Contractor will provide proof of liability insurance and workman's comp insurance prior to beginning work.

hi kenneth. no, these are not specific to ny. these are guidelines that i followed to get the info i needed. granted, in other states, the " release of lien" or " release of mortgage" may be called something different, but the procedure is still the same. a few years ago, the feds put a limit on the number of foreclosures that a bank could put back on the market. that prompted the banks to put just those better, or more valuable houses up for sale and sit on the less than desireable ones. eventually, the banks come to the conclusion that these " junk houses" not only made their books look bad, but they were never going to get what they needed for them anyway. and, foreclosing costs even more money. so they release the lien. it gets it off their books, and takes away the liability for the house from the bank. yes, it puts it back into the owners lap free and clear, but the bank has to cut the fat somehow. so, they have to file something to release the lein, with the register of deeds or who ever it is done with in their jurisdiction. this is what you want to look for. 

The only downside could be that towards the end, you get to depreciate less and in all likelihood your rental revenue has increased, thus leaving you with a higher tax liability due to reduced expenses.  

For instance, what happens if someone catastrophically injures themselves on a condo common area and the overall condo's liability insurance doesn't cover the multi-trillion dollar settlement?...

Brokers won't allow their agents to list properties for rent in MLS at a cost effectively price (free) because there is liability with having their name associated with a deal.

Doing this would certainly alleviate liability on your part.

So even though if liabilities, operations, and maintinance would be on someone else, i think that the utility would have to pay you good money but they want to hide this.

Contracts with Contractors is very important in the process, having requirements that mandate they carry general liability insurance and sign waiver of liens prior to starting work is important.

The reasoning is that you are covering the building and liability only and not contents.

Also any information regarding liabilities , ex, people looking up things that could cause legal issues via your paid for internet