Hey all, hoping you can help me think through our HOA’s options here.
I’m on the board for a 125-unit townhouse HOA. The HOA is responsible for all exterior elements of the community, including the brick on the buildings.
About a month ago, one of our units was hit by a car in the middle of the night. Witnesses reported that two cars appeared to be racing, one lost control, and drove directly into the building. The crash took out a street pole, damaged landscaping and grass, and caused significant exterior damage to the townhouse. Thankfully, it missed the structural pillar supporting the second-floor balcony, which could have made this much worse. There was an arrest made on site but I’m unsure if it’s the driver that hit the unit or someone else.
Here’s where things have gotten complicated: our regular HOA manager is on leave, and the person filling in has not handled this well. The board specifically directed her to have an adjuster inspect and document the damage before any cleanup occurred. Instead, she sent a company out to clean up the site. Fortunately, several board members took extensive photos beforehand.
From the beginning, our direction has been clear: obtain the police report, identify the responsible driver, and pursue recovery through their insurance. Instead, the interim manager obtained a repair quote (around $12,000, not including landscaping restoration or an engineering inspection) and contacted our master insurance carrier about filing a claim, which was the exact opposite of what the board directed.
Our carrier has now confirmed what we already suspected: because the repairs are below our deductible, filing a claim makes little sense and could negatively impact our rates.
Despite repeatedly directing management to pull the police report and begin pursuing the driver/driver’s insurance, that still hasn’t happened. We’re now being told we should simply pay for repairs ourselves because recovery could require small claims court or legal representation, which may cost more than the damages.
That advice doesn’t sit right with me. My view is that it would be fiscally irresponsible not to at least investigate recovery options before spending HOA funds. At minimum, it seems worth identifying the driver, determining whether they were insured, and making a demand through their carrier before deciding whether further action is worthwhile.
Curious how others would handle this, particularly from an HOA board perspective. Would you pursue the driver/insurance directly? Hire counsel? Push management harder? Something else?