All Forum Posts by: Jason A.

I have a single-family house on a .75 acre lot in a residential area in NJ that is currently vacant and that I have no immediate plans to rent. I'm interested in obtaining liability-only insurance for the property (no fire insurance necessary for the house) and was wondering about the cost and whom to contact. Thanks in advance for any info.

Just checked in. The good news is that no one was there. The bad news is that no further work was done, probably because he was completing work elsewhere and Aldo he indicated he lost the key. I hid another one for him, so hopefully he can resume as soon as he gets done wrapping up at the other place. He agreed to no further family stays until the work is done, so hopefully he will keep to his word. Never a dull moment with these guys. I'll update as this story further unfolds.

I thought about that, too, which is why I was hesitant to make an issue of it. I think the thing that made up my mind for me was that it is a construction zone and there are things around that might well be hazardous to a young child such as boards with nails sticking out and various power tools. I really don't want to take the responsibility of anything happening.

Thanks, all, for the responses. I spoke with him this morning and he agreed to discontinue the family sleepovers while construction is in progress. I told him once construction is complete, I'd be happy to work out a deal with him for a stay over if he wanted. He seemed pretty ok with it, but I will drop by there unannounced sometime this weekend to verify.

Here's an interesting one. I have a contractor doing some work at a scenic property of mine located on a lake. I am not on site, and he has been doing some major projects such as ripping out old wallboard and installing new, putting down tile floors, etc. No complaints about his work so far, although it has been taking longer than thought because he has taken on some other work elsewhere. He claims that work is wrapping up within the next couple of days at which time I will have 100% of his attention.

Recently, the next door neighbor informed me that he, his wife, his child, and dog had been staying overnight there during the weekend. I went up there, and sure enough there were inflatable beds in the rooms, portable refrigerator, barbecue grill, etc.

My question is, what do you think is the best way to handle this? I asked him about it, and he indicated that he was staying overnight to save time driving back and forth between his home and there ( maybe 45 minutes each way). But since the whole family seems to be staying there at least on the weekends, it would appear he's also using the place for recreational purposes as well.

I want to maintain a good relationship with him, but was looking for some opinions from others who perhaps have been in a similar situation before taking any further action.

Hi Folks,

I'm on the Homeowner's Association Board of Directors for a small (about 30 houses) development of homes in Hopkinton, MA. We are currently urgently looking for a new property manager for our development. I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who would have one or more good references for our consideration. Thanks in advance!

@Jim C. Quite true. This was a while ago, back in my days of careless youth. I do handle things differently nowadays.

@Derek Lacy - Yes (to both questions), that was it exactly.

@Jim C. - Yes, in this case everything was in my own name, not as an LLC.

@Jim C. - Did your insurance agent say that this property would not be eligible for inclusion under your existing homeowner's umbrella (liability) policy?

All,

The umbrella policy was referring to my own, existing homeowner's umbrella policy, which had the ability to cover additional properties (liability only).

@Derek Lacy - You are the insurance expert and I'm sure there is some official definition of "self-insured", but I was referring to the practical effect of it, that is, I (self) pledged my resources to stand behind and cover whatever property damage might have occurred. Stepping into the shoes of the insurance company is to my mind "self insuring", although as you pointed out, the insurance industry has different terminology for it, perhaps to exclude the notion that anyone but a regulated insurance company can officially insure something.