A tenant burns his house down one night last week. Electrical service was shut off to home due to nonpayment of service. Instead of using a flashlight to see what he was doing he decides a tiki torch would do. Fluid drops onto the floor and ignites. Instead of extinguishing the fire or calling the fire department, he leaves. Later after being apprehended and questioned he admits doing it but claims it was not on purpose and was an accident.
The home was actually titled in his mother’s name. He was the only tenant living in the home and was the only tenant on the lease. This was a legacy tenant I inherited when I purchased the park.
No one was injured and luckily neither neighbor’s homes or property was damaged.
Of course, neither the tenant nor his mother has insurance on the home and do not want to pay for the home’s demolition and removal. Three quotes I’ve received run about $2,800 to do so.
Have any of you ever been successful in getting a homeowner to bear the cost in demoing a home and paying for the removal of the debris under circumstances similar to this?
