I have a house purchased under an LLC that may have possible health risks to a cleanup crew, i.e. cat and rodent feces, urine, mold and years of collected trash stacked to the ceiling.
What is my liability to a present/future health claim from any person working on this job?
How do I protect myself? Release of Liability forms? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
get evidence of insurance from all contractors and subcontractors. try to have them list the LLC as “additional insured” if possible. some will. get all contracts in writing and make sure it references insurance and your liability for such hazards.
make sure your liability coverage is paid up, too.
That is good advice - and I’d add - after everything is cleaned up and done - get a Hazards inspector in and inspect it for mold, etc. If he gives the house a clean bill of health, there should be no problems after the sale as well.
You might have it inspected before rehab just to find out what is a hazard and what isn’t.
I think that it is very unwise to have a hazard inspector in the property. The last thing that you want is some documentation that you house is a health hazard!!! If you do this, you’ll probably be required by law to disclose it to any potential buyer.
Also, by having someone sign a paper releasing you from liabililty for a health hazard, all you’ve really accomplished is to alert them that they may want to sue you!!! A fundamental legal premise is that you can not sign away your rights.
The safest way to do this is clean it up yourself!
Mike
I’m with propertymanager on this one.
People doing this kind of crappy clean up work do it all the time. Your mess/junk/ stuff ,ect is no different than the house they will do next week or month. Keep you liability policy current, make sure all contracts and payments are form the LLC (that’s it purpose) and don’t sweat it. If they want to sue you have the health hazrads of pertified rat turds, then some “release of liability” is not going to do much for you anyways.
As for mold, it grows everywhere and is every bathroom in America. If you really think it toxic/hazradous mold then have it tested (it will cost you $500-1000); however, you will have to disclose the result on any future sale (in most states, check local laws).
I very much appreciate the advice and good information. Every property seems to offers a new challenge.
Thanks you,
Chris
no inspector. but I always make sure that my subs have evidence of insurance and everything is in writing. much can go wrong on a jobsite besides mold.