Giantaxe

Each individual condo will have insurance for the unit itself and the HOA will have insurance for the common areas of the building, which typically means everything outside a unit. So it will depend what the HOA insured themselves for. But my guess is that it won't cover anything like the total expenses of a collapse like this. That's why you're already seeing lawsuits flying - against the HOA board, the city of Surfside and, I expect, the building that was recently constructed next door that was purported to cause vibrations of the now collapsed tower. I read both the architect and developer are now dead so that presumably rules out suits in that direction. Plus, statutes of limitations have presumably expired since the time of the original construction. All this probably means a guaranteed legal shit-show.

scrubbedexpat091

Yes it will be a who knows how many years long legal battle/s over this.

I just don't know how insurance works for owners of condos, as a renter we only insure contents, but I do wonder looking over our policy there is a vague section about catastrophic events and exclusions but who knows, insurance documents require a legal degree to understand.

excpomea

Condo owners are responsible to insure everything up to the drywall. Including their possessions and contents of the condo (If they can get insurance) We could not on the ground floor of our condo.
HOA is responsible for the building itself.

Jerseygirl

It beggars belief that there were spectators watching the building being demolished. Didn’t they learn anything from 9/11?

Steerpike

Did I hear that the govt. has declared a disaster area? If so, there may be some financial remedy there.

I was looking at a condo in California a few years ago and the HOA was excluding responsibility for things like decks, even though they are 'outside'. Decks in California (and presumably in Florida!) are key sources of trouble due to wood rot. Obviously this does not apply to a high-rise, which would presumably employ concrete/steel patio / decks, but in low-rise (2-3 story) condos, the decks are typically wooden and very often rot out, and have been a huge source of expense for HOAs so they try to avoid responsibility. Another issue I pursued on a potential purchase was 'consequential damage' (I think that's the term). So - roof leaks, which is the responsibility of the HOA, but if that leak causes damage to your flooring, who's responsible for that? In my view, since it was the roof leak that was the root cause, subsequent consequential damage to the interior flooring should also lie with the HOA but I was told this was not the case. Sounded like a lawsuit to me!

The trouble is, when you buy a place, you are so tempted to overlook all these exclusions because you fall in love with the place.

Steerpike

Well, I presume there's a notion of 'safe distance'?

Giantaxe

In addition to this, I think I read that the HOA board has $2m in liability insurance for those officers:

"A lawyer for the condo association told the judge the building's insurance coverage totals $48 million. The judge said the condo's land will also be an asset, which he estimates will add between $30 million and $50 million to the fund."

https://www.npr.org/sections/live-up...o-receivership

Nutmegger

To say nothing of the fact that it was the execution of a death sentence on the innocent pets that were left behind.

karenkaren1

there was a shelter in place warning for immediate area and entire town of Surfside closed off to nonresidents.

md95065

One hopes that Florida's notion of a 'safe distance' for the demolition of a building is a bit more realistic than the LAPD's notion of a 'safe distance' for the 'controlled' detonation of explosives ...

Jerseygirl

I would hope people took their pets with them.

Nutmegger

Unfortunately, that was not the case. Someone even tried a last-ditch court attempt to stop the demolition because of an unrecovered pet.

Jerseygirl

I thought they were given a certain timeframe to evacuate. Shortly after we bought out condo in Toronto, the fire alarm went off. I put a dog under each arm, picked up my handbag and legged it down the fire escape staircase.

Nutmegger

https://nypost.com/2021/07/05/heartb...med-legal-bid/

Jerseygirl