a) Rufftoy is correct that it almost entirely depends on the ByLaws of the Condominium. (unless there is some local ordinance which contradicts it: for example, in NYC if you have a dog and "openly and notoriously" let everyone know (like, for example, building doormen see you taking it out three times a day for a walk) after a certain time period, the dog get's "grandfthered" in no matter what the loease says.
b) heydave is correct about suds backing up, but that isn't the real issue. there are several issues involved (not in order of importance):
i) The water bill. Water bills have increased greatly in recent years. people with washing mashines inside their units tend to use a lot more water. Evenyone ends up paying it because almost no building has separate metering for water.
ii) Similarly, buildings which don't have separate gas or electric meters per apartment (I've been in some buildings which include electricity in the monthly charge and seen people go away for a week and leave their AC on).
iii) The single biggest insurance dollar claim in the US is due to leaks from burst hoses from washing machines. Did you know that after each time you use your washing machine you're actually supposed to turn the water valve off that feeds it? Do you know anyone who does this? So what you have is hoses (i.e. not copper or other "plumbing") which are under pressure 24/7/365. Eventually over time these hoses will rupture and start spilling about 5 gallons a minute (or more) of water onto the floor of the unit (and probably when your not home). If it take 1/2 for the news to get to the super, get access to the unit, etc. you can easily have over 100 gallons of water leaked. This can destroy the walls in units 10 floors below (whenever I see some prewar apartment building on West End Avenue where they have lots of people who have insotalled Washer/dryer units in the maids bathrooms, you also see the plaster is shot in the maids rooms because of the leaks ever few years. The funny thing is there is a device which an solve this problem, but no one seems to know about it (one of the reasons I always say Managing Agents are incompetant because I've been using this device for 10 years and I've never come across a single managing Agent who knew about it). No, it's NOT a device which sits on the floor and reads moisture and then turns the washer off (which sort of works, but waits till there's a problem). What happens is that everything: hot water, cold water, electricity vent are all fed into a box which you fit into the wall and you plug all the washer's input into it. It reads the electricity usage when you turn on the machine and then (and only then) does it open the valves for the water. So, if the machine isn't being used, no water. This not only stops the situtation where you aren't home and a leak starts, but in and of itself it lengthens the life of the hoses since they don't sit there 24/7/365 under full pressure (which is what eventually causes the bubbles and bursts in the hoses). They only cost about $200 (
http://www.plumbingsupply.com/washingmachineshutoffvalve.html) and if you put them in when you're origianlly installing the plumbing for the washing machine, the
added cost for installing this is minimal.
BTW part of the problem is that Coop/Condo attorneys are mostly telling their clients (Coop/Condo Boards) that they can do whatever the fuck they want and rely on the "Business Judgement Rule" to say that their decisions can not be challenged in court. If you want to see some really fucked up stuff, look up "Pullman" (
http://www.cooperator.com/articles/871/1/Push-and-Pullman/Page1.html)
