REALLY regret moving into my condo because my neighbor is putting my condo in serious

Having serious concern would REALLY appreciate some advice!!!

I sold my house and moved into a condo a few months ago. I have lived in south FL for 25 years and have been through ALL of the hurricanes but this hurricane Irma was NOTHING like the previous ones and my immediate neighbor does NOT have hurricane impact windows yet didn't even so much as bother to board them up!!!! He was just walking around smoking and drinking beer and left town to "avoid" the hurricane.

Everyone else boarded up because the #1 reason a roof gets torn off a building is because of unprotected windows that bust and when the hurricane force winds enter your home it's GAME OVER. The incredibly high pressure is what causes the roof to go!!! It is because of this neighbor I was forced to spend 3 days in a COCKROACH infested shelter with my poor tiels (almost losing one of them).

The very first rule is to close every single opening and make sure the wind cannot get in by boarding up your windows!!... because the amount of air that comes in is so great, and the pressure is so incredibly high, it would start demolishing the walls”.

Thankfully hurricane Irma did not hit us directly so we got lucky THIS TIME... but when you have windows that are not boarded up during a hurricane you are playing russian roulette with not only YOUR unit but with your NEIGHBORS units as well since you are sharing the same building.
I have seen what can happen in a condo environment when your immediate neighbor does not board up their windows and it is NOT pretty.

I sent this neighbor a VERY POLITE text message and he basically told me to go go F myself followed by "Who the hell do you think you are exactly". HE ASKED ME TO TEXT HIM AN UPDATE ABOUT THE HURRICANE BECAUSE HE LEFT TOWN!!!

Shouldn't I be telling him who does HE think HE is for putting my condo in serious risk!!!?????? When you are in a condo you are essentially sharing ONE BIG HOUSE with several people and when someone does not take a CATEGORY 4 or 5 hurricane seriously it affects others sharing the same building!!!

I emailed HOA about my concern and they were totally rude about it... they also did not care!!!!!

My condo also needs at least 30K worth of renovations and then another 10K for hurricane impact windows and this JERK next to me might destroy my entire condo if another hurricane like Irma comes along but decides to hit us directly!!!!!

... so I don't know what do to now!!!! Get insurance to cover 40K worth of damages??? isn't that expensive!!??? :34:

PS: He gave me a tour of his condo a coupe days before I left to go to the shelter... he 100% does not have hurricane impact windows... he has the original windows that were installed when condo was built in 1988. I am also SHOCKED in total disbelief at how he TURNED ON me after I sent him a very POLITE update (upon HIS request) about the hurricane!!! I must emphasize I have NEVER been rude not even in the SLIGHTEST bit to my neighbor nor have I ever made any DEMANDS of anything at all I was merely expressing my concern... and he just suddenly turned on me!!!

Not sure if there is much you can do in a situation like this, as your HOA does not sound like it is being helpful at all. BUT HOW IRRITATING!!!!!!

It is his property and unfortunately he can do what he wants with his windows, unless HOA states that he must put these windows on, there isn't much you can do about it. The guy sounds like a big pain in the side. I'm no help on the insurance aspect, but if I were you I would consider moving to your own house, no more condo, no more neighbors...

very simple. Take pictures of the windows if another one comes, if the roof goes then you could potentially claim damages towards him as he didn't take necessary precautions as outlined by you state (board up windows ETC) may not be much but a bit of a helping hand getting out of that financial rut. If I could I'd be over giving a hand even with fixing the place up, love a bit of DIY and I'd be kind enough to board his windows for him as I'm so friendly. In fact I'd make sure everything in the apartment was literally nailed down but there's that whole Atlantic 'thing' stymieing that idea

LordTriggs said:

very simple. Take pictures of the windows if another one comes, if the roof goes then you could potentially claim damages towards him as he didn't take necessary precautions as outlined by you state (board up windows ETC) may not be much but a bit of a helping hand getting out of that financial rut. If I could I'd be over giving a hand even with fixing the place up, love a bit of DIY and I'd be kind enough to board his windows for him as I'm so friendly. In fact I'd make sure everything in the apartment was literally nailed down but there's that whole Atlantic 'thing' stymieing that idea

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I offered to board up his windows with plywood but he said NO. He thinks because he has double pane windows it does no need to be boarded up... but the realty if pretty much everyone in FL and many other states have double pane windows.... but double pane windows are 100% not hurricane safe!

