The Homestead is a large planned unit development in Leelanau County established in the 1970’s and consisting of a hotel, several condominiums, and a beach club. In 2017, the successor developer of the development sued five of the condominium associations (among the earliest established) that declined to sign an expense sharing agreement, claiming that an easement granted to each across a shared road was a common element of each of the projects and that each was required to, but failed, to contribute to the expense of maintenance and repair of the road. Defendants answered and denied that the road as a part of their respective common elements, and that the claim for any expense was barred by waiver or laches. Following trial, the trial court found that the easement was not a common element of any of the condominium projects, but that each was obligated by common law to share in the expenses of the road. Finally, the court held that the condominiums were obligated only for future expenses because the claim for prior expenses was barred by laches. The developer appealed.
In Bayberry Group, Inc. v Crystal Beach Condominium Association, a published opinion of the Michigan Court of Appeals, the court affirmed the finding that the road was not a common element of the condominiums and that the condominiums were obligated by common law to contribute to the expenses, but held that the claim was not barred and remanded the case to the trial court to determine the expenses due and because the cost-sharing formula fashioned by the trial court was based in part on assumption and not fact.