Landlord insurance and legal battles
Tuesday, January 31st, 2012News is just in* of another legal battle involving a landlord.
In this case, this does not involve tenants as such but instead a group that have occupied an empty office building and who are refusing to leave.
As a report indicates, the landlords have issued an eviction notice and the all-too-familiar long drawn out legal proceedings are now underway.
Of course, in the absence of the full facts, it is impossible to make any judgments or even to state firm opinions as to the respective rights and wrongs of this individual situation. What it is possible to predict with a degree of certainty, is that this is unlikely to be quickly resolved and perhaps even less likely to be inexpensive for the landlords concerned (directly and indirectly).
In the case of legal disputes between landlords and tenants or as in this case, occupying parties, the position with regard to landlord insurance may be complicated and worthy of serious consideration.
Some landlord insurance policies may offer assistance towards legal costs in situations where they arise due to an otherwise insured risk. Perhaps one such example may be where you have become embroiled in a legal claim against you arising under the auspices of third party liability protection cover.
By contrast, in situations where the legal costs are being incurred due to a dispute between you and your tenants over unpaid rent or eviction proceedings, an individual policy may or may not cover the legal costs involved.
Given the sums that may be involved in a typical court case, this may be something worth checking in advance.
Some landlords may believe that the law is too inclined towards the rights of tenants and squatters and insufficient attention is paid to the serious financial effects that disputes and occupation of property may involve for the landlords concerned.
Some may also argue that the legal processes involved are too slow, too cumbersome and far too expensive and given the apparent simplicity and straightforward nature of many such cases.
There is, of course, a counterargument and a detailed discussion is clearly beyond the scope of a simple article of this nature.
In summary, this position may highlight just how an important subject legal expenses cover for landlords may be as well as the importance of knowing what the landlords insurance typically entails.
*Source