I also have double pane windows... in fact I don't know anyone who doesn't! even when I lived in California we had double pane windows!

I too REALLY love DIY Problem is that I don't know how to protect my condo if another hurricane like Irma hits me directly... this time it did not hit us directly because the hurricane went south into Cuba etc... so we only got HALF of the hurricane strength.... if it had not hit Cuba and hit us directly... it would have been a VERY different experience.

I would look into insurance to see what it costs and covers. My homeowners covers roof torn off water damage but not flood water damage. What floor are you on?
Also maybe if enough people petitioned the HOA they might change their opinion and attitude

really against a hurricane there's little that can be done outside of the initial construction. All you can do is tie down everything you can and hope.

Irma appeared to be the worst of it though, hope that 3rd one sods off. Just remember if any shelter tries to refuse your entry with the tiels that there's the PETS act (one of the few good things to come from Katrina) which means they have to accept pets. They may have to go into a seperate room or have something set up but they cannot be turned away. Doesn't work for private shelters/hotels though.

Check out Florida law on the topic. They made a whole bunch of new laws in the aftermath of Andrew in an attempt to mitigate large scale destruction again. There might be something that covers this situation.

I never stayed in a shelter before and never got worried about them and always stayed in my house with the windows boarded up but this hurricane Irma had me worried! This Irma could have hit us directly and if it had it would have been like nothing before.

It looks like I need to get insurance after I renovate this condo to protect interior after I spend the 40k to renovate it... I would not be getting it otherwise but thanks to certain immediate neighbor right next to me who does not take category 4 or 5 hurricane seriously I have no choice!!

BeatriceC said:

Check out Florida law on the topic. They made a whole bunch of new laws in the aftermath of Andrew in an attempt to mitigate large scale destruction again. There might be something that covers this situation.

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Thanks, I guess I can also post on a law forums or call attorney? I'm not sure how to go about that getting accurate information regarding the laws for this.

LordTriggs said:

really against a hurricane there's little that can be done outside of the initial construction. All you can do is tie down everything you can and hope.

Irma appeared to be the worst of it though, hope that 3rd one sods off. Just remember if any shelter tries to refuse your entry with the tiels that there's the PETS act (one of the few good things to come from Katrina) which means they have to accept pets. They may have to go into a seperate room or have something set up but they cannot be turned away. Doesn't work for private shelters/hotels though.

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Most hurricane shelters don't accept pets, only very few do so I was forced to drive over an entire hour to go to one and they get booked super fast! I was actually thinking what would happen if I just showed up at a non-pet friendly hurricane shelter and the police officer at the shelter I was at told me they will just send you away to another shelter that does accept pets

The first pet friendly shelter I went to was booked solid so they sent me to another shelter.

Both shelters were an elementary middle school. Shelter was seriously INFESTED with cockroaches and they were running around the floor near my head as I was laying on the floor trying to sleep. I have major roach phobia it was horrible!! LOL not fun.

Document everything, starting today. Keep the texts. Next time you want to discuss it, do it in writing, copying in the HOA or condo board or anyone else who might need to know. Send it registered mail so it has to be signed for. Keep a journal. Definitely get insurance whether your place is renovated or not. This won't make for a better relationship with said neighbour, but you need to protect your assets so you can move like you plan to anyway. Get legal help too.

Tropical said:

LordTriggs said:

really against a hurricane there's little that can be done outside of the initial construction. All you can do is tie down everything you can and hope.

