Heres an interesting question from a friend who is going to rent out a house in New England. He wanted to know if we had any ideas about provisions to write into the lease to protect him and his tenants in case of Y2K infrastructure disruptions like loss of power leading to loss of heat leading to frozen pipes etc.

Our brainstorming so far was to have him teach the new tenant how to drain the pipes, put a clause into the lease that the tenants must notify landlord if any damage from an emergency occurs with x hours, and that our friend (the landlord) should supply extra fire extinguishers, a CO alarm, etc. And, how to bring up the problem to the tenant that if alternate heating and lighting is used, dealing with the safety concerns of open flames.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

-- seraphima (seraphima@aol.com), June 22, 1999

Answers

from Chuck's wife- Don't forget to: Have wiring checked by a COMPETENT electrician- We Still see knob & tube! Also make sure local hook & ladder fire dept is aware of layout of house, put kidfinder decals on windows of children's bedrooms. Also educate tenant(s) on proper storage of HAZMAT-able burn stuff- few things worse than burning foam insulation and many people aren't aware that salvaged 2x4 etc lumber can be treated w/ chemicals that make NASTY (cyanide?) gases when burned w/out proper ventilation- just some hasty thoughts...

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), June 22, 1999.

Don't forget banking infrastructure, paying rent by clearing cheques [checks] etc.

-- Will (sibola@hotmail.com), June 22, 1999.