I thought about withholding the maintenance fees - but I read that not paying maintenance is a foreclosure-able event (even in an escrow account), as it is a first/priority lien item.

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stop paying your maintenance and this should get you some attention. make sure you put it in an account seperately...and if you live in a bldg with 10 units or less go back to self managing and get yourself on the board.

Thanks for your comments - it is good to know we're not alone in our frustration...

Did the CA reimburse you for your out-of-pocket expenses? I'm concerned that the CA won't reimburse us if we go ahead and repaired the damages inside our apartment caused by the common elements - what would be our options / leverages to press for reimbursement?

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I'm happy to know everyone has the same challenged with their CA and their PMC. I know this doesn't give you hope, but it makes me feel better every CA seems dysfunctional (not responding unless it effects them directly) and a PMC that doesn't respond or do things in a timely manner. The only thing we've found that works is to do the legwork ourselves with a warning and date as in, "if we don't receive a response by _____ we plan to have x contractor conduct the work". We've actually done that and of course the CA only cares when it effects them so it worked out fine.

We've only had our CA respond when the leak hit their floor - then it was mayhem - two years later.

5 units in total;
the repair was already voted on during condo meetings and emails, and special assessment had been collected as well (so we have the money in the reserves for the repairs);

During this 1.5+ years, we also switched from self managed to a professional management company - I was hoping this switch would actually help push to get the repairs done faster. But now the management company is telling me their designated contractor is busy (we actually got estimates from the contractor already and all owners had approved the cost and the repair itself as well), and therefore can't set down a date for the actual repair.

I'm getting really tired of waiting, and waiting, and waiting.... and I'm the only one that keeps bugging the management company (who's not even responding to me half the time) to get this done - I guess since no one else's apartment is affected, they're not really concerned whether this gets done or not.

How many units are in your condo and does your association have meetings at which capital projects and repairs can be voted on and approved?

Seeking advice on how to deal with our situation:

We have some water damage inside our apartment due to holes/ cracks in the external wall of the brownstone building. This was discovered and reported to the condo assoc back in Sept 2010.

As of today, the external repair still had not be carried out (long story), and hence we still had not repaired the internal damage.

we're starting to get VERY frustrated at the situation, and is wondering what can we do, and what can we tell the condo assoc, to get the repairs (both external and internal) done asap.

Advice would be much appreciated.