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Topic
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If a lot owner finds concrete cancer in the floor of the lot and then does not notify the strata and just does a cosmetic repair and tiles over the concrete cancer and sells the apartment. Is the strata still liable for the resulting much larger repair when the concrete cancer resurfaces many years later and has spread out under doors and walls. Can the new owner of the damaged lot expect the other strata owners to cover the costs of repairing all of the resulting damage from the previous owners not reporting the discovery of the concrete cancer to the strata when they first discovered it and just covered it up.
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Replies
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The short answer unfortunately is yes.
There is no positive obligation on an owner to report an issue with common property. As a general observation it is in the interests of an owner to do so, as they bear part of the costs of rectifying it, and the sooner it is dealt with the better. The previous owner didn’t do that.
In this case, you can’t expect the new owner to foot the bill, it’s common property and it needs to be fixed. Even if the previous owner were still there, that would be the case.