In our condo, we have an owner that is delinquent on his assessment payments, but he continues to have the property leased. We have issued his tenant an Assignment of Rent. The tenant has agreed to the terms that the rent has to be paid to the association to satisfy the delinquency. Are we obligated to maintain the upkeep of the inside of the unit or is that the responsibility of the owner?

—Keeping Up in Kendall

In general, the association’s maintenance responsibilities, however delineated or defined in the governing documents,” according to Attorney Leonard Wilder of the law firm of Bakalar & Associates, P.A., in Coral Springs, “do not change based upon the delinquency (or non-delinquency) status of an owner. In other words, if the Declaration or in the case of a co-op, proprietary lease or bylaws, states that the association is to maintain certain portions of a unit, that obligation continues.”