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I'm headed towards beefing up the protective measures, attempting to find a qualified pool safety expert to inspect my property and give it a clean bill of health, and my insurance agent is pricing out what it would cost for a commercial insurance policy that covers all my properties, and then an umbrella over that.
Sounds perfect. Even if you rented to someone without kids, as someone else said, they could invite their friends over who have kids, they may end up babysitting kids, you just never know, so best to just CYA as best as you can regarding any liability to anyone who gets near the pool
And BTW, I managed a 26 unit apt building in CA for 8 years, recently retired. I never provided any kind of letter regarding why a tenant was rejected. And I usually just said, I'm sorry your application is denied. If they asked why, which was rare, I'd usually tell them straight, over the phone, but short and sweet. Well, there were just too many collections, there were discrepancies in your application, or you didn't complete the application (another easy way to deny someone, by the way, if they don't fill out the application completely, after being asked to do so - this is lying by omission).
If any of them would have pursued the matter, I'd have complied with whatever the minimum required would be. But, my experience is that tenants know why they were denied. They're never surprised. They may try to talk you into renting to them anyway, but I never had one act surprised that I denied them. And they don't care about getting a letter saying why they were denied. They're too busy trying to find another landlord who will accept them.
I don't see the world crashing down on you if you failed to send a letter of explanation. Woops, sorry, let me get that for you, you're absolutely right, I completely forgot. I'd be very surprised if you were to ever get fined or anything for it. It sure never happened to me.
And BTW, I think your email to the applicant that you cut and pasted above was brilliantly done.
Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 07-12-2014 at 12:10 AM..
And BTW, I think your email to the applicant that you cut and pasted above was brilliantly done.
Thank you!!! I knew I had it made in the shade when his agent quoted his admission of a DUI arrest to my agent and to me. That also gave me carte blanche to discuss the DUI without violating his right to privacy. I didn't even need to even comment on his other dozen arrests.
The guy was a big guy and one of the arrests was for domestic violence. THAT is why I didn't want to rent to him.
If all else failed I think stupidity might have been a valid reason for rejection. I'm pretty sure stupidity is not a FHA protected class.
A good post, but the bolded portions are incorrect. In order for any such suit to prevail, it would have to be shown that the landlord was somehow negligent and thus contributed to the accident.
Actually David, in AZ the property owner is always liable for injury/death to a child under the age of 12 in a swimming pool on their property. Has a lot to do with the PR mileage they get from the "Watch your kids around water" campaign. As the property owner, you are responsible for any child around your pool even if you rent the place out. The landlord has the burden of proving that they did everything possible to prevent the incident and if not for the negligence of the renter, it would not have happen. The landlord basically becomes a witness for the prosecutors or victim’s attorney because they have to detail in length the steps taken to prevent such incidents which mean the tenant’s negligence was the one and only cause.
Indiviuals who do are only renting a minimal number of units are exempt from Fair Housing regulations, the same is not true of real estate agents that make their living screening buyer or tenants...
I would not rely on insurance agent / company or real estate agent / broker to understand all the details of potential liability. In fact I am not at all sure I would even rely on my "regular" real estate attorney for a question like this -- there are very dramatic personal injury lawyers like John Edwards that put on a show for the jury where they gasp for breath as through they are dying while asking the jury to "don't let the bum get away with this travesty"... If your regular real estate attorney (every land lord needs one...) can make a "referal" to a personal liability defense attorney I can just about guarantee that the response will come back that "even if you have all the local fences and anti-drowning intake covers you might still face expensive litigation" but a properly executed addendum that lists all the prohibited actions including defeating child-resistant fence latches / alarms / monitors ought to go a long way toward making sure you don't get some irresponsible tenants ...
I certainly agree with the Lawyer recommendation. One question I would be asking would be about the specific insurance coverage needed.
I'll tell any tenant why they were rejected if they ask. I'll give it to them in writing if I determine I am required to.
I recently rejected a tenant for criminal background. He wanted to know what -- this is through his Realtor and my Realtor. I stated that due to privacy laws I am unable to discuss it -- keep in mind that both Realtors are in on the conversation. I suggested he run himself on my credit report provider and gave him the URL.
It looks to me like #11, evidence of illegal activity to me. If he writes me a letter and asks why I'll post on this forum and get advice if I am required to answer the request. I certainly didn't invite him to pursue the matter.
I did suggest he should check his report himself and verify that the information is correct. I hope he did that. It costs $35.
You should know what is required of you prior to doing business.
You told him that due to privacy laws you could not discuss it? LOL Privacy laws refer to discussing issues with people OTHER than the subject! And if you have a realtor as your agent/property manager (who is screening the tenants), you shouldn't be talking to the applicants at all. The application is confidential material belonging to the realtor, not to you. The lease contract is between the tenant and the realtor, not between you and the tenant.
Exactly what "credit report provider" do you use? Unless it's one of the free ones where people run their own credit, an individual would not have access to it - you have to have an account and have a legal reason to have access. Running people's credit reports is a pretty big deal.
Quite a bit of what you just said really does not add up.
I have no formal address for the rejected tenant, so I emailed him via my Realtor to his Realtor, with the notice, and with instructions that I will send him a written notice if he will furnish me with a valid address.
Hint: require a valid mailing address on all applications, or refuse to process them. Because? Because you are required, under some circumstances, to formally notify an applicant in writing, of your decision to decline their application.
Actually David, in AZ the property owner is always liable for injury/death to a child under the age of 12 in a swimming pool on their property. Has a lot to do with the PR mileage they get from the "Watch your kids around water" campaign. As the property owner, you are responsible for any child around your pool even if you rent the place out. The landlord has the burden of proving that they did everything possible to prevent the incident and if not for the negligence of the renter, it would not have happen. The landlord basically becomes a witness for the prosecutors or victim’s attorney because they have to detail in length the steps taken to prevent such incidents which mean the tenant’s negligence was the one and only cause.
All the documents I've seen state, "children under 6 years of age."
You told him that due to privacy laws you could not discuss it? LOL Privacy laws refer to discussing issues with people OTHER than the subject! And if you have a realtor as your agent/property manager (who is screening the tenants), you shouldn't be talking to the applicants at all. The application is confidential material belonging to the realtor, not to you. The lease contract is between the tenant and the realtor, not between you and the tenant.
A Realtor is handling my rentals. Tenant asked me via his Realtor to my Realtor to me. Tenant does not have a permanent address. Tenant himself mentioned DUI arrest in email forwarded through Realtor-Realtor chain, so I was not violating his privacy, he had already waived it by his admission of a DUI arrest. As I said, he had untruthfully answered the question, "have you ever been arrested..." on his application, which was the official reason I rejected his application.
I was unable to discuss the other arrests through the Realtor-Realtor communication due to privacy laws.
There never was any lease contract. My Realtor is forwarding applications to me and I am doing the screening. I use My Smart Move: https://mysmartmove.com/ which costs $35 for full report including criminal background.
Hint: require a valid mailing address on all applications, or refuse to process them. Because? Because you are required, under some circumstances, to formally notify an applicant in writing, of your decision to decline their application.
I think my offer to send it to him in writing if he furnished my Realtor with a mailing address was sufficient. My application does require an address. It does not state that it must be valid.
I'm thinking of switching to the Arizona Board of Realtors rental application because it looks more professional and less amateurish than the one my Realtor is using. Might be more professionally written too, lots of lawyers etc.
I certainly agree with the Lawyer recommendation. One question I would be asking would be about the specific insurance coverage needed.
I have my insurance agent working on a quote for a commercial policy covering all 4 properties, and an umbrella over that.
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