Rental House Fire - Tenant Sueing

[Katerina Villamil]

Hello! Down here in Texas during the freak weather my rental property lost power for a day. The tenant, an elderly woman, lit a fire in the fireplace (14 hours) and it started a fire in the house burning all surrounding areas. The tenant was not injured thankfully. Fire Marshall says the fire started because of “old mortar” in the firebox. I had no prior knowledge that anything was wrong w the fireplace. I purchased the property a couple years ago and the inspection report did not report any faults in the fireplace.

Tenants daughter (POA) has been a bully from beginning. She has contacted my insurance and has demanded they cover liability (for what idk since no one got hurt and her mother has renters insurance), she is now requesting of me a copy of my insurance adjusters report. I spoke w her after fire and communicated that I would like to terminate the lease and give back sec. deposit since repairs will take a while. Section 92.

I’m 99% sure she is going to sue me - for what I’m not sure - but I saw on her fb that she is searching for a Liability Attorney for the house fire. 

This is my first rental property (4 months in ha!). Wondering if anyone has any guidance - do I have anything to worry about other than how much excedrin I will need to buy to deal with this headache? 

Does she have a right to my Adjuster’s report? Why wouldn’t her insurance request the report from my insurance directly if they needed it...? 

[Greg M.]

1) Contact your insurance company ASAP to alert them that there was an incident and may be a claim.

2) Shut up. No discussing the incident with the tenant or her POA daughter. Nothing. If she mentions lawsuit, feel free to say something like "Due to the minor damage, I probably won't be suing your mother for her lighting a fire and her subsequent negligence in failing to watch over it." Everyone likes to threaten lawsuit, but something like this can get them thinking what happens if the court decides I'm liable... I've had incidents disappear when saying something like this.

3) Wait for the lawsuit and let your insurance company handle 100% of everything. She has a right to NOTHING until your attorney decides they want to turn it over or a judge requires it.