Question on invoice received from Fire Recovery USA

[Andy K]

Hello all,

We have a rental property in So Cal, that had an unfortunate fire incident last August. The tenants called the fire department of the same city where the home is located, and the fire was put off. The fire was in the attic, so it caused damage to the roof, HVAC, electrical, etc.

A few weeks after the fire, we received an invoice from Fire Recovery USA for about $3,500 on behalf of the fire department for the services rendered to put out the fire. When we called Fire Recovery, they said that the city passed an ordinance few years ago that any cost incurred by the fire department is to be billed to the owner of the home. We were unaware of this ordinance. We gave Fire Recovery the contact info of our homeowners insurance. The insurance company got back saying they won't be paying anything towards this invoice, since my policy does not cover cost of fire department, when the city where the property is located is the same as the fire department that put out the fire. The insurance company told us that this is the first time they have seen a bill from the fire department of the same city as the property.

Fire Recovery USA called us, saying that since the insurance company is not paying for the invoice, the responsibility of this payment falls on us, and if we don't make this payment, they will send the invoice to collections!

I wanted to ask folks here what our options are. Can Fire Recovery USA send the bill to collections, and can it affect our credit? It's a high amount that we will have difficulty paying at this time, since we also have other expenses due to this fire. Is there any way we can contest this bill, since we were not actually aware of the ordinance passed by the city to bill owners for a fire incident.

Any suggestions on how to handle this situation will be of great help.

Thanks.

Andy.