Warning:  Southern California
Apartment Owners
General Liability Insurance Policies Found Shockingly Inadequate to Protect Property Owners from Discrimination, Harassment, and
Wrongful Eviction Suits by Tenants.
By Stan Dreckman

Has this ever happened to you?

Plaintiff Charges Neglect of Health Problems

Mother and adult daughter who suffered from a degenerative disc condition shared a second floor apartment. The plaintiffs charged that management failed to respond to their request for the installation of a second handrail in the stairwell to accommodate the daughter's disability.

The swimming pool was also not heated nor the Jacuzzi repaired in order for the young woman to be able to use it for physical therapy, in spite of the plaintiffs' requests.

They also charged that management failed to repair their clothes dryer, to seal their windows properly, to repaint interior apartment walls or clean carpets, to repair flooding damage to the rental unit, to fix a faulty furnace unit, etc. Finally, the plaintiffs charged that management first agreed to permit them to vacate their lease for the aforementioned reasons, then charged them an exorbitant penalty to discontinue the agreement.

The matter was settled and the insured received $25,472 in reimbursement of legal fees. This insured did not purchase the reimbursement for loss endorsement.

Testers" Test Differential Rent Charge Complaint

A married couple with one infant son complained to the Fair Housing Council that they had been quoted 30 percent additional rent for a two-bedroom apartment because of their child.

In response, the council sent "testers" - investigators posing as married couples with children - to various complexes owned by the property management company to determine if differential rent rates were being quoted to applicants with families.

The resulting lawsuit charged that assessing "unreasonable" surcharges to families with children versus baseline rentals to applicants with no children for comparable dwellings constitutes a discriminatory housing practice.

Nearing trial, the parties began settlement negotiations. The insured has received $160,515 to date in reimbursement of its legal expenses.(PI&I)

Sexual and Ethnic Complaint Brings Ongoing Complaint, $18,998 Reimbursement

Husband and wife plaintiffs charged the management of their mobile home park with sexual and ethnic discrimination. The mobile home park had been serving the couple with 5-day-pay-or-quit notices for non-payment of rent over a period of two months.

The plaintiffs retaliated by filing a discrimination complaint with the State Anti-Discrimination Division just one day after the park served them the final pay-or-quit notice.

Management had received numerous letters from other tenants alleging loud and obnoxious behavior by the plaintiffs, complaining that the couple was abusive and yelled obscenities at their neighbors.

The plaintiffs had also been caught spray-painting a new property line over their neighbor's grass and plants (by a neighbor who was mowing the lawn at 9:00 pm!) The claim is ongoing and insured has been reimbursed $18,998 to date.

Stan Dreckman is an independent agent/broker and author of several articles about important insurance issues.  Stan is President of Huggins/Dreckman Insurance Agency, Inc., located in Seal Beach, California. He can be reached at 800-400-3224 extension 15. Tenant Discrimination Insurance is a product developed by NAS Insurance Services, Inc. and it is distributed through independent agents.