This question came up in another topic, but I thought it needed it’s own thread.
Does anybody know of an insurance company that will issue a landlord’s or renters policy when the tennant has a Pit-Bull?
I live in Illinois.
My broker said he found a company that could issue insurance with a pet-exclusion.
I just don’t want the risk in the unlikeley event Fido attacks.
I think if I could get it set up to where I could welcome behaved animals in the dangerous breeds category, then my rentals would be in high demand with long-term tennants.
Remember what insurance is. Insurance is a risk transfer. You have all the risk right now and you buy insurance to transfer the risk that you are not comfortable taking on. For example you assume the risk for a $50 stopped up toilet but you won’t assume the risk for a $20,000 flooded downstairs. If you trust your tenant’s dog enough to assume that risk you don’t need insurance just like you don’t have insurance to fix a $20 smoke detector. If your tenant’s pit bull eats the neighbor’s kid and it is proven that it was because you didn’t provide them with a suitable fence or you didn’t fix the faulty screen door then rent to them. You should interview the dog and be comfortable enough with that dog that you rent to them. Insurance companies can’t interview every dog so they make decisions based on the aggregate of the information. I am not smarter than the insurance company. In general if any large company (insurance company mortgage company, etc) says no then I assume that they said that to keep me out of trouble and I proceed with great trepidation and a lot of due diligence.
But maybe that is your niche. Pit bulls have to live somewhere.
I’ve known a lot of nice pit-bulls. The tenants on the other hand who are the type who own pit-bulls aren’t so great.
If I could take the dogs without the owners, that would be fine with me.
Think about it. You are planning to rent to the guy who says to himself:
I’m a tenant. I know landlords don’t like dogs. Even if landlords take dogs, they limit it to small dogs. No landlord will take a Pit-bull… I know, I’ll buy a pit-bull, a great big one. Oh heck, I’ll buy two or three of them.
So good luck with your project. Remember, all a jury has to hear is “pit-bull” and they don’t have to hear anything else and the awards will be huge.