<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>John,<br><br>I see a couple of issues here. First off, I assume you have some sort of written lease or rental agreement. Does it state that you are required to carry insurance? If so, then your landlord is absolutely right in enforcing this provision right now. <br>
<br>Did you represent what you would be doing as being different than what you are doing now? If so, then that is certainly grounds for the landlord demanding frank conversation about your present use of said space. That being said:<br>
<br></div>1. You are his/her customer. It's not appropriate for him to come in to your space uninvited and have a meltdown in front of your guests. Normal landlords handle this sort of thing with a phone call the next day, or by coming by discretely and saying "Can I have a word with you?" if they see something that needs attention ASAP. This is not professional behavior on his part. After you resolve the current problem, you really should establish boundaries for what is and isn't an appropriate visit. <br>
<br>You are paying a bunch of money for exclusive use of his space. Just because his brother-in-law rented it before and was cool with him coming in and out all day doesn't mean you should tolerate that.<br><br></div>
2. If you don't have a lease then this is a failure on both your parts. Sorting out responsibility for the building and activities is normally done before you sign a lease. Normal leases usually include stuff like:<br>
<br>-What the landlord agrees to maintain (i.e. all common areas, the fire alarm and sprinklers, the structure itself.)<br><br>-What you are responsible for maintaining (i.e. your signage, tenant improvements, plumbing fixtures inside, etc)<br>
<br>-Insurance requirements. Requiring you to maintain a basic "premises liability policy" of $X that specifically names the landlord and covers fire, damage to property, and personal injuries is pretty typical.<br>
<br>If you haven't looked into insurance at all, and you are now established enough to be hosting these kind of events, then this is also a planning failure on the part of your group. <br><br></div>We don't bill our space as kid-friendly at all, but we do allow people to bring their kids if they are responsible and looked after by their parents. Everyone has a different approach to this sort of thing.<br>
<br></div>Arclight<br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 10:13 AM, john lunger <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:justj1915@yahoo.com" target="_blank">justj1915@yahoo.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div><div style="font-size:12pt;font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif"><div>I would like a deep discussion about insurance, liability and kids. </div>
<div><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">We were at a great hackerspace last night and they have weekly events for kids. </div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif"><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">
Unfortunately the landlord goes on rampages and happened to rampage about the kids being in a common room last night in front of the kids and parents.</div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">
<br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">One of my daughters (11yrs ) was privy to this unfortunately and is still talking about it this morning. She is a bit worried that she won;t be able to go back to this hackerspace as she really enjoys her time there. Luckily I don't think my other kids heard it. Maybe my preschooler may have but he might have also been oblivious about the whole thing. </div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif"><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">
Several adults went and corralled the landlord outside to get him to calm down. My daughter says she is worried he will come back and do that again. </div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">
<br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">According to the adults he was complaining about some kind of liability issue and insurance among other things. </div>
<div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif"><br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">
I don;t think this hackerspace has looked into insurance yet or might be in the process of it right now after last nights event. </div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">
<br></div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">Can anyone shed some light to this whole thing? </div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">
What options does a hackerspace has with an unruly landlord? </div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif">What can we
do bureaucratic wise to make him quiet down? </div><div style="font-style:normal;font-size:16px;background-color:transparent;font-family:'times new roman','new york',times,serif"><br>Carolyn</div> </div>
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