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All Forum Posts by: Mary Jay

Mary Jay has started 258 posts and replied 1265 times.

Post: Insurance questions (Tree fell on the roof and damaged it)

Mary JayPosted
  • Glendale, AZ
  • Posts 1,270
  • Votes 226

Hi guys,

So I have some Insurance questions. Could you please help?

I had a tree (the neighbors tree) that fell on the roof of my rental and damaged it severely so now I have to change the whole roof.

So during the hurricane I had an insurance called Citizens, but right after the hurricane they switched me to a different insurance (Slide)...

Will you please help me with my questions:

1) My coverage was for a policy that is not a rental but  partially owner occupied (its a duplex), because I lived there but then moved out and did not switch the coverage to a rental. So now both units in the duplex are long term rentals but the coverage in partially owners occupied.

Is it a big deal for the insurance? If I decide to do a claim?


We fixed the roof ,at least I think we did , but will see how it does. The roofer did say I will need a new roof because the roof is old so the fixes that he did may not last

2) I  dont have any pictures of the damage before they fixed the roof. Only have the picture of the tree laying on the roof and a branch sticking out. Can the insurance reject it?

I did not call the insurance adjustor yet because I wanted to fix the roof asap because its been raining every day

3) Since they switched the insurances on me after the hurricane, I will be asking the insurance that held the coverage during the hurricane to replace the roof (if I go that route), is there a time frame where the insurance company will refuse to cover and say that they wont cover because it was too long ago?

4) Is my insurance broker on my side or the insurance side? For instance, can I tell him that the policy is not for a full rental but for a partial owner occupied? Or its best not to bring it up so he would not necessarily let the insurance coverage know? Can I be open with an insurance broker? 

Thank you so much!!!

Post: Neighbors tree fell on my roof

Mary JayPosted
  • Glendale, AZ
  • Posts 1,270
  • Votes 226
Quote from @Henry T.:

There should be a law limiting how close a tree(or type of tree) can grow near a property line. Act of god doesn't cut for me when the property line has multiple fir trees, and each limb is over 300 lbs. It's a hazard.  The laws need to be changed.

I agree. The laws do need to be changed.
If a person's insurance had to pay 28k and its not even his tree, that is ridiculous! The laws need to be changed. Those people who advocate that its fair and no laws need to be changed, are probably the ones whose trees fall on their neighbors.
I cut all the trees on my property. The neighbor has thousands of trees on his empty lot. There are  no branches that come onto my property.  They are huge pine trees...

I dont understand why the "Act of God" for somebody else's tree should be paid by my insurance. Why not the owners of the tree insurance...

Post: Neighbors tree fell on my roof

Mary JayPosted
  • Glendale, AZ
  • Posts 1,270
  • Votes 226
Quote from @Andrew B.:

In most states that is considered an act of god and the property owner is under no obligation to do anything for you. There may be some exception if you previously identified that tree as dangerous/sick/etc and brought it to the owners attention. Right now I think your best bet is to call your insurance and go through them.

The problem is there are lots of trees on that empty lot. So the "Act of God" will continue to happen.

Post: Neighbors tree fell on my roof

Mary JayPosted
  • Glendale, AZ
  • Posts 1,270
  • Votes 226

Neighbors tree fell on the roof of my rental during the Hurricane (state Florida).

I called the city and they gave me the address of the LLC that owns that lot (its an empty lot, probably a builder owns it).

I probably could find the phone number as well.

Do I call them if I find the phone number and ask them to fix my roof and remove the other trees from the empty lot that they own?

Or send them a certified letter?

What would you do?

Its an LLC so I probably wont be able to make them pay for the roof repair, right? If their LLC owns nothing....

How do I know if the LLC owns anything? If they own nothing then probably makes no sense to even spend money on attorney

Quote from @Drew Sygit:

@Mary Jay our company has a mantra, "if it's not in writing, it never happened".

Send them emails ending with an open-ended question, that encourages them to respond - which is proof they received your email.


 Thank you!

Isnt a text message is considered to be in writing?

Post: Tenant keeps complaining but wont do anything or let me do anything

Mary JayPosted
  • Glendale, AZ
  • Posts 1,270
  • Votes 226
Quote from @Adam Bartomeo:

In these cases we just document the situation and the remedies we attempted to make. They don't have a case if you have done everything you said you did. You have done what you can, move on.


Thank you sir!
How do you guys document? Is text messaging a good documentation in Florida? (I have some rentals in FL as well)

Post: How do people invest in real estate while working a full time job?

Mary JayPosted
  • Glendale, AZ
  • Posts 1,270
  • Votes 226
Quote from @Curtis Mears:

Personally, it’s not as difficult as you may think (depending on many factors). I had 3 rentals while working full time. After work, I would go work in the house until ready for showing (houses were in good condition so not full remiss). For showings, I simply scheduled in the evening or weekends. Realize, all My properties are within 20 minutes from my house  so not much travel time. Very rarely are there emergencies, and having a few good contractors takes care of that. Assuming year long rentals (are obviously way more work), you should be able to work a full time job and still manage rentals. I think I could manage 15 or so properties if I had to with a full time job, but obviously need some flexibility in job and contractors you must trust. 


When I had 3 rentals, it was not difficult. It started to get difficult for me at 8

Post: Tenant keeps complaining but wont do anything or let me do anything

Mary JayPosted
  • Glendale, AZ
  • Posts 1,270
  • Votes 226
Thank you guys very much for all your help!

Post: Tenant keeps complaining but wont do anything or let me do anything

Mary JayPosted
  • Glendale, AZ
  • Posts 1,270
  • Votes 226

I have a tenant in Arizona, who moved in a month and a half ago.

they keep complaining that the master bedroom is too hot.

The whole house is ok but the master bedroom is hot.

I offered them a portable ac, they refused took it but did not install.

I offered to have a handyman come install it, they said they can do it themselves.

I offered the ac guy to come check on the AC and asked them to call the guy, because he likes to schedule with the tenant directly, but they have not called him

I asked if they waned me to schedule with the AC guy,- silence.

They complain but wont let me schedule for them.

I understand that the tenants are just complainers, but I want to cover myself legally.

So in case, if they decide to take me to court, I would not be liable.

What is the best way to deal with things like that?

Thank you!

Post: How do people invest in real estate while working a full time job?

Mary JayPosted
  • Glendale, AZ
  • Posts 1,270
  • Votes 226
Quote from @Ben Stanley:

I'm still in the learning phases, but trying to both stabalize my income and also figfure out how I could invest in real estate while working fulltime 40-50 hours a week. I imagine there is a lot of work and things that need to be sorted during the day and cant wait for the weekend. 

So how does one balance a ton of work with starting out buying real estate?

Its hard. I work full time and have some rentals.
I feel like on my days off from my regular work I still work with my rentals...