Today we had an arson fire set at one of the multi family properties we manage.
Apparently, one tenant's argument with other tenants led to this fire. The police and fire department were there and many arson investigators. The fire was set with gasoline and luckily only caused minor damage. No one was injured but the FD and police did not want the building occupied overnite. Alex Hernandez and I secured the building and will be back on Wednesday to help the tenants retrieve their belongings. A couple of the tenants received temporary shelter through the Red Cross. All in all, an exciting afternoon.

What lessons are in this experience? Obviously, it is important to have fire insurance and to have all that paperwork in good order. It would be greaat if your tenants also haverentors insurance to cover any loss they might experience. Temporary housing riders are also a good idea, if available - but were not needed here. I will look into the responsibilities of a property owner to provide temporary housing in a situation like this and report back in a future post.

Another lesson here is the obvious difficulty we can all get into when we deal with multiple family dwellings. In this case the violence has become extreme, causing property damage and (we have heard from the police) personal injury. These are important factors to consider when looking at a property like this. With no vacancies, these cash flow like crazy. But with problems...