First of all, does anyone know of anyone other than the red cross that can help. They have given us almost $500 on a debit card, but it simply isn't enough. Could I go back and ask for more? I'm not trying to be greedy but I lost everything. This happened on Dec 22. I was in the recliner and the fire was almost completely out by 9. My roommate who is on the couch wakes me up at 3 AM from an explosion and the entire chimney was on fire. Someone had called 911 and by the time I did, the house was up in flames. The landlord has always been a jerk. I've never asked him to do maintenance and been nothing but cordial to him. I've been late a few times on the rent but always payed the late fees. My suspicion is that the chimney needed to be cleaned and that may have caused an explosion. I didn't have renters insurance which was dumb on my part and will never happen again. I really want to sue this guy because when I talked to him after the house burned, he was as chipper as could be. I'm not sure what to do, but I'm almost positive he has the house insured for way more than it's worth. Please, anybody with any advice, let me know. I don't want to get rich off this guy, I just want to have my life back...I'm graduating in the summer and want my life normal. PLEASE give me advice or let me know where to get help. Thanks!! Jason
House burned down have a few questions
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Banquo
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Hi Jason -- I knew someone in your exact position last year. I'm sorry for your loss, as this can be a difficult thing to recover from. The most important thing is to NOT make any statements to your landlord, his insurance company, or investigators from his insurance company. If you are worried about getting your rent deposit back, then do any of your own investigating very quietly. It is not in your interest to antagonize the landlord or even let him know that you are thinking about suing.
Some of the things you could check for is if your landlord has been cited for housing violations in the past. This can be done through your local building inspectors office or local government recordkeeping department. More immediately, try to get pictures from the scene, if possible, and copies of fire or police reports too.
I would also recommend contacting a lawyer in your area to see if he/she will take your case. If the first lawyer says "no," then call another. They are required to keep the information you give them confidential and most will give you a free initial consultation. Once someone takes your case, the lawyer will have to prove that your landlord violated some standard of care or statutory requirement. This is not always an easy thing to do. Most general practice lawyers should be able to help with this, but there are also practices that specialize in fire and arson so have a look out for these too. If you do not know of a good lawyer in your area, ask friends and family for referrals. If this doesn't work, then get in touch with your local bar association. Most have free lawyer referral services.
The Red Cross has PDF on some common sense things to do here also:
http://www.redcross.org/static/file_cont331_lang0_148.pdf
Other than that, try reaching out to friends and family for help. One couple that I knew in this situation even registered at Wal Mart and had a "recovery" picnic, where people brought stuff to help them get back on their feet again. You will probably find that most people are very sympathetic to your situation. If you do not have a social network to fall back on, look around for resouces in your community, like churches and charity organizations. Good luck!
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My house burned down about 5 years ago because of my wifes careless smoking. Insurance set me up. I would see a lawyer about this. I hope everything is going ok for you considering the circumstaces.
^Thanks. Everything is going ok considering the circumstances. Somebody always has it worse and I know I'm still a blessed guy at this point. My university has a free service where they offer legal advice. I am going to see them tomorrow because I am completely confused as whee to begin, what to do, if I even have a case. These people are without a doubt the most awful people I have ever met with. My roommate who happens to be my boyfriend has been nothing but cordial with them at all times and they continue to be hateful and have brought him to tears twice in the past week with false accusations. He is very very lucky I wasn't there, but while I know that violence solves nothing, I would have knocked the bastards crooked green teeth out of his head. I am on probation so somebody is watching out for me. I guess I am going to have to hire a private investigator. I just don't see how this guy isn't at least a little liable. Again, if anyone has any more advice, feel free to offer. Also, I know I don't know most of you personally on here, but I've been around since the sea foam green days of '99 or so. If anyone has a coat or 2 they'd like to donate for myself and my roommate, please let me know. I've been calling churches and they keep giving me numbers to places that don't really do much.
i'm really sorry to say, but unless it is found that the landlord is clearly at fault for the fire, it is the responsiblity of a renter to obtain renters insurance for the contains of their apt.
this renters insurance covers you for fire, theft, plumbing disasters and can have riders (add on coverage) for laptop computers, camera, jewerly that are commonly carried with you.
the exact coverage for weather related disasters, like huricanes vary with ur state and location. this insurance is really pretty cheap, 250 bux gets $20,000 in coverage i think
oh, and get replacement value insurance, more expensive, but it will replace ur crispy clothing and tv with new stuff, not the value of the used stuff. also, they will come to ur house to sux up water in case of a plumbing failure---they want to prevent damage to ur stuff!!
