[ALC68]

An apartment building (3 units) caught on fire next door to a house that I own. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined or may not be determined. The building collapsed and burned to the ground. There was extensive damage to my house, and it is considered a total loss. My house was unoccupied and was on the market to be sold. No insurance company would insure my house because it was unoccupied. The owner of the apartment building did not have insurance. Is there any kind of law where an apartment owner has to have insurance? Would the apartment owner be liable to me for property damage if the cause of the fire is not determined? What if the cause of the fire is determined to be a tenant’s fault? This is in West Virginia. Thanks.

[Fr_Chuck]

First no he is not required to have insurance, any more than you are required. And of course there is insurance you can get on an empty house, it is basic and very very expensive, but in basis you took a risk not insuring your property also, just like he was taking a risk.

Now if one of his tennants caused the fire, or if it wa arson the person who started the fire can be sued, not the person who was also a victim of someone else.

So you need to wait till the fire marshal is done and a cause of the fire is determined.

Then you can sue the person responsible for the fire.

And your best hope would be it was a tenant and they had a renters policy with liability coverage at this point.

Since being able to sue and even win does not mean you will get any money, collecting is a lot harder than winning