Property Manager Didn't Have to Get Insurance for Tenant

A person who was hurt while working in the tenant's space sued the tenant and the building's property manager for damages. The tenant asked the court to order the property manager to pay the costs it incurred because the property manager didn't get insurance for the tenant, as the lease required.

A New York court ruled that the lease didn't require the property manager to get the tenant's insurance, so the property manager didn't have to pay the tenant's costs. Although the lease had a clause on getting insurance for the tenant, the property manager wasn't a party to the lease, noted the court. The property manager's principal had signed the lease on the owner's—not the property manager's—behalf. And no language in the lease indicated that the property manager agreed to be bound by its terms, the court said. Even if the tenant could prove that the property manager was the owner's “agent,” the property manager still wouldn't be responsible for the insurance and costs because an agent must explicitly agree to be bound by the lease's terms, the court pointed out [Gleissner v. Brickman Assoc.].