Tenant's Car Damaged by Lawn Mower Company - Who is liable?

Question

I have a duplex where tonight the lawn mower company that I hired hit my tenant's vehicle side mirror with his lawn mower and knocked it off. The tenant's vehicle was parked on the street which butts up against the yard. The tenant is saying the lawn mower also scratched the side of her vehicle and put 2 dents in it. The lawn mower company is claiming they only knocked off the side mirror.

I obviously was not there when this happened, but received the call from the tenant. I called the local police department and had them come out to file a report with the tenant present (the lawn mower had already left). He did not provide his insurance information but rather told her he would fix the broken mirror at the end of this week. She thinks this is unacceptable and he did more damage than he is claiming.

My question is, as the landlord, am I responsible/liable for any of this or is this simply a dispute between two parties as if it were a vehicle accident even though it was a lawn mower hitting a vehicle?

Nathan Gesner · Answer

You hired the contractor so you are responsible for them. If the contractor refuses to pay, you should cover the bill and then go after the contractor to recover the loss.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

@Joseph Leonard hopefully you only hire insured contractors to do work. In that case, the tenant can just work with the mowing companies insurance company.

If you chose to hire non-insured people do work on your property, then you are liable to cover the difference here.

Landlord is responsible for who they select to do work, but not responsible for what they do, unless the landlord can be proven negligent in their selection. For example, hiring non-insured  or non-licensed workers.

Frank Chin · Answer

I am not a lawyer too, and I also believe it's not the landlord's fault being on a public street.

I once was in a minor accident, clearly the other person's fault, I was driving down the street, some guy opened his car door on the driver's side, knocked off the side mirror, and dented his door. He came out yelling and screaming, it's all my fault, even though I know it wasn't, but I'm not a lawyer. I hesitated to file an insurance claim thinking it's no big deal to fix a side mirror, and it might raise my rates.

What happened? The guy got a lawyer and claim I was driving too close to his car. But I pointed out it' a real chubby guy, looks like he weighs almost 300 lbs, and I have to be at least driving 2 feet away from his car just to clear him, and he wasn't hit, his car door was. But they still say it's my fault, and kept coming after me, because I'm not a lawyer and I didn't hire one.

So I said, OK, I'll get my insurance involved, even though my rates might go up. What happened? They sent an adjuster down and wrote a report. Then they wrote this guy and his attorney a strongly worded letter, starting with "With all due respect, this accident was not our insured's fault ..." I never heard a beep from this guy and his lawyer after this. This is in addition to the slip and fall at my business, where the lawyer gave up after the insurance got involved.

It turned out my insurance didn't go up. I even got paid for my side mirror when my insurance got after them.

So I can't understand why everyone here is saying I'm not a lawyer, or go ask a lawyer, and if you're a responsible landlord, you should have liability insurance, and umbrella insurance, with legal departments staffed to handle these things, for free for the insured, and waiting for your claim.

Frank Chin · Answer

Being a LL, you must and should have liability insurance. Notify the insurance company right away and have them handle.

Of course the landscaping company has some responsibility and if they are a legitimate business, must be licensed and insured. Through the years, I owned rentals plus businesses and on a few occasions, when these situations occur, I let the insurance companies handle it. Have your insurance get after the contractor's insurance under subrogation. After you file the claim, you wash your hands of it. Couldn't be simpler and you don't have to deal with the tenant's whining.

In one case, the insurance company said I was late in reporting the claim, must be within 30 days of occurrence, but their legal department will handle letter and phone calls. So the man coming after me, and then his lawyer, had to deal with the insurance. It was a minor slip and fall claim. The insurance company's way of handling is ignoring their demands and calls. Finally, my customer's lawyer gave up, figured it was too tough to go after the insurance company, for a smallish claim. The customer came to me begging and crying, but I said, sorry, I can't help, I paid plenty for insurance, and that's what insurance companies are for.

I had an insurance broker and she told me it's better than for me getting a lawyer. I get to use one for free, i.e. the insurance company's legal department.

Grant Rothenburger · Answer

@Joseph Leonard I don't see how this is would be your liability at all.

Jay Helms · Answer

@Joseph Leonard - curious to hear what your lawyer says about this. Seems like it would be between the lawn care company and the car owner. Was she parked legally and what can be proven?

Does this make you want to change your lease so the tenant is responsible for lawn care?

Max T. · Answer

I only see the LL being responsible if they hired an unlicensed/uninsured contractor. Otherwise this is between tenant and landscaper.

Chris Szepessy · Answer

I'm also not a lawyer, but it seems to be a civil matter between the tenant and the lawn service company.  I would just let them figure it out however they see fit.  If it gets ugly with them, you may want to consider hiring a new company.  You don't need them out there fighting/arguing every time they go cut the lawn.

Ray Harrell · Answer

I would disagree, but I'm no lawyer. You didn't do the damage and her vehicle was on the public right-of-way and not technically on your property. I think the lawn company bears full responsibility. If it was on your property, then you would have some liability.

Tenant's Car Damaged by Lawn Mower Company - Who is liable?

Most Popular Reply