On Thurs. we woke up to no hot water. Cold was running but hot was not. We called Caron and Waltz. They sent a person over who went up into the attic, shook the two red water pipes and it started to flow. He was here 5 minutes tops. It cost us $45.00 for the 1/2 hour service charge.

On Thurs. a neighbor called Maine Properties for a neighbor’s house (MPI has a key). [There’s a lesson here for you keyless few!] What should she tell the snowbirds about charges?

Another neighbor called Maine Properties and they came and fixed her frozen pipes as well. She said she was not asked for any money.

Two questions:

Should residents call Maine Properties for this problem?

Will the associantion be charged for this service call or the individual resident?

MAINE PROPERTIES Pete Garrett responds:

Owners should be prepared to pay outside vendors on emergency calls just as they would in a single family home. Outside vendors have no idea about warranties between builders and owners or limited or common elements. They just know that you called for a service and they provide it.

Maine Properties, Inc. will respond to emergency calls and make a determination whether the charge is the owner's, the association's, or should be billed back to the builder if the item is under warranty. We do not ask for money at the time of the call but rather invoice after the call.

In the case of the frozen pipes, I have notified Ron Smith of Custom Built Homes that there appears to be a design flaw where the cold water pipe enters into the upstairs water heater room. The wall is not insulated and continues to freeze where the pipe travels through the wall. He has stated that they will come out to insulate the wall to keep the freezing from occurring in the future. Custom Built Homes owners who had frozen pipes last week should call Angie to see if they will come and blow insulation into the wall cavity.