Aaron1124
Regular Member
My family and I live in the state of WA.
We're currently renting a condo from a private owner; however, the condo is among a community of condominium complexes, and is overseen by a real estate team, which has an "Association Board" directly responsible for overseeing the complex rules and bylaws.
Earlier this month, we had received a notice on our door from the condo complex. The notice was a "10 Day Pay" notice, in reference to overdue association dues that have gone unpaid by the owner of our condo.
Each private owner is required to pay monthly association dues as a part of their agreement. We have recently come to discover that our landlord has not paid his association dues in several months -- over half a year, to be more accurate.
The notice states that if we do not pay the total amount by today, that we'll be losing our electricity and water service to our unit.
It states "In accordance with the statutes and the RCW's of the State of Washington, Association-provided utilities, including but not limited to, electricity and water, will be disconnected for nonpayment of association fees." However, it fails to address which statute grants them this authority; and furthermore, the association does not pay for our electricity -- each unit is responsible for paying our electric bill through the local power company. Additionally, I am not sure they are legally justified in disconnecting our utilities for nonpayment, when we're not the ones responsible for covering the fees. As a result, we'll simply be collateral damage due to our residence here.
Lastly, even if I were able to pay these dues, I would have have been able to pay them in the time frame that was granted, considering their office was closed on both the 26th (for Thanksgiving) and today; so the notice is flawed in their timing. The main office did not even return my phone call from Wednesday morning (the 25th) to discuss options.
The positive side of this is that we're moving at the end of December, and we've already pre-paid last month's rent, and we do not have the funds to cover this. Even if we did, we would certainly not be reimbursed by our landlord, considering his inconsistency with the payments.
Does anyone know what legal grounds I may have as a defense?
Most attorneys are out of the office for the holiday weekend.
Thanks in advance!
Aaron
We're currently renting a condo from a private owner; however, the condo is among a community of condominium complexes, and is overseen by a real estate team, which has an "Association Board" directly responsible for overseeing the complex rules and bylaws.
Earlier this month, we had received a notice on our door from the condo complex. The notice was a "10 Day Pay" notice, in reference to overdue association dues that have gone unpaid by the owner of our condo.
Each private owner is required to pay monthly association dues as a part of their agreement. We have recently come to discover that our landlord has not paid his association dues in several months -- over half a year, to be more accurate.
The notice states that if we do not pay the total amount by today, that we'll be losing our electricity and water service to our unit.
It states "In accordance with the statutes and the RCW's of the State of Washington, Association-provided utilities, including but not limited to, electricity and water, will be disconnected for nonpayment of association fees." However, it fails to address which statute grants them this authority; and furthermore, the association does not pay for our electricity -- each unit is responsible for paying our electric bill through the local power company. Additionally, I am not sure they are legally justified in disconnecting our utilities for nonpayment, when we're not the ones responsible for covering the fees. As a result, we'll simply be collateral damage due to our residence here.
Lastly, even if I were able to pay these dues, I would have have been able to pay them in the time frame that was granted, considering their office was closed on both the 26th (for Thanksgiving) and today; so the notice is flawed in their timing. The main office did not even return my phone call from Wednesday morning (the 25th) to discuss options.
The positive side of this is that we're moving at the end of December, and we've already pre-paid last month's rent, and we do not have the funds to cover this. Even if we did, we would certainly not be reimbursed by our landlord, considering his inconsistency with the payments.
Does anyone know what legal grounds I may have as a defense?
Most attorneys are out of the office for the holiday weekend.
Thanks in advance!
Aaron