My assistant, Nina, had me wondering about this a lot during the “big snow” of 2008 when she couldn’t leave her apartment complex for fear of damaging her car. She mentioned over the phone that many other apartment dwellers in her complex were spinning out and having trouble getting out of the parking lot. Thankfully she can do some of her work remotely and she has a laptop she can use for such occasions but she still needed to be able to leave to get groceries. Since the complex she lives in is fairly large, I would expect that there is a snow plan in place for clearing the parking lots, but I don’t personally know what that plan might be although I suspect some of the tenants will start asking about it now.
As an associate member of the Rental Housing Association, I get access to a lot of the material that they produce for local property owners and this post about keeping walkways and driveways clear from their new blog hits the mark on the head for this topic. It’s noteworthy that the law applies to all of Washington State and not just Seattle or King County, so all landlords need to be aware of what their responsibilities are. I’ve seen many instances where leases don’t specifically speak to the issue of lawn care and other maintenance issues like this and it can lead to big problems later. Brings a whole new meaning to watching your step with snow and ice, doesn’t it?
And that gets me thinking even more. If your lease isn’t clear about the responsibilities and someone slips, falls and gets hurt on your property – are you then on even thinner financial ice if a claim is made against you? Perhaps while you are updating your leases to add this element you should also check to see if you have umbrella insurance and adequate coverage on your properties for anyone who might get hurt on site at your building.
