Indemnification provisions in property management agreements

[John C.]

BPers:

I have been presented with a property management contract that requires me to hold the manager harmless for all sorts of things, including fair housing violations.  At first glance, this vitiates much of the benefit of having a property manager.

I'm interested in others' experiences with indemnification and property management, especially:

1) have you had any luck getting a property manager to accept liability for their own work? It would be helpful to know whether this is going to be an issue with any property manager or if I've just got one with a very aggressive position on this.

2) if you were the target of a lawsuit or action by regulators and your contract with your PM required you to indemnify him/her, how did that play out?

I especially welcome answers from investors with properties located in Virginia.

John C.