If you’ve not been in the marketplace with your real estate recently, you may not have what is required now, at the point of sale, which is a carbon monoxide detector in the home, on the property, and close to the bedrooms.
Featuring:
Bob Nelson, Eugene real estate investment broker
Marcia Edwards, Eugene residential real estate broker
Bob Nelson: I think that’s required if there’s a fireplace, or a detached garage, etc. the concern is, would there be a source of CO, carbon monoxide, that would be omitted from a vehicle, or potentially from a fireplace, and so forth. Is there a system of detecting CO presence in the air, because unfortunately, it doesn’t smell. I mean, you can’t tell that you’ve got a problem until you die.
Marcia Edwards: There’s also the smoke detector, which has to have a 12 year lithium battery, and a hush button, so you don’t have it dismembered when it goes off, when your toaster went too long. So you’ve got to look at what’s going on right now. That’s important because your insurance coverage may be dependent upon it, and especially with tenants occupying your property.
Bob Nelson: And certainly, a tenant has been known to remove a smoke detector, when they are discovering the art of cooking, that it’s really not an oven timer, or whatever. They may take the thing down, and unfortunately, that’s your property, and there is liability to the landlord, as that happens.
Now, certainly, lease agreements will typically impose a fine of like, $200 if I come into your place, and you’ve tampered with the smoke detector, you, the tenant, could be fined for doing that. What I’m attempting to do as a landlord is make sure that you’re safe. But if you do certain things that diminish my opportunity to have you be safe, there are legal penalties that follow.
Marcia Edwards: It is affordable and accessible. There really is very little reason not to go into Bi-Mart, or Jerry’s, or your local hardware store, and get that picked up. They’ll also usually know the requirements for your house, that each level have to have the carbon monoxide detector in each bedroom within 15 feet of the doorway. So, you’ll get those rules and you’ll see them on the labels as well. Make sure you’ve got it covered in your property. It’s too significant to let it slide.
Bob Nelson: It doesn’t make sense to take risks that would be costly to an individual’s life. Be careful. Know what you’re supposed to do, and then do it.
Join Eugene, Oregon, real estate experts: Bob Nelson, Real Estate Investment Broker with Pacwest Real Estate Investments, and Marcia Edwards, Residential Real Estate Broker with Windermere Real Estate, daily at 5:30 on KPNW for the “Real Estate Today” radio show.
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