Will requiring that a renter be "bonded", protect my building and assets if they are negligent?

Question

I have a private meeting hall that I want to open up for public use. My first thought is to let somebody like Alchololics Anonymous (for example), come in and use the building on one or two weeknights per week.

My big concern is that I don't have time to go over and open the building for something like that twice a week, especially for a group who may not be able to pay a lot for my time.

My building has quite a bit of equipment that could easily be loaded into a truck and stolen, perhaps $20k worth of furniture and equipment.

If I required that the person whom I gave the keys to, were to be "bonded", would that provide me sufficient protection should I show up after one of their meetings and find that all my stuff was gone?

Answer 1

"If I required that the person whom I gave the keys to, were to be "bonded", would that provide me sufficient protection should I show up after one of their meetings and find that all my stuff was gone?"  Only if you could prove beyond doubt that that particular person was the one who stole your stuff.

Besides, your stuff would still be gone.  Why would you want to go through the hassle?  I think this is the reason why meetings like AA are most often held in churches, which have different liabilities than commercial buildings.  

If you want to allow others access to your property you will have to secure valuables and also keep the keys in your possession.  Even so, there will be a risk of fire, theft, damage.  I would advise checking with your insurance company to see what they think about the idea.  I suspect they will change your mind very quickly!

Answer 2

Likely not.

First of all, "bonding" probably doesn't mean what you think it means - and I've never seen any type of bond that a renter takes out to protect the landlord.  Wear, tear, damage, is NORMAL to that type of business.

I doubt you'll find a company willing to "bond" an alcoholic, without that person being able to financially guarantee the bond - which likely they won't.

Answer:  You're going to have to find a way to protect your equipment, if you're going to open it to the public.  Like, either move it to another building, or don't open the building up to the public.