Redmond, OR asked in Personal Injury, Real Estate Law, Civil Litigation and Landlord - Tenant for New York

Q: What kind of lawyer do I need? My single wide trailer burned down, no fault of my own! l

I had been complaining to the landlord for months they would try to fix it, it was never right, he and His Drunk handyman put in bigger fuel jets and it burned twice as much fuel. a few days ago at bed time it went out, we hit the reset and a few minutes later the furnace went up in flames, we made it out but we lost everything. the owner just said good luck! We need help!

2 Lawyer Answers
Tim Akpinar
Tim Akpinar
Answered
  • Little Neck, NY
  • Licensed in New York

A: First find out if your loss is covered by insurance. If there was an insurance policy in effect for the premises, then the type of lawyer you would need would be a civil litigation lawyer versed in property and casualty claims. Thankfully, it looks like no one was injured. If there is a policy in effect, it's possible you might be able to resolve without a lawyer if you are able to work with their property damage adjuster. Good luck

Jonathan R. Ratchik
Jonathan R. Ratchik
Answered
  • New York, NY
  • Licensed in New York

A: So sorry to hear what happened to you. As my colleague correctly advised, you should first look to see if there is any insurance that might cover your loss. Hopefully your landlord maintained some kind of insurance policy to protect his property and the personal belongings of tenants. In the absence of any insurance, your only recourse would be to file a lawsuit against your landlord and the handyman who arguably performed negligent repairs to the furnace. You can find many excellent attorneys who handle property damage claims using the Find a Lawyer tab on the JUSTIA homepage.

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