the maintenance company every day.
Howard convinced me to make a trip to her immaculate one-bedroom unit. "These noises are killing me," she said. "I need help."
I arrived after midnight and tried my best. I checked different rooms, even laid on her bed to get a better sense of her vantage point. I just didn't hear anything. But I believe she does.
"Thanks for coming," Howard told me, clearly disappointed. "Too bad you don't have better hearing."
Despite the results, Howard has done a lot of things right.
It's important to contact everyone involved, said Barry Silver, a Boca Raton attorney who represents condo owners. If you can, he said, first meet informally with board members to seek help. If that doesn't work, go to a board meeting and discuss it on the record. To make your best case, Silver suggests collecting whatever relevant information you can to ensure the board understands the problem and why they may be responsible for fixing it.
If you're collecting evidence about a strange noise, use a recorder. Take photos if that helps. If you have a serious problem, like a roof leak, consult an expert, Silver says.
"It's very important to establish what the problem is and what it takes to fix it. You need an expert to write it in a report," he said.
File a lawsuit
Even if you do everything right, you may not get relief and may have to file a civil suit. "Make sure you are on solid ground before you do that because in Florida, the loser pays the winner's attorney fees in a homeowner or condo dispute," Silver said.
He also warned that a dispute may involve a small sum of money — a couple of hundred dollars in repair costs, for instance — but could wind up costing thousands in attorney fees if it ends up in court. Of course, if you win in court, you are entitled to be reimbursed.
"In most cases, an association has a duty to allow people to live in peace," Silver said. "If the association does not do this, it can be sued for breach of duty.
"But just because your situation involves an association [or maintenance company], you still must do what anyone does when they bring a civil suit. "Provide evidence," Silver said. "With zero evidence, you have no case."
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