Do you discuss the need for Renter’s Insurance with your tenants?  I mean, do you really discuss it?  I give all of my incoming tenants real life examples. Fear can be a great motivator. Despite the very reasonable cost, most of my tenants still do not obtain the insurance. However, no tenant has ever tried to file a claim against me or the property owner. When tragedy strikes, I protect the property owner as required and give the tenant loads of sympathy.

The poor tenant. There was water pouring down the walls of his apartment, apparently the result of another toilet seal, water heater, or bathtub overflow problem. This happens constantly in our area as the majority of the condominium projects were built in the 1970s. The unit was a soaking wet mess. We showed up quickly with a plumber and a water extraction company and we got it all fixed for him as quickly as possible. But that was not really his concern. He wanted money, and lots of it, to compensate him for his completely destroyed baseball card collection. Oh, and the video game console. It was on the floor with all of his video games, clothes, and just about everything he owned.

The poor tenant. When she moved in, she taped and/or glued every single hole and crevice in the apartment because she is petrified by even the smallest of bugs. I’ll bet she didn’t realize that while nothing can get in, nothing can get out either. Not even water. The water heater busted and the unit became one big swimming pool. Most of her stuff was floating around the apartment or completely underwater.

The poor tenant. There was a lightning storm and the home, for some unknown reason, was no longer grounded. The electric surge through the house blew out every single electrical appliance in it. In this particular case, the refrigerator, stove, and window air conditioner all belonged to the tenant.

The poor tenant. He really should have told us that he had a pit bull. I know, I know. She’s such a sweet dog. But the tenant didn’t know that his sweet dog, that he had been hiding from us, bit the neighbor’s kid while he was at work. The neighbor announced that he was going to sue me and the owner of the property. That means the property owner and I are both going to sue the tenant.

The poor tenant. The pipe under her house busted and water was coming up in the sinks and the tub. It was pouring out all over the floor. I really hated to tell her that it was a sewer line. All of her stuff was now just hazardous waste. So was the unit. A tenant’s insurance policy could have paid for her hotel room.

That poor tenant. The apartment has completely burned down. I don’t know what happened but it could have had something to do with the bad wiring on the “growing system” in his bedroom closet. All of his stuff was toast and he had no place to live.

The poor tenant. Sometimes owners have to sell their property. The tenant is really unhappy about this whole idea so she decided that all of her jewelry mysteriously disappeared after the first showing appointment. For some reason, she decided to leave it all out on the coffee table in the living room.

The poor tenant. The thieves wanted their stuff bad enough to smash the sliding glass door to get in. And they got the stuff. All of it. Yelling and screaming at me was not going to change anything. Being a robbery victim is awful. However, the reality is that the homeowner is only responsible for fixing his door and that’s all.

The poor tenant who lived downstairs from the fellow that attempted suicide and the blood…uh, I think I’ll save this story for another day.

This is just a sampling of actual lessons learned by my own tenants. Many people mistakenly believe that landlords are responsible for the loss of the tenant’s personal belongings. Some landlords may make it mandatory for tenants to maintain their own insurance which is one way to deal with it. However, I have found that to be largely unenforceable. My lease agreements state that I highly recommend they obtain their own policy. Talk to your insurance expert about the best way to handle it for your situation.

🔑 Consider making it mandatory for your tenant to have Renter’s Insurance.