North Topsail HOA refuses to fix leaky roof, couple leaves behind major water damage

NORTH TOPSAIL BEACH, NC (WWAY) — After Tropical Storm Debby two months ago, Jeff Wells and Jana Passe discovered water coming from the roof into their condo at Topsail Dunes Villas on New River Inlet Road.

The couple got in touch CAMS property managementand a renovation company installed dehumidifiers to prevent mold.

The HOA They told the couple that the roof had been patched but water was still coming into their apartment.

The HOA told the couple that even though roof maintenance was the HOA’s responsibility, their homeowner’s insurance company – not the HOA – would have to cover the roof repairs.

“They tried to pawn it off on us,” Wells said. “They kept saying, ‘File it under your HO6, that’s what your HO6 is for.’ That’s not what my HO6 policy is intended for. I made it very clear that the roof was their fault.”

After the HOA filed a claim with their insurance company, the claim was denied due to lack of roof maintenance. The HOA appealed the decision, but the case was again rejected.

“It was at this point that the stone wall was built. “Communications had completely broken down,” Wells noted.

Wells and Passe said the HOA then refused to repair the roof unless the couple took them to court, a move Wells believes was calculated.

“They hope we’ll run out of money or make us so unhappy that we’ll just leave. Who can walk away with $300,000? This is the investment of a lifetime,” Wells explained.

“Even if we had money and decided to pay the bill and renovate it, we can’t because water is still coming in and no one is doing anything about it,” Passe added.

Wells and Passe said their apartment is currently uninhabitable due to toxic mold. They were told that the apartment would have to be gutted from floor to ceiling to make it safe again.

“We paid all of our savings out of our own pocket and then started selling things that we really only needed to raise cash for. “You shouldn’t have to live like that,” Wells said.

WWAY contacted all five board members of the HOA and CAMS Property Management, including the corporate office, but we have not received a response as of Monday evening.