Are you responcible for repairs in a acidental fire while renting a apartment?

Question

a oil fire broke out on my stove and went up the flume. it traveled through the wall because the flume has not been cleaned in along time and theyre was a 18 inch gap in between my flume and the guy above me wich was exposing wood that is what caught fire. my husband ran upstairs after feeling the wall and seeing it was hot and told the man upstairs about it and poured water down the drain and put out the fire . at this point you could not visibly tell theyre was ever a fire. but my manager called the fire department ,they cut a whole to assure the fire was all the way out . now we got a bill saying we have to pay for these damages. is that legal? or is it theyre fault for not having the flumes properly installed. and it took them over a month to do the repairs . they moved the guy upstairs to a diffrent apartment but left us in the sutty house of horible smell while working with a 3 year old son who ended up

sick from it. what should i do?

Answer 1

This is the responsibility of the property owner, not the tenant. You have the responsibility for the contents.  Thus, if you have renters insurance, it covers dame to your belongings.  The building, however, is te responsibility of the property owner.

You can call the government housing authority, and verify this.  Unless your lease specifically says that you are responsible for such damages, then it is not you problem. (I am a former Realtor.) The consumers affair division of the office of the attorney general can also help you.

Answer 2

You were cooking with oil and it caught fire. I'm sure you did not intend to cause a fire, but you are responsible for the damages. The landlord was not cooking, you were.

The flue being installed incorrectly did not cause the fire, your cooking oil did.

Answer 3

I trust you had renter's insurance (didn't you ?)  Such insurance covers your contents and damages caused by you to the landlord's premises.

The landlord's insurer will cover the costs of the repairs involved, but do NOT be surprised if the insurer comes after you for a judgment to collect what it paid out.  YOU were the direct cause of the damages involved. (The flue didn't ignite on its own.  Your oil fire ignited the flue.)

Sad to say, this may be an expensive lesson you will learn about having renter's insurance.