If damage occurs after mains water damage due to defective pipes in a condominium owner's apartment, this must be paid for jointly by all condominium owners. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH)/judgement of September 16, 2022 - V ZR 69/21 V ZR 69/21 In this case, a community of owners had taken out building insurance for the separate and common property. However, due to repeated incidents, this only covers 25 percent of the damage.
Due to the increased deductible of the building insurance, a plaintiff now demanded, among other things, a different distribution of the deductible from the previous practice. Up to now, the costs have been divided among the owners by an administrator according to the amount of the co-ownership shares. The plaintiff wanted to ensure that she no longer shared in the costs which, in her opinion, were incurred exclusively on the defendant's separate property.
The plaintiff currently failed before the BGH and has to share in the costs. However, the BGH has referred one point back to the Court of Appeal. This court must now decide whether the allocation formula can be changed in future. According to the BGH, homeowners' associations must pass resolutions jointly. In this case, however, it could be an "unfair burden on the plaintiff", as the pipe water damage occurred in the area of the residential units and not in her commercial unit.
Source: V ZR 69/21/bundesgerichtshof.de
© Fotolia
