Who is responsible for apartment fire

Some landlord actions that may be deemed negligent include:. Such negligent acts should be addressed by the landlord as soon as possible. Failure to do so could not only impact the residents in your apartment building but also potentially surrounding neighborhoods. According to the warranty of habitability right, tenants have a right to a livable apartment.

If a fire destroys the apartment building or any part of their apartment unit. Unfortunately, some apartments are so severe that the building is no longer inhabitable. In those situations, it may be a good idea to review your lease agreement for acceptable conditions under which you can terminate a lease without penalty. If it mentions you can break the lease if the apartment becomes uninhabitable. You may have a way out of dealing with the long journey of waiting for apartment repairs.

If your lease fails to address anything along those lines, you may still be able to break your lease if your apartment is considered a total loss. This designation rarely comes from the landlord but an insurance adjuster.

However, if a tenant contradicts the opinion of an adjuster and files a lawsuit, a judge may agree that the apartment is uninhabitable and allow the tenant to break his or her lease agreement.

In month-to-month lease arrangements, you can terminate the lease anytime given that you provide at least a day notice of your intention to move out. Most likely, the landlord will pay for the apartment repairs. Chances are he has insurance in place to cover the losses. If you find that the effects of the fire, be it residual smoke damage or mold from the water used to extinguish the fire, are hurting your health.

Even if the landlord doesn't require the insurance, it's wise to get it. The price is a lot less than losses caused by a fire. Most states, including California, give tenants a warranty of "habitability," which is the right to a livable apartment. If fire leaves your apartment without a working bathroom or a kitchen, for example, your landlord is obligated to fix it as soon as possible, which usually means within 30 days.

The duty to repair doesn't apply if the damage is a minor problem. The landlord might not be legally required to, say, fix a patch of burned carpet or smoke-damaged wallpaper if that's the only damage. Sometimes, the fire damage is so bad that you have to move out of the apartment. Check the lease in this situation, as many leases give you the right to cancel the lease if you can no longer live at the property. If the lease is silent on this issue, you may cancel the lease if the apartment is "entirely destroyed.

The situation is a little clearer with a month-to-month tenancy. Tenants are entitled to terminate month-to-month tenancies at any time and for any reason.

All you have to do is serve a day notice, and the lease will come to an end. Residential landlords owe tenants a duty of care to maintain rental properties and keep them in habitable condition.

If a landlord breached his or her duty to maintain the premises, and that breach led to a house fire, he or she could potentially be liable for the damages. Neglecting repairs is a common cause of house fires in rental properties. If the tenant made the landlord aware of certain dangerous conditions on the property, but the landlord failed to correct or repair them and a fire resulted, this may also provide the basis for a claim against the landlord.

If a house fire occurs, landlords are responsible for making the repairs and returning the property to habitable condition, unless it can be proven that the tenant is liable for the fire. As a landlord repairs damage caused by a fire, the tenant has a duty to cooperate with the ongoing repair efforts.

Leases are typically written to include provisions that state a tenant must permit the landlord - or agents of the landlord - entry to the property in order to make repairs.