All Forum Posts by: Michael Jones

The contractor you hire should either carry work mans comp insurance or depending on the state they can fill out and register the state waiver form that releases them from work mans comp claims and coverage.

If the contractor has not filled out a state waiver and does not carry work mans comp and they get injured then they can file a suit to cover their lost wages during the time they are injured. This does not just apply to rental property but also applies to having work done on your personal residence.

So to answer your question, I verify that a contractor has work mans comp insurance or a state waiver for any and all persons I hire. Yes, even the person you hire to cut the grass should have work mans comp insurance. Again, if they do not and they injure themselves you are the actual employer that hired the injured worker just as the company down the road.

How do you think Y2K will affect my rental portfolio?

It will be just fine through text. Those track marks on both arms and the fact they were tweaking during the face to face interviewed would not have been cause for concern anyway.

No is my answer. It never works. 

Also, there is a bigger issue that applies here. If he is on that ladder installing that security light that you hired him to put up and he falls and breaks his neck............who is going to pay his work mans comp that he is entitled to by law?

You will pay it out of your pocket unless he carries work mans comp insurance which very few independent contractors carry because they do not have to.

And do not bother calling your insurance company because you have a million dollar liability policy because liability policies do not cover work mans comp claims.

I would not get involved more than to say if it is severe then call the police. If it is not serious and you continue to involve me I will bring a 30 day lease termination letter for both units and will definitely flush out the problem.

Do not lose sight of the big picture. If you bend here and rent to the brother because you have a heart for veterans/cops and the next time you rent you have a similar situation but you do not rent to them because they are "fill in the blank" but they also happen to be a protected class tenant you have opened yourself up to a lawsuit.

Set your criteria for accepting a tenant and do not move from it no matter how you feel.

I would take a ride down to the nearest fire station and ask for the chief or the fire marshall. One thing I have found when working with them is that they are good people and really do not want to write citations and a landlord that walks in with the question of "what do i need to be legal and safe?" always puts them in a good mood. 

What questions do you have? Lots of good folks here that can answer.

Its a learning process. Glad to read your follow up post and how you handled it. Many of us never want to be that landlord that doesn't listen or have a heart but at the same time there are tenants that we will come across that will take advantage and are so entitled that there is no pleasing them. When you have to take a hard stance with them, it is not because you are becoming an insensitive person to the needs of others but rather because this tenant has pushed the relationship well beyond a healthy landlord/tenant relationship and you must perform a operation to make things healthy again.

If it doesn't work now....evict them and you will end up with tenants that send you Christmas cards.

So glad to hear it all worked out for you. 

One of the things that made my first (and only eviction to go to the court room) in 3.5 years and 28 units was to go to the courthouse and sit for a couple of hours and watch the proceedings as soon as I knew  i was filing an eviction. Watching the process and seeing that if I had all of my ducks in a row as a landlord it was a smooth process and the judge actually appreciated when independent landlords came before the courts and knew the law and followed the law. 

Judges will generally favor parties that have respect for and follow the law.