Irma appeared to be the worst of it though, hope that 3rd one sods off. Just remember if any shelter tries to refuse your entry with the tiels that there's the PETS act (one of the few good things to come from Katrina) which means they have to accept pets. They may have to go into a seperate room or have something set up but they cannot be turned away. Doesn't work for private shelters/hotels though.

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Most hurricane shelters don't accept pets, only very few do so I was forced to drive over an entire hour to go to one and they get booked super fast! I was actually thinking what would happen if I just showed up at a non-pet friendly hurricane shelter and the police officer at the shelter I was at told me they will just send you away to another shelter that does accept pets

The first pet friendly shelter I went to was booked solid so they sent me to another shelter.

Both shelters were an elementary middle school. Shelter was seriously INFESTED with cockroaches and they were running around the floor near my head as I was laying on the floor trying to sleep. I have major roach phobia it was horrible!! LOL not fun.

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Lordtriggs I think found something concerning this, if you read this Triggs please re post it?

Tropical is it not possible to get the other residents together who would also be affected by a demolished home and see if you can all do a joint law suit?

Re the roaches, apparently they must think we are dirty because if they touch human skin they go off to clean themselves! Hilarious!

Katu said:

Document everything, starting today. Keep the texts. Next time you want to discuss it, do it in writing, copying in the HOA or condo board or anyone else who might need to know. Send it registered mail so it has to be signed for. Keep a journal. Definitely get insurance whether your place is renovated or not. This won't make for a better relationship with said neighbour, but you need to protect your assets so you can move like you plan to anyway. Get legal help too.

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I still have the text saved on my phone and I also have the email I sent to HOA and their response. I have insurance when I lived in a house but living in a condo is new to me.... from what I understand I don't need exterior insurance when living in a condo but it's a good idea (especially in hurricane infested Florida AND neighbors who don't bother to board up their windows) that I get interior insurance ASAP!

If I spend about 40K in renovations which will include:
- installation of hurricane impact windows and then shutters to protect both my huge sliding glass doors.
- both bathrooms must be gutted completely and re-done
- the flooring in this entire condo is also being re-done
- entire kitchen is also being gutted and getting freshly re-done
My condo is a massive gut job (I got it as a foreclosure property) it seriously needs to get renovated it is practically inhabitable in current condition

I also bought new appliances etc for this condo (new AC unit, new water heater, new fridge, new stove, new dish washer... this alone was about 12k!!

I feel dumb for asking but should this also be included in the coverage? I'm concerned in that case how much interior coverage will cost to cover about 60 or 70K worth of property ... and even if it did cover all this what about the re-installation costs? because the labor to re-do all this (meaning if I had to re-renovate my condo again if it got destroyed in hurricane) if it's damaged would be sky high

plumsmum2005 said:

Tropical said:

LordTriggs said:

really against a hurricane there's little that can be done outside of the initial construction. All you can do is tie down everything you can and hope.

Irma appeared to be the worst of it though, hope that 3rd one sods off. Just remember if any shelter tries to refuse your entry with the tiels that there's the PETS act (one of the few good things to come from Katrina) which means they have to accept pets. They may have to go into a seperate room or have something set up but they cannot be turned away. Doesn't work for private shelters/hotels though.

Click to expand...

Most hurricane shelters don't accept pets, only very few do so I was forced to drive over an entire hour to go to one and they get booked super fast! I was actually thinking what would happen if I just showed up at a non-pet friendly hurricane shelter and the police officer at the shelter I was at told me they will just send you away to another shelter that does accept pets

The first pet friendly shelter I went to was booked solid so they sent me to another shelter.

Both shelters were an elementary middle school. Shelter was seriously INFESTED with cockroaches and they were running around the floor near my head as I was laying on the floor trying to sleep. I have major roach phobia it was horrible!! LOL not fun.

Click to expand...

Lordtriggs I think found something concerning this, if you read this Triggs please re post it?

Tropical is it not possible to get the other residents together who would also be affected by a demolished home and see if you can all do a joint law suit?

