Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below I just had to replace a roof on a house I just purchased to rent out. So I needed someone to paint the facia boards around the house. Well, the dude I hired is an aquaintence that is a contractor down on his luck and I hired him to help him out. Well he left the water on the front faucet full blast and he unplugged their freezer which ruined a half a side of beef that was frozen in the garage. If he doesn't cover the damage am I responsible? They are new tenants and I would hate to have them pissed at me already. I swear it seems like everytime I try to help somebody down on their luck it comes back to bite me on the ass.
Am I Liable for this Contractors Screw up at one of My Rent Houses?
- Thread starter curling
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1. Do you have a written contract? Did you get aninsurance certificate from him before getting started?
if no written contract, and he has no assets, you won't face any third party liability, since you;re the insured / property owner. The tenant could, but probably will not, make a negligence claim. If he suffers loss to personal property, he might. (or his insurer will) You might have a breach of contract issue with the tenant, and the tenant would probably prevail were it to make it to court, but realistically, you can make this go away with a month or two of free rent.
Your homeowners' policy should cover it, depending on how much work you did - you didn;t get builder's risk coverage, did you?
if no written contract, and he has no assets, you won't face any third party liability, since you;re the insured / property owner. The tenant could, but probably will not, make a negligence claim. If he suffers loss to personal property, he might. (or his insurer will) You might have a breach of contract issue with the tenant, and the tenant would probably prevail were it to make it to court, but realistically, you can make this go away with a month or two of free rent.
Your homeowners' policy should cover it, depending on how much work you did - you didn;t get builder's risk coverage, did you?
MattTheSkywalker said:
I will check about the policy to see if I got that cover but it sounds like he said it was only a couple hundred in damage. So you think I should just drop that from his rent or should I take a hard line on it saying it wasn't my liability you have to go after the contractor?
curling said:
You're the landlord, so sending him after the contractor may result in
1. the contractor cross complaining against you (especially likely if he has no insurance)
2. You having to bear responsibility for the loss if there was no written contract.
Was there a contract? Tenant /landlord hold harmless agreement...or was this a verbal agreement?
Depending on the tenant's enthusiasm, he could hit you with a negligence claim for negligent hiring / supervision.
Also, as a matter of business practicality, a landlord has to take responsibility....courts will agree with this.
