Landlord Insurance for California Rental Homes
Coverage for homes you rent out, including second homes and investment properties.
What Landlord Insurance Covers, and What It Doesn't
You own a home and someone else lives in it. That one fact changes the insurance. Landlord insurance in California is built for a house, condo or small building you rent out, and it does three main jobs.
It pays to repair or rebuild the building after a covered loss like a fire. It includes liability, which protects you if a tenant or a guest gets hurt on the property and blames you. And it can replace the rent you lose while the home is being repaired and nobody can live there.
A homeowners policy is written for a home you live in. Once a tenant moves in, it usually isn't the right policy anymore, and a claim is a bad time to find that out. If you moved out and started renting your old house, your coverage needs a fresh look.
A landlord policy doesn't cover your tenant's belongings. Their furniture, clothes and electronics are theirs to insure with renters insurance, and many landlords require it in the lease. Earthquake and flood are left out too, the same as on a home you live in. Each takes its own policy, and we can help with earthquake insurance and flood insurance for a rental.
The policy wording always decides what's covered. We go through the coverages with you before you sign anything, not after.
Tell Us About Your Rental
How Darlene Baxter Insurance Agency Finds the Right Landlord Insurance
Darlene Baxter Insurance Agency starts with our main company. When it isn't the right fit for your rental, we look at other companies available through our brokerage. You get more than one look at the property, not one company's yes or no.
Rentals in high fire areas are a big part of this work. If no standard company will take the property right now, the California FAIR Plan paired with a wrap policy can be the path, the same as for a home you live in. Our FAIR Plan and wrap page explains how the two fit together.
Darlene Baxter has been in insurance since 2009. She and Michelle Henning, our personal insurance agent, handle the landlord policies themselves, and many of their clients own more than one property. One of them wrote:
★★★★★
"She helped me to insure multiple properties for myself ... including in some high fire hazard areas. Whether it is an owner occupied, 2nd home or an investment property she can do it all."
If you own several rentals, your liability adds up with each one. An umbrella policy adds more liability coverage on top of all of them, and it's worth a look once you have more than one door.
We insure short-term rentals too. A long-term tenant signs a lease, usually for 12 months or more. A short-term rental is booked for shorter stays with no long-term lease, often through sites like Airbnb. They're popular, and the two are insured differently, so tell us up front which one your property is.
This page is for rentals with one to four units. A building with more than four units is a commercial apartment building, and that goes to Sarah Jones on our business insurance side. So does a duplex or small building that needs an HOA policy.
What to Expect When You Call About a Rental
It starts with a conversation. Tell us about the property: where it is, how old it is, the roof, any updates, and who lives there now. A long-term tenant on a lease, a vacant home between tenants and a short-term rental with guests coming and going are three different situations, and the company needs to know which one it is.
Next, we look at what you have today. Most of the time we can gather the details ourselves. If a declarations page is handy, it shows us your current limits and your renewal date.
Then we shop, starting with our main company. We lay the options out side by side in plain words: what each one covers, what it leaves out, and what it costs. If we already insure your own home or auto, we'll show you how the rental fits with the rest. You choose.
Once you pick, we handle the application with you. After that, we offer a review at every renewal. The review step in our process shows what that looks like.
We can't promise approval or a price. Those decisions belong to the insurance companies. You'll always know where things stand.
Landlord Insurance Across California
The office is in Pleasant Hill, and we insure rentals all over California. You don't have to live near the property, and you don't have to live near us. Many landlords live in one county and own a rental in another.
A lot of our rental work is in Contra Costa County, and in the foothills and mountains: Tuolumne County with Sonora and Groveland, Calaveras County, and El Dorado County. Insurance companies look at the property itself, so every conversation starts with the house.
Get a Second Look at Your Landlord Insurance
New rental, a tenant moving in, or a renewal that jumped? Call the office at (925) 940-6970, or send us a message. Tell us about the property.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep my homeowners policy if I rent out my house?
Usually not. A homeowners policy is written for a home you live in. When a tenant moves in, the home generally needs a landlord policy. Call us before the tenant moves in so there's no gap.
Does landlord insurance cover my tenant's belongings?
No. Your policy covers the building and your liability. Your tenant's furniture and personal things need their own renters insurance.
What if my tenant has to move out after a fire?
Many landlord policies can replace the rent you lose while the home is being repaired after a covered loss. We check that coverage with you, because it isn't the same on every policy.
My rental is in a high fire area. Can it still be insured?
We start with standard companies. If none will take the property right now, the California FAIR Plan with a wrap policy can be the path. We can't promise approval, and we'll tell you where things stand.
Do you insure short-term rentals like Airbnb?
Yes. Tell us up front that the home is booked for shorter stays and not leased to a long-term tenant, so it's set up as a short-term rental from the start.
I own an apartment building. Is that landlord insurance?
A building with more than four units is a commercial apartment building. Our business insurance side handles those.
Do you work with only one insurance company?
No. We start with our main company. When it isn't the right fit for your rental, we look at other companies available through our brokerage.
Keep exploring
Want a second look at your coverage? Talk to Darlene Baxter Insurance Agency.