Rental Property on Fire

I just got a call 5 minutes ago from my tenant telling me that my rental property is on fire. The fire started in the property adjacent to it from a roofer doing work. Now my property is currently on fire. I'm stuck an hour away and am besides myself. My quick question is....I'm assuming the property owner next to mine is responsible??? I'm assuming I need to close the roof up once its done and then work on the insurance companies?? Anyone else ever been in this situation? Thanks!
-Jeff

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:28AM

Harrison Painter

· Indianapolis, Indiana

762 posts
10 awards
50 influence

Jun 07 '09, 06:37 AM

Your post is an attention grabber!

Yes, get over there and tarp it up (assuming the fire has been extinguished), and get your insurance company on the phone ASAP.

Get all of the info from your neighbor, and their contractors information as well.

Sorry to hear about your urgent situation, and please keep us updated!

~Harrison Painter

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:28AM

Will Barnard

Rehabber · Santa Clarita, California

Donor Pro

7,835 posts
23 awards
92 influence

Jun 07 '09, 06:45 AM

Exactly why we all should carry excellent insuarnce policies. In addition, as Harrison mentioned, get all the info on teh neighbor and their contractors responsible for this right away. Better to have them or their insurance pay for your damage then yours as your rates will go up (in many cases, not all).

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:28AM

Will Barnard, Barnard Enterprises, Inc.
E-Mail: info@barnardenterprises.com
Website: http://www.barnardenterprises.com
info@barnardenterprises.com

Jeffrey Hanlon

Real Estate Investor · Wall Township, New Jersey

46 posts
50 influence

Jun 07 '09, 10:18 AM

Fire is out, talked to insurance company. Luckily I have a well covered policy in which they already sent out a "board up" crew and are sending an adjuster in the morning. I'm also covered for any lost rent up to one year. Damage is bad but could be much worse considering the other two properties attached (Row houses) are declared condemned termporarily. What happens when a neighboring landlord hires an unlicensed indigent to fix a roof and he uses a blowtorch, igniting the plywood underneath the roof material, causing major damage to three houses. I'm going to get to the bottom of the other landlord's insurance on tommorow! Thanks for the help....

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:28AM

Michael Rossi

Real Estate Investor · Ohio

4,587 posts
14 awards
56 influence

Jun 07 '09, 10:27 AM

That's the call that makes me cringe also! So far, I've only had one fire - which is a miracle considering how stupid low income tenants are!!! The VERY GOOD NEWS is that your tenant(s) have called you and are safe!!! That is a serious blessing (if you can ever call a fire a blessing).

Mike

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:28AM

Josh Green

Banker · Tampa Area, Florida

965 posts
6 awards
50 influence

Jun 07 '09, 10:33 AM

hahahahaha, i'm sorry, but u actually logged on to the computer and on to biggerpockets.com while your property was ablaze?! josh should take this as a compliment!

i would have been in my car driving the hour there.

truly happy to hear that you are getting it all figured out though. best of luck!

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:28AM

Jeffrey Hanlon

Real Estate Investor · Wall Township, New Jersey

46 posts
50 influence

Jun 07 '09, 10:47 AM

Josh....Blackberry my friend :-)
I can smile now, but you should have seen me when I got the FIRST call. It went like this:

Tenant: Jeff....
Me: Hey Gretta, how are you?
Tenant: OH MY GOD, THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!!!
Me: Gasp, Uh, Um, Are you kidding me?
Tenant: OH MY GOD, MY HOUSE IS BURNING!!!

Then the whole story came out of how it started in the other house, etc. SCARY call!!!

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:29AM

Josh Green

Banker · Tampa Area, Florida

965 posts
6 awards
50 influence

Jun 07 '09, 11:07 AM

i can't imagine!

keep us informed of the progress!

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:29AM

RAY BROGDEN

Architect · CAMDEN, New Jersey

59 posts
1 award
50 influence

Jun 14 '09, 11:08 PM

Hey Jeff,

glad to hear everyone is safe! what type of insurance coverage do you have and with which company? I wish you the best.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:35AM

Scott M.

Real Estate Investor · Rochester Hills, Michigan

632 posts
8 awards
50 influence

Jun 14 '09, 11:12 PM

If you have a crew - have them bid high cuz the insurance company will tear the bid down (deprecation) and do not start one second of work until you have a check in hand from them :)

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:35AM

Jeffrey Hanlon

Real Estate Investor · Wall Township, New Jersey

46 posts
50 influence

Jun 15 '09, 10:29 AM

Originally posted by RAY BROGDEN

Hey Jeff,

glad to hear everyone is safe! what type of insurance coverage do you have and with which company? I wish you the best.

Ray, I don't have the exact policy name in front of me, but it's Philadelphia Contributorship. They happened to insure all three properties damaged in the fire. They have been great so far. Supposedly they are one of the oldest insurers and had the best prices for the coverage you get when I shopped around last year.
-Jeff

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:36AM

Kevin Armstrong

Real Estate Investor · birmingham, Alabama

12 posts
1 award
50 influence

Jun 15 '09, 11:41 AM

Hey Jeff,

Sorry to hear about your house, but keep in mind you have the choice of who you want to use in fixing your house.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:36AM

Tom C

Real Estate Investor · Ohio

1,068 posts
4 awards
50 influence

Jun 15 '09, 10:28 PM

Not that this really has anything to do with this topic, but the other night I was coming back from collecting rent and I just got a Crackberry, well I have all my music loaded in it and a connector that hooks up to my radio, so I can listen to it in my car.. Well I decided that I was tired of listening to Kid Rock and was screwing around with it trying to find BuckCherry, I looked up and there was a mailbox right in front of me.

Needless to say, I took out my neighbors mailbox and took off my passenger side mirror on my Mazda 6. So $100 bucks and an hours worth of time replacing a mailbox and $200 to replace my mirror, I learned It's not a good idea to be screwing around with a Crackberry when driving down the road. Thank God it was a mailbox and not a person.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:36AM

Brandon Schlichter

Residential Real Estate Agent · Circleville, Ohio

207 posts
1 award
50 influence

Jun 16 '09, 10:44 AM

I just had a apartment fire, so hopefully my response is valid....

Usually if you have GOOD coverage , your insurance company won't give you too much grief. I must say , State farm has been GREAT with our policy since the fire, we had a good policy ,and they paid out quite well considering how minimal we thought our fire was.

In my case , the insurance company has a law firm who goes after the responsible party, and tries to get $$$ from their insurance company.

Edited: 06/26/2010 at 08:37AM