Rent/Own/Size/Etc...

[PitterPatter]

I was just curious as to how many in home providers actually own their home or rent. Do u have apartments or houses? If u rent do u have any problems with landlords or property issues regarding the daycare business? Can a landlord stop u from having a daycare? Do u have to inform the landlord in the 1st place?

I started thinking about all of these questions this weekend. I found out a lady that lives in an elderly home (tower apartments) is a registered provider through the state. She has a 3 room apartment and no yard just the small patio for the whole aparment complex to share. She is permitted 2 children in care at 1 time. How is this possible? Aren't there laws like u have to have a yard and play equipment? How do they get enough exercise? I know my number of children permitted are based on square footage. I have seen the rooms in that building (not hers but they are the same) they are small. Lv rm, tiny kitchen, bdrm, and tiny bath. That's it! Isn't that too small for 2 kids?

[cheerfuldom]

I found out about one woman doing daycare in a rental and I called the place just to see what the rule was and they were not happy to find out she was advertising for daycare. She was below the licensing for state requirements but that didn't make it okay as far as the landlord was concerned. I am assuming they shut her down. The reason I called is because if I was a landlord, I would appreciate someone cluing me in. I wouldn't want the property to be used as a daycare without my knowledge. We currently own so its not an issue for us. As for this particular lady, if her landlord allows it and the state allows it, shes not doing anything wrong. Not every parent cares about outdoor space and that type of thing. In fact, one of my daycare provider friends has a family that specifically asks that their daughter NOT be taken outside ever (not even in the backyard). They wanted to know the exact location of their child at all times, which was the daycare room.

[lil angels]

We own a home too.

[MarinaVanessa]

I own a condo with a HOA. My neighbors don't give me trouble although I have had issues with some when clients have parked in their spaces which is the equivalent here as a client parking in your neighbors driveway, which I handled. All I had to do was notify them that I would be doing daycare and sending them a copy of my license and liability insurance. We also don't have a large yard. Just a small patio which we seldom use. We go to the park and go for walks. I'm in CA. But even though it's a condo the square footage is the same as an average 3 bedroom older style house. It's a 3 bedroom condo with a one car garage so it actually gives us bigger bedrooms.

[MsMe]

We rented a ranch-style home fore 6 years before we purchaced it last December. Our landlord knew and we were allowed to paint and make all the changes we wanted. We fenced in the back yard re-lanscaped, and handled all of the yard work. We only called him for big things like the stove such. We were forced to buy the house last year (owner in nursing home and had to sell all property)....I wish we still rented.

[MyAngels]

In my state you are required to get written permission from a landlord before you can become licensed if you rent your home. There are huge liability issues for the owner of the property that is used for daycare.

I doubt that very many landlords would want a daycare operating from their rentals because of the potential liability involved.

[jen]

There is a daycare out of a rental home down the street from me. She did have to give a slightly larger deposit, but the landlord was fine with it.

My personal feeling is that is isn't anyones business to be checking in to see if someone else has permission.

[nannyde]

I did child care in my townhouse for 7 years but had permission from the Home Owners Association. I think that would be hard to get in this day and age. The liability for even minor medical care is SO high now... it's just not worth the risk to someone who isn't making money off of it.

I never took the kids outside during those seven years. We didn't have any common property that was safe for the kids to play. My dcp's had NO problem with me not taking the kids out. My rates were really reasonable and they just did the outdoor stuff on their own clock.

As a landlord I would NEVER allow someone to do child care on my property.

I own my own home and have about 14-1500 square foot just for chlld care. I do not have any outdoor equipment or outdoor play area. When we go outside we go for walks in our neighborhood. We live around the corner from a city park.

[Unregistered]

We own a home and have a fully fenced huge yard. We also have a fenced 20 foot x 20 foot deck which we use regularly. In our are you must first provide licensing paperwork signed by your landlord allowing you to do daycare on the property. Our licensing agency also reguires a certin number of square feet indoor and outdoor for each child and will let you know at licensing (once they visit your home) the max number allowed based on the space you have available. In this area it would be impossible to not have a lot of room for the kids to play unless you were going to charge next to nothing. There are too many daycares competing for business around here as it is.

[snbauser]

I rent. This is the 3rd location that I have operated my daycare out of and I have rented all 3 times. The first time we moved was because the husband and wife were getting divorced and selling the property. The second time was when we moved from CA to NC. In all 3 cases my landlords have been well aware of my business and very supportive. I have never had any issues and also include my landlord as a rider on my liability insurance to cover them if anything were to happen.

[Mom_of_two]

We own our house.

[PitterPatter]

There is a daycare out of a rental home down the street from me. She did have to give a slightly larger deposit, but the landlord was fine with it.

My personal feeling is that is isn't anyones business to be checking in to see if someone else has permission.

Well my concern is for the children mainly. It's not like I am trying to start trouble or anything. If I had a young child I wouldn't want them kept in a single (small) room all day 5 days a week 10 hrs per day. I don't see how they can get the exersize they need in basically 1 room unless she uses her bedroom for something. And an apartment I could see but in an elderly tower complex it just didn't make sense to me. She said she never leaves the apartment and has them 10 hrs a day. It just sounds like something the state would not approve of. I know the monitor told me when I started yrs ago, they wanted the children outside for at least an hour per day.

Also I didn't think an elderly complex manager/owner would allow young children or a business in the building. So I was just asking to see how common it really is.

Thanks for all the input!

[MsMe]

Well my concern is for the children mainly. It's not like I am trying to start trouble or anything. If I had a young child I wouldn't want them kept in a single (small) room all day 5 days a week 10 hrs per day. I don't see how they can get the exersize they need in basically 1 room unless she uses her bedroom for something. And an apartment I could see but in an elderly tower complex it just didn't make sense to me. She said she never leaves the apartment and has them 10 hrs a day. It just sounds like something the state would not approve of. I know the monitor told me when I started yrs ago, they wanted the children outside for at least an hour per day.

Also I didn't think an elderly complex manager/owner would allow young children or a business in the building. So I was just asking to see how common it really is.

Thanks for all the input!

I think it is up to the parents how they wan their children cared for during the day. They have seen the apt and met the provider. It is not your place to decide if this is what you would chose. It is also up to the neighbors and landlord to decide if they want the daycare gone. I am sure they are aware...you can't hide a few kidsa nd their parents coming and going each day.

[Former Teacher]

We live in an apartment complex. According to our lease we can not operate ANY home business (IE childcare) that requires clients to come to the complex.

[Evansmom]

We own a home and it's about 2500 sq ft. I use about 900 of it for the daycare (kitchen, living room, dining room that is the play room and 1/2 bath for our bathroom. But our lot is 10,000 sq ft so our back yard is literally huge. It's very park-like with lots of trees, our organic garden boxes, a 10ftX10ft sand box and a small playground plus all the room that you would want to run around in.

I only keep 2-3 daycare kids and my own little guy. We have an HOA but I didn't ask permission. They aren't very active and since I have such a small group we don't bother anyone.