Landlord Burned the House Down

[Colleen Ayers]

I'm helping out a friend whose rental home burned down last week. It was a shared house arrangement - the landlord is an older woman, and she rented out two bedrooms in her home, one to my friend and one to another renter. All three shared the living space. Last week, my friend came home to find the house had caught fire, and is no longer habitable. The landlord was outside, and she said she'd lit candles in the main part of the house, then went down into the basement, leaving the candles unattended, and that was what caused the fire. I guess there weren't any operable smoke alarms, either, since she said the fire was pretty much out of control by the time she realized anything was wrong.

The landlord's son is now trying to help his mom get back on her feet, while my friend is trying to get help from a housing aid organization (not easy in the middle of this quarantine situation!). He's already balked at giving her back the security deposit, so she's asked me to help her write out a letter to him with a formal demand. She also pointed out the part in her lease that says the landlord is liable for damage caused by her own negligence, and leaving candles unattended and not keeping smoke alarms in operable condition would certainly cover that.

I told her she probably COULD make a claim, at least to the landlord's insurance company, but that I'm not sure if she really SHOULD. Does anyone have any insight into just how difficult it may be to file a claim like this? We're in Virginia, which I know doesn't have the most victim-friendly personal injury laws, and there is definitely no way she could afford to hire an attorney to represent her. On the other hand, she has a third person who also heard the landlord admit the fire was her fault, and there may be some report from the fire department about the cause of the fire to back that up as well. Any advice?