By Tamela Wiseman
Question: I have an original popcorn ceiling, which my condo association considers a ceiling covering. Florida Statutes says that a condo association is not responsible for ceiling coverings. I have peeling and cracking in the original popcorn ceiling. — M.F., via email
Answer: Yes, the "popcorn" ceiling is probably a "covering." I called a contractor buddy just to be sure. His initial answer was, "Tam, you know that it is not really made of popcorn, right?" When that was met by total silence on my end, he started to laugh. Blondes can be sensitive when their intelligence is challenged.
The answer is that your ceiling covering may well be made of asbestos, depending on when your condo was built. This means that removing it, although it is relatively easy to do, as I understand it, should only be done by a licensed professional.
The law is evolving as it applies to association responsibility for casualty damage to items in condo units. What you have described does not fall into the casualty insurance category.
It was my good fortune, or misfortune, to work with many professionals that drafted, and then modified, the original Condominium Act. So I will try to explain it, as it was explained to me.
Although condominiums can take many forms, in a traditional multi-family residential complex, someone who buys a unit gets an "easement in air space" surrounded by wall, ceiling and floor coverings as well as an undivided share in the property that has to be used in common. Think of a floating box that you have the right to go in and out of, as well as the right to use the pool, if there is one.
Originally, the Condominium Act made associations responsible for the floor, wall and ceiling coverings, but then abuses began to happen. People actually poured bleach on their carpets so that their association would have to pay to replace them.
So the law was changed.
If you have popcorn ceilings, it was a result of value engineering. It costs so much less to blow in that stuff (whether it is asbestos or Styrofoam) than to pay someone to skip-trowel a ceiling.
If it is not working for you, pay someone to scrape it off and replace it, but I do not think your association has to bear any of that cost.
Correction
My thanks to the reader who wrote me late at night to inform me that in my most recent column, I wrote "tow the line" when the correct idiom is "toe the line."
Tamela Eady Wiseman is a Florida Bar board-certified real estate attorney with 25 years' experience. The subjects discussed her columns are not intended as specific legal advice to anyone and are subject to principles that may change from time to time. Questions may be modified for clarity or brevity. Email questions for possible inclusion in a future column to tew@lawbywiseman.com.
