Burglary at Rental Property

[Chris Calabrese]

So after a few years of investing, I had a career first on Tuesday. One of my tenants called and said they had been robbed. Someone kicked in the back door, ransacked the house, stole TV's, etc. All in broad daylight. According to the police, there has been a wave of break-in's in that immediate area since Christmas. The damage was only to the door, which I promptly replaced, so really no big deal for me, but definitely an interesting day.

Luckily for this tenant, they had renter's insurance. I'm sure most tenants don't carry it, so I figured it's a good time to remind everyone of how important it is. In a lot of cases, a major loss like this for a tenant could mean them not being able to pay their rent in the near future. I have been putting a reminder in my leases for tenants to get a policy. Does anyone require their tenants to carry renter's insurance?

[Tim Norris]

On a related note, about 60% of claims to investment properties are caused by tenant negligence (think kitchen fires, etc...). If the DON'T have renter's insurance, they likely have sufficient assets to indemnify you (for your deductible) or your insurer (for the damages). The most important reason to require and enforce renter's insurance is for the claims they cause...