I have a condo unit on the bottom floor. The tenants reported awhile back that water was leaking through the wall from the outside. There had been an unusually high amount of rain and they had not had any problem like that since they moved in over a year ago. I told the association about this issue and they kind of drug their feet. There hasn't been any leaking of water since these past few months but my concern is that mold may have developed in the wall. The tenants have been very good and are clean and most likely would have reported anything that was visible.

I reported back to the association about wanting to check for mold and they said they would most likely not know anything without cutting into the drywall and that they would not have any idea on what would need to be done without doing that first. I am concerned about health of the tenants, and potential legal issues, if nothing is done about checking for mold.

I would definitely make sure that my concerns were documented in a certified letter to the condo association. This will put the condo association on alert and may prompt action. Years ago, when I owned a condo, we owned the interior walls, the exterior walls were owned by the HOA. I would hate to end up with mold in the wall a year or two down the road and the HOA refusing any liability. Take lots of dated photos. Instruct the tenants to photograph any new leaks they discover and let you know right away.

A friend of mine had a water issue from a unit above them. They reported the problem to their association with little to no results. I got permission from both owners to due some investigation. As a contractor who is certified to deal with mold,

I opened up viewing/testing ports and took samples. I could see the mold with my naked eyes. I then put plugs into these holes to insure no mold spores would escape and cause any issues with the tenants in both units.

With the lab reports given to both owners, the report was then high lighted by the owners attorney's and passed a long to the association, with an estimate for remediation and repairs.

Now the association couldn't sit back and twiddle they fingers doing nothing except buying time.

The association tired to hire "unlicensed" handymen to do the work, putting the owners in harms way -- the liability would be unthinkable. So the owners then notified all owners in the complex that the association wouldn't fix the issues and that they were going to bring suit against everyone, unless things were resolved quickly -- like in 72 hours.

The next day plans were made and licensed experts were hired to remove the mold and restore the property.

Indeed.