Leaking Roof in Condo Building - How to proceed?

[Robyn Henderson]

This post is for a close friend of mine who has been having to deal with this issue for more than a year and asked me for guidance. I'm hoping that I can get some advice from the forums. So my friend owns a top floor condo in her building in Jersey City. The building is self managed. The condo association has elected members but the President essentially runs the building and all decisions go through him. He treats the building as though he is the landlord and does most of the maintenance himself or with a close friend who is a contractor. The building has lots of deferred maintenance (ie 4 years work in progress to paint the hallways, unfinished siding, etc). 

In Nov 2018, my friend noticed water coming in from her second bedroom window and it progressively got worse. She alerted the association immediately and they were slow to respond. She received estimates from roofers who all advised that the roof was end of life and needed to be replaced. The roofers offered to patch but one said that doing so was only a band-aid. The Association President did some dye testing and patched the roof himself by February 2019. The leak returned in April 2019. The Association President and an unlicensed handyman patched the roof at the end of July after multiple false starts and that did the trick. 

Fast forward to this week (Oct 20th 2019): The leak has now moved from the bedroom to the main living area. After a recent rainstorm, the walls are moist and mold/water damage professionals have quoted $3800+ to remediate the damage. Meanwhile, the Association has not taken action to replace the roof. The Association has adequate reserves that will cover what the roofers have provided in estimates. The Condo Association President does not trust the roofers estimates and is paranoid that the roof replacement will be significantly more money.  

My friend does not want to call her insurance provider since her rates are likely to go up. She can file a claim with the building insurance. As a condo owner, she will be responsible for damage inside her unit and the Association is responsible for the common areas, including the roof. My friend wants to threaten legal action but I warned that this approach is very costly and if you lose, you will have to pay the legal expenses of the association. She feels stuck and the association moves at a snail's pace. 

Also note, she has experienced severe asthma this year, potentially due to mold exposure. She is ready to do a mold test which is $700+. 

Has anyone experienced something similar? What advice would you give to my friend?