Re: Low-cost burglar alarm system needed

["TomR" <TomR@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bob La Londe wrote:
> "TomR" <TomR@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>
>> True, and that's probably what will happen when the final plan
>> unfolds for the renovation.  It will be a rental property, so having
>> a pre-wired fire detection and alarm system would be a good idea
>> anyway.  And, doing it while all of the walls and ceilings are open
>> makes the most sense.  The one-time cost of the system will not be
>> too much and then the tenant(s) can choose whether they want to pay
>> for monitoring or not.  But either way, they'll have a good security
>> system in place which is a good feature. But, for now, all I need is a
>> simple alarm system while it's vacant
>> to protect what is in the basement (tools, the gas boiler, etc).

> I used to have rentals, and I am sure this will vary by state, but I
> was cautioned by my attorney that for liability reasons I should not
> promote a security system of any kind as part of the package.  In
> addition he recommended I add a section which basically read,
>
> "This premise is rented as without a security or alarm system of any
> kind, and if a system exists it is considered to be non-functional
> and not a part of the tenant agreement.  In addition if such a system
> exists or is installed in the future or is activated and used by the
> tenant it is solely at the discretion and liability of the tenant,
> and the tenant agrees that all associated responsibility and
> liability for its use existence, failure or nonuse rests solely with
> the tenant."

Good point, and thanks for the reminder about that possible issue.

I just checked the lease that I use now that was drawn up by a very
experienced landlord/tenant lawyer in my area and I didn't see any specific
wording about alarm systems and liability. I was actually surprised since
the lease seems to contain every other protection that I could think of.
And, it does contain a lot of other "landlord is not liable" language --
just nothing specific about an alarm system.  And, yes, I could see a
scenario where the is a break-in or home invasion and one of the tenants is
injured or harmed, and a claim being made that the alarm system that the
landlord (me) had installed failed to work properly and caused the harm.
And, of course, without an alarm system a claim could be made that the
landlord (me) did not properly provide sufficient security to protect the
tenants etc.

I belong to 2 real estate investor groups in my area, and I know this topic
has come up before.  I'll have to do some additional research on the topic
of how to handle the question of alarm systems for rental properties.  I do
know that one question that does come up has to do with who is responsible
if there are multiple false alarms in a rental property.  Some towns charge
a fine if there are more than one or two false alarms in a year etc.

So again, thanks for the thought and input on this.