How much damage are we liabile for after an apartment fire?

Question

My wife and myself recently had a small apartment fire. The fire itself caused very little damage, some scorch marks on the ceiling that come right off. The sprinkler system and the firemen, on the other hand, caused quite a bit of damage: they tore a huge swath of carpeting up to help pool the water, sawed part of our sliding door frame out to make an outlet for the water off the balcony, knocked our toilet out to make a drain. a great deal of our things are ruined.

we dont have renters insurance, but we can eat the damages to our personal property. however, our landlord is telling us that they dont have any insurance either, and that were responsible for all damages done by the fire, the firemen, the sprinkler system, and other misc charges, such as the alarm system guy and elevator technician coming out.

im trying to get in touch with a tenant's union here in seattle, but since theyre volunteer run organizations theyre slow to respond. does the landlord's story sound strange

does the landlord's story sound strange to anyone else? i did sign a regular contract when we moved in, saying we were responsible for damages to the apartment, but we simply dont have the money to pay for the (probably massive) bills that I know the landlord will try to saddle us with. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

You don't state how the fire started. If the fire was due to your negligence or carelessness, you CAN be held liable for damages caused by this fire.

I suspect that your landlord DOES have coverage for the fire damages unless he holds ownership mortgage free, since any lender would require that their collateral be properly insured against such a loss.

However, if he DOES have coverage, do not be surprised if the insurer pays and them comes looking for YOU, if you caused the fire.

Answer 2

If you were the cause of the fire, whether through negligence or accident, then you are responsible for the results. This includes the damage caused by the fire department. Had there been no fire then they would not have responded and there would have been no additional damage to the apartment. Had they not responded, then you might be liable for the cost of an entire building or maybe even several buildings had they burned. The fire department did you a great service by damaging your apartment in order to save the building.

If you are unable to pay for the damages then you may have to consider bankruptcy. And now you know why people invest in fire extinguishers and liability insurance.

WK

Answer 3

did the fire inspector deem you as the "cause" of the fire. if he did then u should pay up but if he deemed it an accident and noone was at fault then ur landlord is liable.

ur landlord should have never rented to u if he didn't have insurance. that's why people have insurance for fires and emergencies, u are not liable for paying for these damages. tell ur landlord to stop being so damn cheap and cough up the money to cover the costs, even if he did take u to court he would have no shot at winning. he is just bluffing. the state would revoke his rights for renting without insurance.

Answer 4

without residence coverage (which you are able to have, and it in lots of situations is very low-priced) there's no longer lots you're able to do. Sorry. in case you are able to coach the owner replaced into negligent (like, the wiring replaced into undesirable and that they knew approximately it), then you ought to get a legal professional and attempt to sue the owner, yet this hardly works. Plus it may take years waiting for a court docket date, and in all probability fee an excellent style of money and time, and you in all probability does not win - whether you ought to get a legal professional to take the case.

Answer 5

tough sh+t. the owner should have his own ins. just for things like this....