August 23, 2025 | Mark Luis Foster
This summer, the local media was all in a lather about a lawsuit that was filed against the board leaders of the Avonlea Townhome Association in Lakeville for roof repairs that “homeowners did not vote for.” We all know how ridiculous that premise is, and reporters who did even five minutes worth of research would find out that boards are volunteers who are elected by homeowners to make maintenance decisions on behalf of homeowners, like re-roofing projects. But, I digress.
The issue started with a re-roofing project from a hail storm that damaged many of the roofs in the Lakeville Association. Homeowners were not happy, claiming they were not informed and that the repairs were “unnecessary.”
According to the Sun Newspaper:
A lawsuit filed by a group of Lakeville residents against their homeowners association was dismissed in state court earlier this month, leaving each resident responsible for up to $17,200 in roof repairs ordered by the association. Five residents from Avonlea Townhomes in Lakeville claimed that the three-member association board made unnecessary repairs to their homes that were not covered by insurance.
I always felt that the whole master insurance angle was missed in the multiple media reports, with the fact that insurance companies are not going to cover something that is “not necessary.” And homeowners are supposed to have HO-6 policies in place to cover the deductibles, which amounted to $17K for Avonlea.
SJJ Law’s Finn Jacobsen was quoted:
“Insurance companies are not in the business of green-lighting claims and saying that there’s damage when there’s not — that’s just bad business, and frankly, is problematic,” said the board’s attorney, Finn Jacobsen. “While there might be contractors who didn’t think there was damage on one roof or the other . . . I would argue that once one insurance company says there’s damage, that creates an obligation for the association to make those repairs.”
Sounds like a meeting in September seeks to remove the sitting board members over the issue.
You can read the whole article HERE.
