Juneau’s record-breaking glacial eruption flooding during the month of August almost swept the condo situated on Riverside Drive into the Mendenhall River.
The next morning, following the tragedy, Riverside Condominium Homeowners Association treasurer John Dittrich saw the building floating over the riverbank. He called an emergency gathering for board members from the HOA board.
The span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”It seemed extremely unstable and in a very dangerous position. We acted quickly,” Dittrich said. “We approved the emergency recourse to our reserves. These were not intended to be used in such a .”
Residents’ money collected to pay for maintenance routines such as garbage pickup or occasional painting was turned into an emergency assistance fund. The fund was sufficient to help stabilize the unstable Building D but it was a tiny part of the repairs. Building D requires a brand foundation rebuild and the deterioration has left three other buildings susceptible to flooding in the future.
The cost of fixing the problem is estimated at over $1 million.
The state declaration of disaster granted some funds for recovery that could be as high as 20.500 dollars per homeowner. However, the manner in which Alaska laws treat HOAsand the manner in which state disaster aid is handed out — renders Riverside Condo residents ineligible for assistance from the state.
It’s a span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”You’re in the middle and you’re not able throw your hat in the air for another amount of money,” Dittrich said. “So it’s a bit frustrating for many people. .”
Recovery aid does not meet the needs
Condo residents have complained that the recovery aid from safety nets they are familiar with like insurance, state and federal disaster aid isn’t up to expectations. Since the flood, insurance companies have refused to pay for the majority all of the claimants. In the latter part of September in late September, the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied requests for assistance in the event of a disaster.
Brenna Heitz hasn’t been allowed to enter her apartment on the top building D’s top floor. She was able to apply for help in a natural disaster through the government which could in the future provide repairs to property damaged by a natural disaster. However, she was denied.
The state informed her that repairs to her building’s damage weren’t her responsibility.
It’s a span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”It’s the HOAs responsibility. In order to correct the issue, they’ll need funds, which is through us” Heitz said. “I cannot qualify for homeowner aid even when the money comes from my wallet .”
This is due to Alaska laws require homeowners’ associations to have a share of responsibility in the case of “common components.” This instance all Riverside Condo properties count as common elements and the 51 homeowners of nine HOA condos are responsible for repairs despite the fact that most of the properties were unaffected from the flooding.
Every resident of the condo must be able to pay between $21,000 to $26,000 for repair, based upon the dimensions of their condo. However, under the state’s laws that the HOA is considered an organization that is not an individual. That means that individuals such as Heitz aren’t able to access the majority of state-specific disaster assistance.
It’s a span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”I was ignorant of the magnitude of this incident when it first occurred. And I was ignorant of the amount of money it would cost,” Heitz said.
Private loans, donations can fill in the gap in funding
Heitz and a few of her neighbors rely on donations from relatives as well as friends and the public in general. A friend of Heitz established an GoFundMe which has raised more than $28,000 — enough to pay for Heitz’s portion of the repair costs.
She explained that, without the donations, she’d need to get a loan. That’s exactly what the majority of people living in these structures are doing. Local lender True North Federal Credit Union provided loans at low interest rates that were below market that could be used by up to twenty people. Dittrich states that the majority of those loans were taken advantage of.
Federal loans from the Small Business Administration recently became available. As opposed to aid from FEMA homeowners’ associations can be qualified. However, Dittrich explained that this option came too late. Condo owners may consider it however, the HOA will not.
Others who own condos, such as Joanna Forst, took money from their savings. Forst has a home in the unaffected Building A near the riverbank which she leases out. She explained that she was required to pay repairs was an initial shock.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”That’s an enormous amount of money that’s taken from everybody’s pocket. But, that’s the contract I signed up for,” Forst said. “And it was a difficult pill to swallow. .”
Forst could pay her full payment, however, as a stay-at-home mother she acknowledged that the money was an important source of income for her husband.
“My expenditure has been reduced to nothing,” Forst said.
However, in the end she felt that the repair seemed as a worthwhile investment to safeguard her home from flooding in the future.
Dittrich estimates that around three-quarters of Riverside Condo residents have made their payments, while the remainder have to use a variety of payment options.
span style=”font-weight 400 ;”>”Our aim is to have a lot of this work finished before winter gets underway,” Dittrich said. “And it’s definitely a big job.”
The bulk of the initial work required to secure the bank is completed.
