Condominium owners are mad as heck and not going to take it anymore, or so says Brian Harte, 37, of New Haven County, of the Connecticut Condominium Owners Coalition (CCOC).

"There is no remedy for people who spend thousands and thousands of dollars defending situations where the property is not being maintained," Harte says, emphasizing the fact that condo owners have no recourse to take action against unscrupulous Condo Boards.

“There is a layer of politics that unit owners within these complexes face, but the boards play by whatever rules they choose to live by,” according to Harte. “A lot of animosities arise when people find they have no where to turn for help.”

Some condo owners complain that their boards of directors and management companies ignore their complaints and CCOC is working to see that state laws that have been created to protect condo owners work as intended.  

More than 250,000 people in Connecticut live in condominium type housing.

Earlier this month the CCOC issued a survey to more than 800 condo owners in the state. The survey closed with a final count of 301 responses, and all counties in the state were represented. The result of the survey (see attached PDF of the CCOC's recent press release) shows that almost half of the respondents had concerns about the way their condominiums operate.

The survey included 38 questions about the way the boards are required to operate, such as:

• Does your board: Provide adequate meeting notices with place, time, and agenda?
• Provide previous year’s minutes for owner review/questions?
• Provide owners with financial statements at board / annual meetings?

'You got no rights'

Conversations with condo owners show that in many cases, even the most basic level of expectations are not met by the board to the satisfaction of the owners.

“I think these condo complexes are little kingdoms that make decisions about how they feel that day,” says Janet Grey, a condo owner in Woodbury. “There are rules that apply and don't on other days.”

Grey says that having an ombudsman who could direct people to another agency to pursue their cause or interest would be very helpful.

Marshall Johnson owns a condo in Naugatuck and says that he has suffered retaliation through his board's actions. However, he adds, the board has become more responsive in the last year and a half since new legislation was passed.

Johnson's concern is that many of the owners are seniors and would not feel comfortable taking a strong stand for themselves. He also complained that it was difficult to find out who did certain work.

“Some contractors did shabby work. The gutters were never hooked up they were just put into the ground. They were supposed to run out to the river,” Johnson reports. “They keep coming up with assessments, but we can't vote on assessments. They just took down a tree and assessed everyone, but when we wanted to take a tree down, they wouldn't let us do it. You got no rights.” 

The CCOC has compiled the survey data into a proposal that has been submitted to numerous representatives, senators, and specific legislative committees that have expressed support for condo law.

To see the proposal, visit the CCOC website.