Insurance coverage for Real Estate & Landlords

• What insurance do property managers need?

  A property manager runs two exposures at once — professional decisions about other people's property and money, plus ordinary premises operations — so the stack is E&O and general liability, workers' comp once you hire, hired and non-owned auto for staff on the road, and cyber for tenant data. In some states E&O is a licensing condition, not a choice.

• What insurance does a landlord need?

  It depends on the property and how it's rented. A dwelling rented long term needs a landlord (dwelling-fire) policy — not homeowners — with loss-of-rents coverage for the income a covered loss interrupts. Commercial buildings need commercial property plus lessor's risk liability. The most expensive mistake is leaving a homeowners policy on a house that has become a rental.

• Does E&O cover a missed signature or paperwork error at closing?

  Yes — a missed signature, a slipped contingency deadline, or a wrong date on an addendum is exactly the kind of negligent error professional liability insurance is written to answer, not a footnote it excludes. What decides whether the claim is actually paid is timing, not the size of the mistake: professional liability is written claims-made, so the error has to be discovered and reported while the policy — or its extended reporting period — is in force.

Liability questions for Real Estate & Landlords

General liability, E&O, D&O, and employment practices questions live on our sister publication: Real Estate & Landlords on pleasedontsue.us.