Massachusetts condo residents forced to evacuate after days without heat and hot water. Fix to take 'weeks' and HOA won't pay for temp housing

Electricity only went out for a few hours for about 500 customers, but the outage fried the shared boiler and hot water systems at the condo complex, leaving dozens of residents without heat or hot water, reported WCVB NewsCenter 5 (1).

Although the management company, Brigs LLC, restored utilities in nine of the 13 buildings, they say they won’t get the parts to fix the others for a few weeks.

In the meantime, Brigs abruptly ordered an extended evacuation, forcing homeowners and renters to find and pay for temporary housing, all with no clear plan for reimbursement.

Condo owner Larissa Lima told CBS News (2) that she’s going to have to “pay out of our pocket” to deal with this evacuation order, and she worried that “some people don't have a plan B. You don't plan to be taken out of your home like that.”

In an email to residents, Brigs said, "While we truly empathize with the challenges this situation may cause, the association is not able to provide or fund alternative accommodations or hotel stays for residents," while encouraging affected residents to file claims with their insurance and the utility, National Grid, WCVB reported.

Shared systems, individual responsibilities

The situation in Andover offers a stark example of the risks of owning or renting a condo: When shared systems fail, residents can pay a steep price.

On top of the immediate discomfort and safety concerns, displaced residents face unexpected burdens such as hotel bills, additional food costs and potentially lost wages, all while waiting for repairs that may be delayed by insurance disputes or supply issues.

And even when times are good, condo living isn’t cheap.

Washington Park condo owner Neeraj Tomar told CBS (2) that she pays “$1,100 condo fees, and the service we are getting, no emergency service, this is crazy.”

Although $1,100 is well above the national median of $135, the Census Bureau (3) found that monthly fees are higher for many of the 21.6 million homeowners who pay condo or homeowners association (HOA) fees. Currently, about 3 million homes pay at least $500 per month.

Whenever things go wrong at a condo, assigning blame can be complex and hotly contested. Condo associations often carry “master insurance” that makes them responsible for common-area systems, but individual owners usually need to insure interiors and personal loss.

So, any failure in shared infrastructure doesn’t just inconvenience residents; it can displace them and impose high out-of-pocket costs without protection. Condo owners who don’t recognize these gaps in coverage and governance can be in for a rude awakening when something major breaks.

Know your rights before the heat goes out

Although there’s a policy for “implied warranty of habitability” (4) to take care of things like heat in landlord-tenant relationships, this policy doesn’t extend to condo residents and their associations.

But that doesn’t mean condo owners are always defenseless in these situations.

There may be state-specific laws related to condo habitability, like Washington’s Condominium Act (5) and Pennsylvania’s Uniform Condominium Act (6), that impose warranties on construction quality. While not the same as the classic landlord-tenant implied warranty of habitability, these policies offer condo owners some assurance that their structures can weather severe storms.

Even with these safeguards, anyone considering renting or owning a condo must recognize that the HOA and property manager aren’t legally responsible for everything that goes wrong.

Take plenty of time to review the condo association’s bylaws and master insurance policies to understand what the HOA has to maintain and whether emergency repairs and temporary housing are covered. Many owners assume dues include protection in a crisis, but they later learn that these costs fall on their shoulders.