Hiring people to work for you

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illegal workers

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Never hired and illegal before even tho I'd love to have a couple on the payroll.
I'm talking about the college kid that cuts my grass or the retired guy that pressure washes and does casual maintaince around my places.

It's a fine line between an employee and an independent contractor. There are many rules and a 20-factor test (!!) but to me it's an issue of control.

We will use grass cutting as an example.

There is a guy that markets himself as someone who can cut grass. He cuts your grass once a week. He shows up, uses all of his own equipment, buys his own grass, sets his own schedule, etc. You pay him $50 each time he comes. That's an independent contractor.

Now let's say you have a guy that comes and cuts grass for you every day, for 4 hours a day. You provide him equipment. You buy his gas. You fix the equipment when it breaks. You tell him he needs to come between 8 and 12 every day. Likely, he is your employee.

You can pay your guy in cash, but you still need to be able to prove that you had that expense, to be able to deduct it against your rental income. which is why we recommend you don't pay him in cash.

As to your original question, I would be concerned that you would be creating a relationship there. For example, when you get an a/c company to fix an a/c unit, do you make him sign a waiver? They would look at you like you were nuts.

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Is there such a form that if painter signed I wouldn't be liable?

Forget the rental aspect, just act like its at your personal residence

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Anyone can sue anyone. Doesn't mean they will win.

I'm curious to see what an attorney would say about this. I've had attorney friends that tell me waivers like that are pretty easy to defeat in court.

My defense, if I was you, is that anyone holding themselves out for work as a contractor, should be carrying their own insurance.

If I were you, I'd contact my insurance company - whoever has the policy on the rental property. You likely have some form of liability coverage. Ask them what they think and what your exposure could be. I would imagine they would get involved if you were ever sued anyways.