By ANGELO ARMBRISTER

Freeport News Reporter

angelo@nasguard.com

One local woman is calling on her condominium association to pay for damages to her unit, which she said was caused by a water leak within the walls.

Vilma Dann, who holds the lease on a unit in the Fortune Hills Condominiums, said that about two years ago she noticed water seeping into her apartment.

She said a plumber was called in to check her pipes and stop the leak. It was then that she learned the leak was not from a pipe inside her apartment unit but rather the walls.

"We got a plumber in and he said that it was coming through the wall," she said.

The rule, she explained, is that if the leak is in the apartment "under your sink, it is your responsibility."

"This is in the wall... so it is the condo association's re-sponsibility," she said, ad-ding that the association refuses to acknowledge or take responsibility for that.

A frustrated Dann explained that the association has ignored all her attempts to have the matter resolved, adding that what "could have been fixed for maybe $100, now is going to cost at least $30,000 because everything is destroyed."

"We eventually had to rip everything out – my refrigerator, my stove, my cabinets, my living-room furniture were all destroyed. The man who owns the place, who just died recently, he came over and said that it was the responsibility of the condo association," she said.

"We got two more plumbers in and they said the same thing that the leak was in the walls. When we send the letters to the association, they just send them back. So it is really discouraging."

Dann explained that the mould and mildew which came from the water settling into the apartment got so bad that she had to move out of the apartment and has been out for close to two years now.

When contacted, Condominium Association President Rawle Maynard, refuted Dann's claims and pointed out that the association's responsibility lies only with exterior upkeep of the condominium property.

"She wants the association to fix the leak that is on the inside of her apartment. We told her that we don't do repairs on the inside... That is not a part of the condominium association's responsibility," asserted Maynard.

"Even if it (the leak) was in the wall, the association is only responsible for what is on the outside."

Maynard furthered that Dann does not own the apartment, her son does and that she is doing all she can to make her claims seem valid.

"Ms. Dann has the leaking water in the place and is doing all she can to grow mould inside of the apartment... to try to see if she can get some money out of the association," he said.

Maynard noted that he himself has been to the said apartment along with others and have determined that the responsibility of repairs lies with the apartment owner because the leak was under the kitchen sink.