the companies that write auto insurance usual write this insurance
and u really got to sit down and figure out how much all ur stuff would cost to replace if it turned to ashes---its way more than u think
oh, and if u think the landlords insurance covers the renters stuff----NOPE!!!
it covers the entire house and his property only
oh, and i recenly checked my mom's homeowners policy, adult childs' property kept at ur parents house are covered on ur parents policy
and most college's offer dorm policy's to students
this renters insurance covers you for fire, theft, plumbing disasters and can have riders (add on coverage) for laptop computers, camera, jewerly that are commonly carried with you.
the exact coverage for weather related disasters, like huricanes vary with ur state and location. this insurance is really pretty cheap, 250 bux gets $20,000 in coverage i think
oh, and get replacement value insurance, more expensive, but it will replace ur crispy clothing and tv with new stuff, not the value of the used stuff. also, they will come to ur house to sux up water in case of a plumbing failure---they want to prevent damage to ur stuff!!
the companies that write auto insurance usual write this insurance
and u really got to sit down and figure out how much all ur stuff would cost to replace if it turned to ashes---its way more than u think
oh, and if u think the landlords insurance covers the renters stuff----NOPE!!!
it covers the entire house and his property only
oh, and i recenly checked my mom's homeowners policy, adult childs' property kept at ur parents house are covered on ur parents policy
and most college's offer dorm policy's to students
Infinite Jest
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One point with the hiring of a PI: if you find out that the landlord did burn down his house, what happens then? Is he actually going to have any money to compensate you? How are you going to prove what you lost? How much will it cost you to sue him (and to pay the PI)?
(btw, what was your original user name?)
(btw, what was your original user name?)
^my original user name was jj27xx I believe and there was another one that I don't remember at the moment. I don't think my landlord burned down his house, but I think he is responsible for not having the chimney cleaned as he should. The fire report states that it started on the second story of the chimney. I don't know how I am going to prove anything to answer your question. I'm going to talk to a legal team tomorrow to see if I have a case.
tambourine-man
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Isn't there some sort of standard that requires the renter to inform the landlord of work that needs doing? I think something along those lines is usually stipulated in a standard housing contract. The reason being that it's very easy to blame a landlord for not doing something in hindsight... but unless they are adequately informed that work needs doing, they can't take the sort of action required to prevent a house fire - especially one that (from your description) started due to fire being left unattended as people slept.
My lay opinion would be to find out if there is some statutory duty placed on the landlord to have the chimney scheduled for cleaning a certain number of times over a set period, or if his duty to have the property fully inspected regularly includes the chimney.
That said, I think the fact that you haven't communicated maintenance requirements to him may be a factor.
My lay opinion would be to find out if there is some statutory duty placed on the landlord to have the chimney scheduled for cleaning a certain number of times over a set period, or if his duty to have the property fully inspected regularly includes the chimney.
That said, I think the fact that you haven't communicated maintenance requirements to him may be a factor.
Jason, i second what everyone else says. Your landlord seems like a real jerk and it is so awful that he would take it to the extent to be cheerful towards your situation.Take legal actions for you are a young guy and he probably is trying to get over on you. Take it one day at a time and always stay optimistic bro. Try not to look to far into the future for there you can only worry about today and everyday is a blessing, especially through difficult situations. Definitely speak to your higher power if you have discovered what yours is as it can be anything in which you find to be adequate. ( higher power = NA, AA term! ) Keep your head up Jason!
Banquo
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no
telling someone to get renter's insurance is good advice, but (1) insurance is an issue that it is separate from fault and (2) "clearly at fault" is not the typical legal standard.
i'm not sure the point you are trying to make here and i was not trying to use legal terms
in nyc, where i live, sadly i have known many people who have suffered loses in fires w/o insurance and being able to collect damages from the landlord is uncommon.
my parents were able to collect a small amount from our landlord because of an unreasonable delay in restoring electric service after a very small basement fire....it took like 6 days for no reason...should have been fixed the next morning
a coworker had smoke and water damage from a roof fire caused by a contracter fixing the roof with hot tar...they collected after suing...
attempting to recover damage to your property from the property owner in a fire is hard to do. getting a private investigator isnt the way to go. he should speak to the fire department about the cause of the fire and get a copy of the report. the fire department might even clue him in if there was any fault on the landlords part with this info, he could speak to a lawyer, but i doubt it would get anywhere