I was at work last night when one of my co-workers got a phone call telling him that his apartment was on fire. He ran home and we didn't hear from him for the rest of the night. We called him this morning, and he's in bad shape. The fire destroyed the kitchen before it was stopped, and pretty much everything he owns is ruined with smoke damage. To top it off, he's homeless now, staying with his brother until he can find somewhere to live. He doesn't have any money and can't even afford to skip a day of work to get everything together. He even has to call Red Cross to get some food for himself and his children.
Here's where the legal question comes in. The fire was determined to have started with some faulty wiring in the walls. He didn't have renter's insurance, and he's sure that he will have to replace everything himself. But if the wiring was bad, isn't that the responsibility of the owners of the complex? Is there anything he can do to get them to cover some or all of it? If so, who should he go to first? A lawyer? The government? The owners?
Any help would be massively appreciated. Thanks much.
Posted by Goody Scrivener (Member # 6742) on :
Not a lawyer, and my real estate specialist boss is out of town this week. My uneducated opinion is that the wiring issue and therefore the fire itself is the fault of the building owner. Repair/replacement of the building and unit itself (including appliances and fixtures that came with the unit) should be the owner's responsibility as well.
Now whether that makes the owner responsible for repair or replacement of your friend's personal effects is a completely different story. My guess would be no, but the owner might actually turn out to be a nice enough guy where he'd be willing to assist.
Personally, I'd try talking to the owners first without getting a lawyer involved in hopes that they'll be good guys about it. I'd separately talk to a lawyer to get them prepared for the possibility and to find out if there is any absolute liability on the owner's part.
Good thoughts to your friend and his family that they can get through this.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
That's really unfortunate that your co-worker didn't have renter's insurance. I'm not sure whether the owner's insurance will cover the personal losses of tenants. Most property owners' insurances are responsible only for the structure that was damaged, not the belongings of any tenants. Hopefully they will help cover his losses because it would be the right thing to do, but I wouldn't count on it.
Posted by whiskysunrise (Member # 6819) on :
I worked for a property management company. When we signed leases with tenants we told them they needed to get renters' insurance because the owner's insurance did not cover the renters belongings.