HOA insurance

You need a lawyer. No, the owner does not have to occupy a condo unit in order for the HOA's fire insurance to provide coverage. You need to have someone familiar with real estate and condominium sales and financing, review your purchase agreement and your loan documents. The transaction you described does not sound right. If title is still in the name of the seller, you might be vulnerable to losing all the money you have invested and your right to live there. A lawyer should check it all out. You need to have someone famiiliar with HOAs and CC&Rs review your CC&Rs and other governing documents. I have never heard of a condominium HOA where the owners bought their fire insurance separately. If a fire burned several units, insurance on one unit is not going to pay to rebuild other units or common area. If an upper unit is insured and a lower unit is not, and the owner of the lower unit doesn't have cash to pay for repairs, the upper unit cannot be repaired without first repairing the structure which will hold it up. Most homeowners pay at least half the purchase price for their homes by borrowing money from a bank. The banks always require fire insurance. For condos, they always require insurance on the entire building. There must be fire insurance somewhere. The HOA's insurance covers the building and common area only. It does not cover the contents of your unit, including the kitchen appliances, the bathroom fixtures and all of your possessions. It does not cover the floor coverings and any wall coverings, e.g. linoleum, carpet, paint and wallpaper. There is a separate policy that the owner of an individual unit or a tenant can purchase, to cover contents. All occupants of condo units, owners and tenants, should have such coverage. Dana Sack