Earlier this year I was renting a house from a school district. I had never been told there were problems with the chimney and I lit a fire in the fireplace which caught the roof on fire and burned the house down. There was certainly nothing in writing. The School District's insurance company tried to come after my employer, a municipality (who the school district leased the house to in order to house me), but my employer's insurance representative found us not negligent in the fire because we did not know about the conditions of the chimney (which was in an appraisal report and not given to us). The only mention of it was verbal, from one school district employee to a municipal public works employee before I moved in the house.
I have tried twice to file an out of court claim for compensation for my personal losses and have been denied both time, the School district maintains the City knew everything they needed to know and were the negligent ones, and to go to them for compensation. They also point out to the fire report (which next to the section marked "Human Contributing Factors" is marked "None"), where it says I disconnected the Smoke Alarm. It's true that I moved from it's base to another part of the attic, since I was trying to investigate whether the smoke was coming in from the window or not. I never made it inoperable.
Ok to the point. My claim is for $ 7,419, and the maximum on Small Claims is $ 7,500. I have a lot of supporting documents in my favor, I just have never dealt with the legal world and am not sure if I will say what I need to say when I need to say it. An associate who has some dealings with the legal world says that the Small Claims court will be sympathetic to me because I did not have renters insurance and the School District does.
When the School District denied my second claim, they said that if it went to court it would end badly for me because I could be found negligent and liable for the $ 100,000 lost house. Thus, parts of me want to hire an attorney from the start so they could continue representing me in case of a counter suit. But, how much would that cost me? At the beginning to prepare the case documents, court time, and part of the $ 7419 if I win the case. Can their fees get added on to my claim if I win? What if the court decides in the favor of the school district?
Someone told me earlier I should name the City in the lawsuit since they were the ones leasing the house to me. But, I don't see why I should name the city as an defendant if the safety conditions of the house were not disclosed to them.
Thanks for your time and thoughts!
1. Again, one employee of the city was verbally told about the chimney, and not someone that had anything to do with the lease agreement.
2. The fire had already started in a crawlspace by the chimney I could not see when I moved the smoke detector. I could have had 1000 smoke alarms in the house and my property still would have been destroyed.
3. My actions and the City's liability have already been investigated during an insurance claim against the city by the school district, which was denied. On the fire report, it is noted that there were no human contributing factors to the fire, that it was faulty property that caused the fire.
Answer by Michael H
if you moved the smoke alarm, and the insurance company can prove that you did (you admitted it), you could well be found partially liable for the damages.
The people who leased the home on your behalf KNEW (by your own admission) about the condition of the chimney, however did nothing to correct the situation, nor did they tell you about it (or they did and you chose to do nothing), either way the school district did let them know.
Most small claims courts won't allow for an attorney to represent you.
If they file suit against you, it could well cost you more than the 7419 you are hoping to recover to defend yourself with no guarantee that you will win.
Because they would be suing for over the max for small claims court, it would not be a counter suit, but an entirely separate suit, and an entirely separate court.
Answer by saq428
It was your responsibility to check the chimney before lighting the fire.
What do you think? Answer below!
Orignal From: Should I go to Small Claims Court or hire an Attorney?
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