This week, one of the huge fires in California is close to my rental properties, which are a few hours' drive from my home. I was visiting my rentals last week; the sky was ugly with smoke, and everything was blanketed in ash. My tenants have been under mandatory evacuation, but at this point it looks like the houses will be spared--if the wind doesn't shift. My landlording guides don't cover this kind of situation! Have you ever dealt with this kind of thing? If so, any pointers about what to do, what to watch for, what might be different in the aftermath? Or what to do if the fire does come closer, even burn my places? I've been in touch with all tenants via texting, and they're all safe with family nearby. I've asked them to let me know of any major changes, and to let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Is there anything more I can/should do? Thank you!

Thanks for sharing your experience, @Philippe Laurin! I hope you and your wife have recovered from that fire. Thank goodness I do take pictures, and I'm due for an insurance review. Thanks for the reminders! The best news is that the fire is now (recent) history, and although my tenants were all evacuated, the fire didn't get close to my properties. Hallelujah!

Hi @Carol Venolia, I'm a bit late to the parade, but I just wanted to share my experience because my wife and I did live through a fire. It was in a 4plex where we lived (so 3 tenant families were affected), and 4 other adjacent similar properties were also burned. One of the lessons we learned from this is to always make sure you have enough insurance coverage in the event you need to rebuild. Some of our neighbors did not have sufficient coverage, and had to cut corners and/or do some of the rebuilding themselves. The other thing, which someone else already mentioned, is that you should periodically take pics of the property and your belongings, because if it all burns to the ground, you won't remember half the stuff that you had. I hope this help, and most importantly, I hope no one reading this ever goes through this :)

@Carol Venolia press democrat has some good coverage right now.

Good idea about asking my CPA! Thanks. Yeah, I don't think I could bring myself to raise rent now. And good points about losses being so much more than buildings. And looters! These same tenants said that someone broke into their locked screened porch and stole some stuff. Scummy, indeed. I may not have heard the end of such things yet. And, of course, there's the repair to do. Probably not expensive enough to get help from insurance on that.

@Carol Venolia I think if you rent at your current market rent before the fire.. you can hold your head high.. If you want to also give on some rent and take a charitable deduction ( check with your CPA) that might be a nice thought. This is just so tough for so many.. what folks don't realize is these are rural areas little hobby farms and such.. so its much more than the house its the fencing.. the Well house barns and accessory buildings etc etc.. But let your heart be your conscience here. One of the motel owners in Clearlake raised his room rates ( normally 80 to 100 ) to 300 a night and about got shot. Now you have looters coming in from other areas.. those people should be shot like they did in New Oreleans during Katrina .. that's just scum of the earth

A new development! The Butte fire has resulted in one set of my tenants giving me 30-day notice due to financial hardship. I've offered them a temporary rent reduction if they want to stay, but they seem determined to move. They've been great tenants, so I hate to see them go. I shouldn't have any trouble renting the place out, with 661 homes destroyed in the area. But I'm wondering... does it seem appropriate to make any concessions due to the tragedy? Offer reduced rent to evacuees, or something? I don't really want to lose income, but I don't want to be callous, either. Thoughts?

has there ever been a major fire near your rental property?

Russell BrazilBusiness Member

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Real Estate Agent · Washington, D.C. · Member since 2012 · 17k+ posts · 30k+ votes

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@Carol Venolia The closes I came to the situation was watching the house next door to one of my properties burn down. Just a house fire, not giant wild fires, so I have no advice to give. When that fire was next door, it was the first time I was thankful for having asbestos siding on the house though. If it were vinyl or wood siding, my house likely would have burned down too.

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has there ever been a major fire near your rental property?

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