15 - Safety- easy steps to protect yourself

Don’t become landlord sushi and be eaten alive by lawsuits, threats of lawsuits, slipping and falling all over your investment.  The best way to do that is with a real plan in real time.

In your lease say what you will and will not tolerate.  When the tenant or tenants visiting friends decide to get drunk, fall over and cannot get up, you can refer to the lease.

Signage is cheap: post where people can/ cannot stand, where to walk, no entry, watch your step and so on.  Walk your property with your eyes half closed.  Then consider the means of egress and access through these eyes.  This is how people’s senses are when an accident happens.

Label everything then label some more: this includes electrical panels that show what breaker controls what. Label water lines when possible and show tenants where shut off valves are.

Barricades, fences and other means to control where people go: wherever there are steps have a railing wherever possible.  If you are not sure, put one anyway.

Lights on / somebody’s home! Make sure your place has adequate lighting at night to reduce the scary monsters and keep your tenants happy.

Landscaping and general cleaning.  On a multifamily most tenants will not clean up the yard even if they trip over the leaves going up steps.  Keep all pathways clean and clear and basic landscaping weeded and cut.  This is a good image for you, tenants and insurance companies when they drive by to inspect your property.

Changing locks

As a landlord you will have the task of changing locks at some point.  This is a job that can be done in about 5-10 minutes by you.  Some locks are harder to deal with than others and on an older house sometimes they don’t fit just right and may take some adjusting. 

As a landlord, always have a copy of the locks for each unit.  If the tenant locks himself or herself out of the apartment, make it their responsibility to call a locksmith at 2:00 am.  Your goodwill is quickly forgotten when you take care of them at 2:00 am for the same tenant will call you again.  People tend to not lose their keys as often when it costs them $200 from a locksmith.