Who pays fire and liability insurance, the landlord or the tenant?

I am renting 2/3 of a building for my small business. The building is being sold. My new landlord is insisting that I pay the fire and casualty, and liability insurance for the building with extra coverage for the windows. Also, I am required to pay renter's insurance, which I have no problem with. The building is in bad shape. Can my new landlord force me to pay the insurance on his building? And, in the event that it burns, or sustains other damage, would I pay the deductible and who would collect the insurance money and make the repairs? I am merely renting a portion of the building.

This sounds like only the beginning of your problems w/ this guy.......he should be paying.....

structure should be insured by Landlord for your contents/ possible liability, like if you accidentally burn the place down, you need RENTERS insurance or some sort of small business insurance.

As a landlord, I've never heard of a tenant paying for the insurance! He can ask for an increase in rent, with which he intends to pay it himself, but it is not up to you to do so. Like you said...who gets the cash if it burns? Illogical! Also, you could cancel the insurance without his knowledge as soon as you got it! Daft! I'd look at other available places...this smells fishy...

What does your lease state? The new landlord must abide by the existing lease and cannot unilaterally change the lease terms. So that is the first thing. Typically the owner of the building carries insurance on the building itself. The tenant often is required to carry their own liability insurance, umbrella insurance, and any insurance on the leased premises and personal property. But your lease should state who is responsible for carrying insurance as you describe. If the new landlord is trying to countermand your existing lease, hire an attorney to protect your interests in this matter.

That would be a negotiating point at lease renewal time, not now. You have no responsibility for the maintenance/repairs to the building beyond what is in your current lease.

I have never heard of a tenant paying for the insurance on the building. This should be the landlords responsibility.

From what I know the owner of the building is required to carry fire, liability and casualty insurance on the entire building, if the building sustains damage then the owner would be the one to deal with the insurance company, file a claim and collect the money not the renter. As a renter/tenant you are required to carry your own insurance to protect your personal items, for example a hurricane comes through, blows out a window on the upper floor and the rain damages the upstairs and floods your office and ruins your desks and damages 5 computers, you would then claim the loss of the furniture and computers with your insurance company, the landlord would then be responsible for repairing the damage done to your suite.

The landlord can collect for Common Area Maintenance [CAM] taxes and insurance which is Triple Net lease plus rent so you can be obligated for your proportionate share of the building 2/3. If your lease does not require you to pay rent plus CAM, taxes and isurance then I don't believe he can make you pay it unless it's specifically stated in the lease.

So if you have a Triple Net Lease [aka net-net-net-lease] then yes he can.

A lease agreement that designates the lessee (the tenant) as being solely responsible for all of the costs relating to the asset being leased in addition to the rent fee applied under the lease. The structure of this type of lease requires the lessee to pay for net real estate taxes on the leased asset, net building insurance and net common area maintenance. The lessee has to pay the net amount of three types of costs, which how this term got its name.

This type of lease can also be referred to as a "net-net-net lease" or a "hell or high water lease".

For example, if a property owner leases out a building to a business using a triple net lease, the tenant will be responsible for paying the building's property taxes, building insurance and the cost of any maintenance or repairs the building may require during the term of the lease. Because the tenant is covering these costs (which would otherwise be the responsibility of the property owner), the rent charged in the triple net lease is generally lower than the rent charged in a standard lease agreement.

I guess it all depends on what type of lease agreement you signed.

You only need renter's insurance for what is there that is yours. The building is the landlords responsibility

the landlord is responsible for the insurance payments. i think that your landlord is trying to bamboozle you. makes me wonder what other tricks he's got up his sleeve. he may have committed some type of insurance fraud in the past or can't get coverage due to the condition of the building, or it could be that his credit is bad and the rates are too expensive for him, i think that you need to find somewhere else to rent.

No they can not make you pay the building insurance... All you are required to get is Rental Insurance...

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