All Forum Posts by: Ali L.

Are there any grounds/forums to dispute a broker fee? Tenant is in the condo about 30 days and so far has had a few major infractions resulting in ban from public facilities and assessment of additional common fees. On top of blatant disregard for the condo rules (which they signed acknowledging before move-in), the tenant speaks and understands very little English. The broker did not disclose this to the landlord. The best option seems to cancel lease for non-compliance and relist. Sucks to have to pay full broker fee again!

0 Votes

@Jason Riddle In NYC. Insurance went from $2000 to almost $4000. Count yourself lucky! Also try tweaking things like deductible and replacement value to try to get premium lower.

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San Antonio, Texas

@Ryan Judah Have an active insurance claim for alleged injury in the apartment. It's been about 1.5 years since tenant made the claim and hired a lawyer. (no coincidence that we recently started eviction proceedings!!) Tenant finally presented medical records and insurer says it's questionable and offered $2,500.00 compensation. I would say assess the situation: can you prove you have liability/no negligence, what's your insurance deductible - more expensive to fight it or pay out, do you want to keep the tenant, maybe a noncash offer like half month's rent deduction the will resolve.

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Tacoma, Washington

Quote from @Paul T.:

Thanks to OP for this post! From it I have obtained the name of another competitive insurer to add to my arsenal.

I have not used Opie, but after reading the posts here, I went online and obtained a quote for one SFH rental. The price was lower than anyone else offered.

But ...

The first thing I observed was the replacement cost portion of the quote, was, IMO, less than what it will actually cost to demolish the remains of the existing structure, pay for any hazardous waste removal following a catastrophic loss, and actually pay to replace the property in the event of a total loss, even though I used the quote feature to increase the replacement cost value by 20% (the maximum it would allow). So I would caution everyone to make sure the replacement cost for your improvements will realistically cover your actual replacement cost in the event of a total loss.

And just a reminder. My recollection is (and insurance experts on BP can correct me if my memory is wrong), but most insurers will only pay "replacement cost" policy limits, if you actually replace the damaged property. If you don't actually replace the damaged property, the insurer will normally only pay you the "actual cash value," i.e., the depreciated value of the property. So if your replacement cost valuation on the policy is not high enough to actually rebuild the property (oftentimes this is the situation when contractors are charging premiums because they are so busy with other losses), and unless you are personally willing to pay the shortfall to rebuild the property, the insurer will only pay you the depreciated (ACV) for your loss. And of course, if your actual cash value is less than the current mortgage(s) on the property, all of the cash value payment will go to the lenders.

Good advice. It's interesting that Obie returned a $200K value but they do allow editing so I was able to correct to an amount I feel was midway between principal and replacement value. Insurance costs are going up like crazy. You have to find a middle ground, IMO

2 Votes

Quote from @Holly Barrett:

So I'm comparing them w/Foremost on our Short Term Rentals, the quotes are $500-$1000 less than I am currently paying for each property per year. However, I notice that Personal Injury is not included and I'm thinking that may be important to have for a Short Term Rental. There's also no Personal Property coverage, which is not a deal breaker to me. Thoughts?

Called a few Foremost agents in NYC and either no pickup or don't do over 3 units. :( :(

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Sounds like you need worker's comp. Ordinarily for employees, but you can also cover contractors w/o insurance. Also consider having workers sign a contract that stipulates they are required to have and maintain insurance.

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New York City, New York

Referral to experienced and affordable accountant in the Phillipines:

https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:61c5536d-d27e-31bf-82f7-297b1873fd28

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@Tina Lee Apartments.com portal is very user friendly and affordable. I don't know of any credit reporting service.

1 Vote

@Kevin Sobilo Completely agree

1 Vote

@Ryan Brown Try calling NYCHA to see if they have info. I know they just launched an emergency voucher program for special cases. Also try to make contact with Case Managers at local shelters.

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New York City, New York

All Forum Posts by: Ali L.

Ali L. has started 12 posts and replied 115 times.

Post: Grounds for broker fee refund on rental, Ontario

Post: Homeowners Insurance Increase

Post: Tenant seeking compensation for an injury in her apartment

Post: Has anyone used Obie Insurance?

Post: Has anyone used Obie Insurance?

Post: Insurance for contractors

Post: Your 1800Accountant Experiences

Post: Can i text a habitual late tenant following message?

Post: Potential Tenant has an eviction started but was dismissed

Post: In Search of Rental Assistance Programs