If you have a loss to report, please contact Mirga Dulys (VMI) and she will contact our CNR Agent.

UPDATED 09/14/2017:  If you have a question about the River Oaks master insurance policy or coverage, please contact Deborah Dickerson, our CNR agent.

Contact Deborah Dickerson immediately if you are financing or refinancing a mortgage or Home Equity Line of Credit. Your lender will require proof of specific coverage and Erie has developed certificates of insurance and evidence of insurance that meet those requirements. The certificates will bear the date of your request, hence they are not generic like the Master Policy or Renewal Certificate below, which may also be requested by lenders.

CNR Insurance, Inc.

Deborah Dickerson, River Oaks Insurance Agent

166 West Street, Annapolis, MD 21401-2824
Main Telephone:  1-410-897-9890 x225

Direct:  1-443-321-0181
Fax:  410-897-5957

deborah@cnrinsurance.com
http://www.cnrinsurance.com/

If your mortgage company or bank (for Home Equity Line of Credit) needs the River Oaks insurance documents and certificates with proof of specific coverage ("all in" and guaranteed replacement coverage), there are three ways to obtain them. 

1. CNR Insurance:  Deborah Dickerson (see above for contact information.) This is the only way to get the specific proof of coverage certificates required by lenders/banks.  FREE
   
   
2. River Oaks website:   The Master Policy and Renewal Certificates are above and available directly to you or your mortgage company.  Download/Email. FREE.
   
   
3. HomeWise Docs:  Must register for a free account (mortgage company may already have an account).  Follow prompts. $5.00 fee for Insurance Declaration pages.

This information is taken from the Fall 2011 Community Association LawLetter published by Schild Law Group:

Condominium Insurance

Where the cause of damage to common elements or units originates in a unit, the owner of that unit is responsible for payment of up to $10,000 of the repair cost.

Beginning October 1, 2011, condominium bylaws may be amended by 51 percent of the voting interests to require homeowners to obtain an HO-6 insurance policy which covers repair costs up to $10,000 of the deductible amount under the condominium master insurance policy.

By requiring owners to obtain individual insurance policies to cover such repair costs, condominium associations will be better able to recover that cost from the unit owner where the common elements are damaged and the cause originates in the owner's unit. The new law encourages condominiums to require individual HO-6 insurance policies by making it easier to amend the bylaws to require such insurance.

The Master Policy (MP) for home owner insurance covers the parts of the dwelling that would not fall out were you able to turn the house upside down and shake it.  In essence if you turned the house upside down and shook it, the things that would come out would be your clothes, dishes, TV’s, furniture etc. 

In summary, the unit owner is responsible for whatever damage occurs, up to the amount of the MP insurance deductible, provided the cause of the damage originated on the property of the unit owner.  It also provides for the deductible amount to be $10,000.00 by stating that the HO-6 carrier (your own insurance) would be responsible for covering that portion once you have met the much lower deductible on your HO-6 policy (as long as your coverage allows for that).

What does that mean?  If you spring a leak from your water heater and it floods your house, that is your problem and your personal policy, (your HO-6 policy) would be responsible to pay for all of the damage, not the MP.  However, if your leaky water heater also flooded your neighbor’s unit, the MP would cover your neighbor’s damage.  And, if the damage exceeded the deductible of $10,000, then the MP would kick in and cover the amount exceeding the first $10,000. 

Victory Management Inc. (VMI) is advising you to first contact your HO-6 provider to file your claim.  If the damage exceeds $10,000.00 our MP will then come into play and pay the overage.  If the snow falls off your neighbors roof and damages your house and deck that would be different and the MP would be the point of contact.  VMI would then direct you to Erie Insurance.

Your HO-6 carrier will attempt to deflect your claim to the MP because they believe, in error, that we are a true condominium.  In a true condominium, the unit owner only owns the interior walls of the structure and the exterior is owned by the condominium.  That is not what we are.  We are a hybrid condominium, a "town-dominium".  This means, that we, as unit owners, own the interior and the exterior of our unit.

We are responsible for the siding, the roof, the wood trim, the deck, the garage door etc. The same as if you had a home that stood alone with grass all around on all four sides.  The condominium comes in to play when a major catastrophe occurs.  Let us say that the house across the street burns to the ground.  You look out and see a charred ruin and a big gap between two homes.  The person who owns that home does not have the money to re-build it, and they walk away.

Our MP will step in, and rebuild that home, putting it back to the way it was before the fire.  It will not cover the personal belongings of the previous owner.  It will replace the appliances, the carpeting, the hardwood floors if any, the light fixtures, the heating, plumbing and so forth.  Your property values are protected by not having that charred ruin visible.

Let us assume that a very bad storm rips the roof off the unit.  You would be responsible for the first $10,000 and the MP would pay the rest to have your roof repaired.  But you must keep your roof properly maintained.  That is your maintenance requirement.  If you do not keep your roof properly maintained and the shingles fall off, then rain pours in because you did not keep it up, that is your loss and responsibility.

One of the reasons that we conduct our annual inspections is to alert the various unit owners of these types of things.  This way they know what that they need to repair.  If the fascia boards are not painted, they rot.  This brings termites and water damage.  It makes the property look bad and lowers the property values for everyone in the community. Even though we try to spot those things for the unit owner, it is their own responsibility to keep their unit well maintained.  The fact that they were not told, is not the fault or liability of the inspecting teams.  Inspecting the properties and Units is our way helping you to defer the possibility of further costs.