Charlie:
Arturo in Pasadena says … he has a two-part question. He wants to know who he can talk to about getting replacement cost insurance for his condo, just the inside of it, because he feels like he’s over-insuring it. Meanwhile, he says, his second question is: “The HOA wants him to insure both the inside and the outside of his unit, while they have a master policy. Do I need to hire an attorney?” he asks.
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Tom:
First off, when HOA says, “jump left,” you jump left. That’s Texas.
Charlie:
That’s ……the answer.
Tom:
… I can’t tell you how to get … HOA’s have such a power in the state of Texas.
Charlie:
Yeah.
Tom:
You do what they want you to do.
Charlie:
Right.
Tom:
The other thing is, is on the interior, you’ll have to talk to your insurance company about walls and stuff. That’s pretty simple, but what most people don’t realize is they have a lot of things in their home; guns, jewelry, other items that aren’t covered. You really need to sit with your insurance agent and really understand the coverage of not only the interior structure, but most importantly the contents. That’s where most people go wrong, is they just assume whatever’s in the house is covered, and it is not.
Charlie:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Tom:
Get with your agent and go over piece by piece the important items in your home. The walls and stuff is pretty minimal. If the HOA wants you to cover the whole thing, then you just got to cover the whole thing.