Liability insurance for Real Estate & Landlords

Start with a guide

These guides connect the coverage decisions below; use the questions to drill into a specific rule.

Industry guide · 2026 edition

Commercial Lessor Insurance: The 2026 Liability Playbook

A commercial lessor's liability rarely turns on one policy. The building, the common areas you control, and the businesses your tenants run generate different exposures, and which coverage answers each one depends on control and the lease — not on whose name is on the deed. This playbook maps the five exposures that actually generate claims for owners of commercial property to the liability line each belongs to, who can assert it, and what the lease or the tenant's policy is supposed to do about it.

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Public record case files for Real Estate & Landlords

A real-estate E&O defense duty survived two asserted exclusions
The insurer had to defend the real-estate brokerage because some allegations could fall within its professional-liability (E&O) policy and outside two exclusions. A duty to defend means paying for the lawsuit’s defense; it does not decide who was at fault or guarantee payment of the claim.
An assault exclusion can reach a negligent-premises claim
Calling a claim negligent security or poor premises management did not avoid an assault-and-battery exclusion. The court said the claim depended on the assault, so the exclusion applied under this policy. Read the exclusion and the facts behind the claim, not just the lawsuit’s label.

Questions by coverage line

Commercial General Liability

All General Liability questions →

Professional Liability

All Professional Liability questions →

Coverage mechanics for Real Estate & Landlords

Policy mechanics, exclusions, certificates, and claims questions live on our sister publication: Real Estate & Landlords on isthiscovered.org.