OUTSIDE OF RENT REGULATION, SUCH A REQUEST IS LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE
In a piece entitled “Should I Add My Building Manager To My Renters Insurance Policy?,” which appears in the Real Estate Section of today’s New York Times, reporter Andy Newman responded to a reader’s question about the legality of an owner’s requirement that its managing agent be named as an “additional insured” on all renter’s insurance policies that tenants are required to procure.
Tarama and Gene Lanza, both with a State Farm agency based out of Harrison, New York, indicated that there were no “additional costs” for such coverage. Tamara noted, in part, “You would think we would [charge more] because we’re taking on the exposure of another party, but oddly we do not.”
While rent stabilized tenants would not be required to comply with such a request, as a landlord isn’t readily permitted to change the terms of a regulated lease at the time of a renewal, there would otherwise be no preclusion to such a request.
As Newman Ferrara partner Lucas A. Ferrara noted in the column, there is “nothing unseemly or improper about a landlord requesting that its managing agent be named as an additional insured on any policy.” He continued, “For example, if a roommate or visitor were to slip and fall within an apartment, because of some tenant-caused condition, naming the landlord and managing agent as additional insureds would help protect them against those claims should litigation subsequently arise.”
Was that ensuring?
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To read the entire column, please use this link: Should I Add My Building Manager To My Renters Insurance Policy? (subscription required)
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Our thanks to reporter Andy Newman for the ink!