Who has the right to make a claim against a builder-developer for a problem with a town home or condominium?
Generally, anyone who suffers a legal injury recognized by the law can sue those responsible for causing the injury. Exactly who can sue and for what kinds of damages depends on whether the individual unit or a common element has suffered damage, what steps are necessary to repair the damage to ensure it does not occur again, and the specific language of the homeowner’s Purchase Contract and his or her association’s governing documents, such as the Declaration of Covenants and HOA Bylaws. Original and later owners of a home or condominium (including a townhome) generally all have rights of some kind under the law. Often, the homeowners association will join with individual unit owners in the suit; sometimes the homeowners association will sue on behalf of or for the benefit of the individual unit owners, particularly if an identical construction defect is repeated from one unit to the next, or if the defect affects a “common element” owned and used by the homeowners association and the