Re the roaches, apparently they must think we are dirty because if they touch human skin they go off to clean themselves! Hilarious!

Click to expand...

I asked HOA about this and they replied with:

"The association cannot make people do anything. It would take a majority of the people to vote in favor of a mandatory boarding up.
And that might not be constitutional to force people to do something to their own property."


So that's what HOA said... in my opinion I think this is REALLY unfair... because if someone wants to play russian roulette with their own house that's totally cool... but NOT when your choices affect others living in the same building! Being in a condo is basically sharing a big house with others... and if certain people don't care about their property by at LEAST boarding up their windows with plywood, if they don't have shutters or hurricane impact glass, it affects the surrounding units in a HUGE way! HOA has so many rules, many of which are so petty it's not even funny... yet this serious issue is brushed under the rug. I also live in a very small community.. I mean this community is MASSIVE... but my section is small... only about 76 condos.

I also have to question the intelligence of this neighbor... when he gave me tour of his condo the other day he had TONS and TONS of crap inside his bathtub and bathroom he put in there... he was already PREPARING to get hurricane force winds inside his home!!!

So rather than simply boarding up his windows with plywood, like I did, to protect your home from hurricane force winds he decided to prepare by putting all his junk into the bathroom... does this moron not REALIZE that if hurricane force winds enter his home it is GAME OVER. The hurricane that was supposed to hit here as a cat 4 you cannot get away with NOT boarding up windows! I'm very thankful we barely got hit... the hurricane that flew by was NOTHING like what it could have been.

I don't want to live next to this person anymore!!! Condo living is not for me because you just never know who you will be living next to... many tenants here were NOT ALLOWED to put up any window protection!! Their landlord REFUSED to let them because the landlord wants to collect insurance money... I spoke to a couple of people who were frantic... they boarded up their windows anyway even though their landlord said NO. Dumb landlords!!

I can imagine that would be ILLEGAL??? It was more than one tenant here complaining of this!!! I own my condo.... couldn't I SUE that filthy landlord for putting my livelihood at stake just so they can collect insurance money!!??? This makes me so angry!!!

You might consider getting an umbrella policy. These are often quite reasonable when added on to an existing home or auto insurance policy. The umbrella covers anything not covered otherwise...for example, with an umbrella policy you don't have to carry as much liability on your auto insurance, because the umbrella will cover anything in excess of the auto policy's coverage. It might be cheaper to get a policy like this than to increase your existing homeowner's insurance, and you have the advantage that it covers other things as well besides just the home.

Kentuckienne said:

You might consider getting an umbrella policy. These are often quite reasonable when added on to an existing home or auto insurance policy. The umbrella covers anything not covered otherwise...for example, with an umbrella policy you don't have to carry as much liability on your auto insurance, because the umbrella will cover anything in excess of the auto policy's coverage. It might be cheaper to get a policy like this than to increase your existing homeowner's insurance, and you have the advantage that it covers other things as well besides just the home.

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I lease a car and was told even if my ca was totaled in the hurricane that I have nothing to worry about because car leases force FULL protection... is this true? .. and does this affect an umbrella policy? Thanks!

I'm not sure how insurance works where you live, but definitely get it. I think your neighbour is confident that his insurance will cover his possessions and that's why he and those other landlords don't care. But the insurance company might want to see some effort made to prevent loss--they can always refuse part of a claim. I'm unclear about the structural damage issues. I feel like the HOA would be collecting part of their fee to cover issues like roofs, etc.

Triggs, just another reason I am not much on people. Give me a parrot any day over most paper aholes.. Except for most of you good folks. Parrot people are different.

wrench13 said:

Triggs, just another reason I am not much on people. Give me a parrot any day over most paper aholes.. Except for most of you good folks. Parrot people are different.

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I agree 1000000000%!!!! For a myriad of reasons I'm not a people person either The longer I'm on this earth and the more I see etc... I prefer the company of my birds LOL