Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Wisconsin
Recently, a friend of mine has opened a gym which requires lots of commercial exercise equipment. I for one own lots of commercial exercise equipment for my own personal use, in which I could literally fill his gym & have considered letting him rent all of it to help his business get going.
What kind of legal agreement could I have drawn up, to prevent myself from either getting sued if one of his member injures themselves or prevents any legal loopholes or trickery which could one day potentially have him take legal possession of my property....if that's possible.
2 Answers from Attorneys
.Usually, the cheapest way to deal with any liability concern is simply to insure over it; then injuries would become the responsibility of your insurance company. However, you could also easily avoid personal liability by incorporating an entity which would serve as a shield against personal claims against you on account of your business activities. That company would then rent the equipment rather than you personally. You should therefore schedule a conference with any attorney with broad experience who is knowledgeable as to incorporation law. My comments in this online forum are offered for public educational purposes only and are not legal advice, nor do they create any attorney/client relationship between us. Even if I were advising you, the background information which you provided did not include sufficient detail to allow any sort of reliable advice upon which you should rely. Finally, I may be able to represent you if you contact my Racine office and make arrangements formally retain me. I represent clients throughout the state of WI.
.Usually, the cheapest way to deal with any liability concern is simply to insure over it; then injuries would become the responsibility of your insurance company. However, you could also easily avoid personal liability by incorporating an entity which would serve as a shield against personal claims against you on account of your business activities. That company would then rent the equipment rather than you personally. Secondly, you must properly record proof of your interest in the equipment with the proper public record recording agency. This can be tricky to determine sometimes with leases, but it is still relatively easy to accomplish. With a properly recorded notice and enforceable lease agreement, you should be protected for the lessee's creditor's potentially seizing your equipment some day for his debts. You should therefore schedule a conference with any attorney with broad experience who is knowledgeable as to incorporation law. My comments in this online forum are offered for public educational purposes only and are not legal advice, nor do they create any attorney/client relationship between us. Even if I were advising you, the background information which you provided did not include sufficient detail to allow any sort of reliable advice upon which you should rely. Finally, I may be able to represent you if you contact my Racine office and make arrangements formally retain me. I represent clients throughout the state of WI.