Q: In my building, the apartment owners want to install an elevator, but I live on the ground floor. Do I need to chip in and pay for the installation or maintenance of the elevator?
A: First to reiterate the disclaimer: This blog is for information purposes only; it is not a source for legal advice. We do not accept any liability to any person who does rely on the content of this website.
That being said, Section 59(F) of the Land Law deals with the law regarding installation of an elevator in a building. The law says that 2/3 of the apartment owners in a building can vote to install an elevator. Those who vote for the elevator must pay for its installation except that ground floor owners can vote for the installation but are not required to pay for it. On the other hand, all apartment owners (including ground floor owners) are obligated to pay for the costs of maintenance and repair of the elevator unless a majority of the apartment owners who own 2/3 of the common property of the building vote to insert language in the the articles of association to suspend the provisions of this section.
So it appears that you would not need to pay for the installation of the elevator but you would have to pay for maintenance and repairs unless you can get the other owners to exempt you.
Although it may seem strange that a ground floor owner needs to pay for the maintenance and repairs of the elevator, I think the rationale is that the elevator increases the value of all the apartments in the building (not to mention that it makes it easier to visit your friends upstairs).
There are some buildings where only the owners who have paid for the installation of the elevator have a key to use it. It seems that such a practice would be legitimate if voted on and included in the articles of association.
The text of the law is after the jump:
