House fire

We live North Carolina. We were renting a house that burned and are trying to find out if we have a case agaist the man we were renting the house from. There were no smoke detectors in the house. We lost all of our belongings with no way to recover anything financially. The man that we rented the house from made a small fortune off of our loss, and we need to know if we should pursue this leagally. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Heather Cales

We would need to know a LOT more about the circumstances before anyone on this forum can offer any advice. Things like:

1) Were the smoke alarms working when you moved in?? If so, most leases provide for YOU to be responsible for batteries, etc.
2) Was the fire a result of negligence by the landlord??

Basically, if the lanlord was not negligent, you have virtually no property case. If you can prove that the smoke alarms were not working when you moved in (highly unlikely), then you MIGHT be able to make a claim of partial responsibility (damage wouldn't have been so extensive if you had sufficient warning), but this would be a VERY hard and expensive matter to pursue.

Also, you need to read your lease. Most leases include provisions for the renter to maintain insurance for THEIR property in the house and might indemnify the homeowner in the event of loss.

house fire

Thank you for your prompt reply. You asked about the smoke detectors working properly. There were NO smoke detectors in the house at all. The fire report states that. The fire was a result of a TV. I have reason to believe that the landlord was involved someway, but that will never be possible to prove. As far as a lease, there was no written lease. This was just an individual that owned this one house and rented it out because it was on his commercial property that was actually for sale at that time. It was sold as soon as the remnents of the house were bulldozed. I think that it is an illeagal to rent a home without smoke detectors or alarms. If we would have had more warning, we would not have lost our cat, nor would the loss have been so extreme. Can you help?

Interesting that you state that there were no installed smoke detectors. Especially, since North Carolina Statute (NCGS Chapter 42, § 42-42) says that they ARE required in all rental units. The statute reads:
"Landlord to provide fit premises.
(a) The landlord shall:
(1) Comply with the current applicable building and
housing codes, whether enacted before or after October 1, 1977, to the extent required by the operation of such codes; no new requirement is imposed by this subdivision (a)(1) if a structure is exempt from a current building code.
(2) Make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition.
(3) Keep all common areas of the premises in safe
condition.
(4) Maintain in good and safe working order and promptly repair all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating,
ventilating, air conditioning, and other facilities and
appliances supplied or required to be supplied by the landlord provided that notification of needed repairs is made to the landlord in writing by the tenant, except in emergency situations.
(5) Provide operable smoke detectors, either battery-operated or electrical, having an Underwriters'
Laboratories, Inc., listing or other equivalent national testing laboratory approval, and install the smoke detectors in accordance with either the standards of the National Fire
Protection Association or the minimum protection designated in the manufacturer's instructions, which the landlord shall retain or provide as proof of compliance. The landlord shall replace or repair the smoke detectors within 15 days of receipt of notification if the landlord is notified of needed replacement or repairs in writing by the tenant. The landlord shall ensure that a smoke detector is operable and in good repair at the beginning of each tenancy. Unless the landlord and the tenant have a written agreement to the contrary, the landlord shall place new batteries in a battery-operated smoke detector at the beginning of a tenancy and the tenant shall replace the batteries as needed
during the tenancy. Failure of the tenant to replace the
batteries as needed shall not be considered as negligence on the part of the tenant or the landlord.
(b) The landlord is not released of his obligations under
any part of this section by the tenant's explicit or implicit acceptance of the landlord's failure to provide premises complying with this section, whether done before the lease was made, when it was made, or after it was made, unless a governmental subdivision imposes an impediment to repair for a specific period of time not to exceed six months. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, the landlord and tenant are not prohibited from making a subsequent written contract wherein the tenant agrees to perform specified work on the premises, provided that said contract is supported by adequate consideration other than the letting of the premises and is not made with the purpose or effect of evading the landlord's obligations under this Article. (1977, c. 770, s. 1; 1995, c. 111, s. 2; 1998-212, s. 17.16(i).)"

Further, the same statute shows, "§ 42-44. General remedies, penalties, and limitations.
(a) Any right or obligation declared by this Chapter is
enforceable by civil action, in addition to other remedies of law and in equity.
(a1) If a landlord fails to provide, install, replace, or
repair a smoke detector under the provisions of G.S. 42-42(a)(5) within 30 days of having received written notice from the tenant or any agent of State or local government of the landlord's failure to do so, the landlord shall be responsible for an infraction and shall be subject to a fine of not more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250.00) for each violation. The landlord may temporarily disconnect a smoke detector in a dwelling unit or common area for construction or rehabilitation activities when such activities are likely to activate the smoke detector or make
it inactive."

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/statutes/statutes_in_html/chp0420.html

So, based on the above, and without knowing any further details or specifics of this case, it appears that the landlord was in violation of the NC statute. And I believe that a decent case could be made that this violation might be shown to have increased the amount of damages that you incurred, had there been sufficient notice by the alarm(s).

I must add that your statement that you "have reason to believe that the landlord was involved someway" has little benefit unless you can show that there was some accelerant used in the fire.

I would contact a local attorney to see if they might be interested in this civil case. And if you can't find one, I would at least suggest that you contact the DA to have charges brought for violation of the NC statute. Then the results of the DA's action could be used to support your civil claim.

THANK YOU!