Cooler temperatures and brightly colored foliage herald the arrival of fall here in the New York City area. In addition to clearing leaves from gutters and drains, building owners should inspect their properties inside and out to ensure they can…
You don’t discriminate against potential or current tenants. You’re careful to treat everyone equally. So why do you need Tenant Discrimination Insurance? Because your potential liability goes far beyond your own words and actions. In some cases, what one of…
New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) requires annual property registration by owners of residential buildings that meet the following requirements: Multiple dwelling (3 or more residential units) Private dwelling (1-2 residential units) not occupied by the…
For properties with three or more units, New York City law requires that building owners install and maintain window guards for apartments where a child age 10 years or younger lives. Every window in the apartment, except those leading to…
As a landlord, you have insurance to protect your building against a fire, theft or other peril. Should you insist that the people living in it also have insurance? Can you mandate that they buy renters’ policies? Yes. And yes…
Whether you need to insure a two-family brownstone in Park Slope, a warehouse in the Bronx, or an apartment building on the Upper East Side, insurance companies look at many of the same factors when insuring a rental property to…
New York City's mandatory composting requirement, which went into effect earlier this month, has received extensive news coverage. The city also offers additional programs to help residents recycle unwanted items, including e-waste and clothing. Owners of buildings with 10 or…
For many landlords, especially first-timers, the cost of insuring their building may seem mysterious. Why are landlord insurance costs so different from their homeowner’s policy? Why is the rate so different from the seemingly identical building next door? And, most…
Landlords in New York City have specific responsibilities for protecting tenants from lead paint hazards. Local Law 1 of 2004, also known as the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, outlines these requirements, which apply to multiple dwelling units that were…
If you’ve ever purchased—or simply researched—property insurance, you’ve likely encountered the terms “contents” and “structures” coverage. In a nutshell, “structures” refers to the insured building and other structures, and “contents” refers to what’s inside. But this is insurance—no answer is…