## Facts

- Two unit owners (and a venture entity) owned units in a Houston condominium project governed by an owners’ association and a condominium declaration.
- The owners experienced serious roof leaks and claimed the association failed to keep the roofs in good condition and repair.
- The owners paid for certain repairs and related damage remediation and sought to treat those expenditures as credits/offsets against maintenance assessments.
- The association asserted the leaks resulted from defective original design and construction, not from any lack of ordinary maintenance.
- The association undertook efforts to address the roof problems, including repairs and consultation, and pursued remedies relating to the original construction; a proposed special assessment for a comprehensive fix was rejected by a majority of owners.
- The owners sued to enjoin collection of past-due assessments unless their claimed offsets were recognized; the association counterclaimed for unpaid assessments, interest, and attorney’s fees.
- After a bench trial, the court denied the owners’ requested injunction/offset relief and awarded the association the unpaid assessments, interest, and attorney’s fees, supported by findings of fact and conclusions of law.

## Issues

1. Whether the evidence was factually sufficient to support findings that the roof leaks were caused by design/construction defects and that the association took reasonable maintenance measures.
2. Whether, under the condominium declaration and Texas condominium law, an owner’s obligation to pay maintenance assessments is independent of the association’s duty to maintain and repair common elements.
3. Whether owners may withhold, offset, or enjoin the collection of maintenance assessments based on claimed repair expenditures and alleged maintenance failures.

## Decision

- The court of appeals affirmed the judgment for the association.
- The evidence was factually sufficient to support findings that the roof problems were attributable to defective design and construction and were not caused by the association’s failure to maintain.
- The owners’ duty to pay maintenance assessments was independent of the association’s duty to maintain and repair common elements.
- The owners were not entitled to withhold or enjoin assessments based on alleged maintenance failures or claimed offsets; any reimbursement/offset claim, if valid, accrued separately and did not excuse timely payment of assessments.
- The association was entitled to recover the past-due assessments, interest, and attorney’s fees on its counterclaim.

## Legal Principles

- In a condominium regime, the obligation to pay periodic maintenance assessments generally operates as an independent covenant from the association’s duty to maintain and repair common elements.
- Absent specific contractual or statutory authority, owners may not use self-help (withholding or enjoining assessments) to force resolution of common-element repair disputes.
- A claimed right to reimbursement or offset for owner-funded repairs may be deferred and adjudicated separately, but it does not suspend the ongoing duty to pay assessments when due.
- On factual insufficiency review, an appellate court considers all evidence and reverses only if the finding is so against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be manifestly unjust.

## Conclusion

The appellate court held that the association’s right to collect maintenance assessments was not contingent on curing the roof-leak problem, particularly where the leaks stemmed from design/construction defects and the association acted reasonably; owners therefore could not withhold or enjoin assessment payments based on claimed repair offsets.


Pooser v. Lovett Square Townhomes Owners’ Ass’n, 702 S.W.2d 226 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1985, writ ref’d n.r.e.)