Posted by roger on September 12, 2003 at 22:06:07:
i’m a newbie but every state i;ve lived in (3) the property owner can be sued if someone falls from ice not being removed//renters remove ice and snow , you should ask on legal board a top
How to run a rental part 2? - Posted by Rental Man
Posted by Rental Man on September 12, 2003 at 11:48:49:
Hello All,
Another quick question.
What do you guys/gals with rentals do about things like snow/ice removal in the winter? Who shovels the sidewalk and/or steps on the property? Who’s responsible for that, tenant or owner? Is that a possibility for a law suit? If so, how do I prevent that?
Thanks in advance.
Re: How to run a rental part 2? - Posted by Frank Chin
Posted by Frank Chin on September 13, 2003 at 10:02:17:
Rental Man:
I have tenants shovel the snow, and keep the sidewalks clean, and its written in the lease. This I done for nearly 20 years.
I know some legal beagle can bring up the issue from the liability point of view, and say a tenant can sue if he got hurt.
Lets look at it from the practical standpoint. In a heavy snow storm, the tenant can’t get to work, has to shovel out the driveway to get his car out, so hopefully he can get to work. All he has to do is come out of the house.
On the other hand, I tried getting people to drive a mere half mile to shovel a rental, and it wasn’t done for a whole week because initally the man said he can’t get there, then told me he passed by, but there’s no place to park the van. Finally, when he got there, the snow was too packed to be shovelled.
Then some years back, I bought an REO, and moved in. Another bank had an REO two doors down, uses a managment company come by with a crew to shovel the snow. But the time they got there a week later, it was packed snow a foot thick, and the crew got firewood to start several small fires to try melting the ice.
Someone on the street called the police and fire departments who came by and told these idiots that it was not a legal snow removal technique. The crew left, and never return.
Meanhwile, I saw many people slipping and falling walking by the place and wondered if any one sued. The only advantage is the bank wasn’t sued by the tenant.
So the 64K question is, is it better to be sued by falling pedestrians, or by your tenant, who has to shovel himself out to begin with??
Frank Chin