Tenants car was damaged. Is it my fault?

Question

Okay I need some advice. We have a small apartment unit. During a windstorm a piece of siding blew off and damaged one of the tenants cars. The tenant is asking us to pay the $500 deposit. I have never had in my lease anything about parking at your own risk, or any signs in the parking area. Is this something I am responsible for? Or is this considered an act of God and the tenant has on his own? Any advice would be appreciated.

Colleen F. · Answer

I had a tree fall on a tenants car and I called my insurance company. They indicated that unless I was negligent regarding the tree then it was and act of god and it was on the tenant. The tenant said it was her car insurance that paid. I did not cover the deductible, that would have opened the door for me admitting negligence. Now it was a healthy tree not the siding on my house. I called the insurance company but I don't think they ever opened a claim. I just paid for the removal of the tree from the car. Call your insurance company and ask.

Daniel Guas · Answer

Your homeowners insurance will not cover the damage as it is an act of God. The tenant can file a claim against their comprehensive coverage on their auto insurance and it would be covered under that.

Kyle Hipp · Answer

John, anybody can sue for anything. It does not seem that the tenant would have a case as there is no indication of negligence. I would be wasting a lot of money if I accepted fault for everything that caused an issue in my life as acts of God are not liable to the landlord

Kyle Hipp · Answer

Unless the siding was not attached correctly and your were negligent in your maintenance of the property then you are not responsible. That would be on their auto insurance, possibly renters insurance. If a tree branch comes down in a windstorm on a vehicle of a guest at my house, I am not responsible unless I had reason to think that the branch was bad and was going to fall. I had a neighbor at a property habe a dwelling fire and it melted some siding on my properties garage. However that person was not liable as it was not intentional and they wete not deemed negligent.

Bryan O. · Answer

@David Luetkemeyer that would fall under their auto's comprehensive policy. Typically, the car is not covered under a renter's policy. You did nothing wrong unless you were not maintaining the unit. Beyond that, as Account Closed says, anyone can sue for anything. If you walk around giving money away just in case they might sue you, you will find yourself without money pretty quickly.In this case, the sky was falling, but it wasn't your fault. Tell your tenant that you are sorry their car was damaged and glad they weren't hurt. While you are getting that piece of the roof repaired make sure nothing is loose and ready to fall and move on with your life.I would say to call your insurance to be certain you are okay in their minds, then rest easy knowing you are not at fault for problems other people have that are not caused by you.

Boris Peyzner · Answer

@David Luetkemeyer - What state did this happen in? Did you have any notice (actual or constructive) that the siding was in some type of disrepair or had the potential to cause dangerous condition? Does the tenant have renter's policy naming you as the additional insured? This is not a contract issue. It is more of a negligence issue. The tenant may have a weak cause of actdion against you. The tenant wlil have an uphill battle because tenant will need to prove that you knew that the siding was loose or reasonably should have known. To do that will likely need to have an expert brought in. With all this said, do you like your tenant? How much would it cost you if the tenant moves out at the end of the lease? Why not keep the tenant happy and split the baby.

David Luetkemeyer · Answer

I don't know why I would turn over to insurance. My deductible is over 500 anyway. And anytime you turn something over to insurance it's considered a claim whether they pay anything or not and they will raise my rates.

Jessie Tetreault · Answer

Yeah how could this be your fault, unless the siding was like not attached properly then it's not your fault. How can you control wind? Or even know that would happen. That's what car insurance is for, that tenant won't even need to come out of pocket for that 500 so why would you give it too him. He's calls his car insurance they look at the damage and estimate the cost to fix it. Say the damage is $1000.00 then he would just get a check for 500 bucks and fix it on his own. And his insurance isn't going to go up because it's an act of god. What if the damage is only 200 bucks worth he still wants 500? Makes no sense to me. That's life things happen. @David Luetkemeyer

Benjamin Pekarek · Answer

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the way I read OP is that tenant is wanting you to pay their deductible. If that's the case, I'd tell them to go fly a kite! If it's just a $500 bill, tell them to call their car insurance, or pay the bill. An act of God is not going to pay out damage to someone else...that's why THEY should have THEIR insurance up to date.

Stanley Parsley · Answer

just talk to the tenant and see if there is a viable solution before you out of pocket cashall problems have a solution with good negotiation both parties can have a win winenjoy