The damaged tenant could bring a negligence suit claiming the landlord didnt exercise reasonable caution.

I feel she tried to sweep it under the carpet to protect her negligence of the parking lot care.

Maybe it has the positive effect of creating more inventory for long term renters but that seems negligible. 

But, if you don't buy anything, or buy something so cheap the commission is negligible, this money you pay to your Buyers Agent will get you the time, services and attention of a Realtor.  

Further, I would suggest interest only loans, since the net effect of the interest minus inflation would be negligible.  

I've only been doing this a little over a year and have already learned this hard lesson twice (and it wasn't due to negligence on my part, but just the natural course of being in this business). 

The fire wasn't started by you or by anything you did negligently so you aren't responsible to them for anything.

my written criteria for tenant screening clearly states double deposit required if no rental history, and friends & family history is negligible.

I'm not too concerned if there are multiple unit owners with the same problem who will be sharing that cost, but I do feel it's BS that I have to pay it.The building has known about the problem of water entering for years, which they recently solved (hopefully), but proving negligence of maintenance and repair sounds like more trouble than it's worth.

The tenant shall promptly repair at his own expense any damage to the property which may occur by reason of his own negligence or the negligence of a member of his family, invitees and guests.