13 Apr More Landlords Are Facing Warranty of Habitability Lawsuits
By MW Real Estate Group
LOS ANGELES, CA. – There’s been a disturbing trend in the rental property industry that’s been on the rise in 2018. More owners are facing “warranty of habitability” lawsuits from unscrupulous law firms who file these lawsuits on behalf of tenants who may be living in older rental properties that need repairs.
With these types of lawsuits, the owner will be served with a “notice to comply” from their governmental agency and they will be faced with having to make repairs or alterations to their rental property.
The shady law firms that are filing these lawsuits are also encouraging tenants to stop paying rent and promising them that there will be a hefty award at the end of the action.
How Can Owners Protect Themselves?
To avoid the hassle of a warranty of a habitability lawsuit every owner should do the following to protect themselves:
- Check your insurance policy to make sure that it’s up to date and will cover you in the event that you face a warranty of habitability lawsuit.
- Add an arbitration clause to your lease so that any lawsuit against you will not be heard by a jury.
- Have a lease addendum created which creates limits on the attorney fees which can be awarded in the event a tenant decides to take you to court.
- Require all tenants to notify you in writing about repair requests unless they are emergency repairs.
Warranty of Habitability Lawsuits Can Be Prevented
Sadly, in many cases, these “warranty of habitability” lawsuits were the result of a problem which developed because the tenant failed to notify the landlord.
With a custom lease addendum, owners who have faced this problem could have eliminated the possibility of a lawsuit happening in the first place and saved themselves the hassle of time in court, attorney fees and paying thousands of dollars to resolve the problem.
Contact MW Realty Group
To learn more about our proactive risk mitigation property management services contact us today by calling (213) 927-2117 or click here to connect with us online.