(WSVN) - A neighbor’s apartment caught fire. Their belongings were destroyed. It got worse for the renters when the landlord said they were not responsible for the losses. Does the landlord have to pay? It’s tonight’s Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
The fire erupted early on a January morning. Neighbors started running door to door to wake people up.
Mauricia: “When Kia woke us up, I saw fire and smoke coming out the house.”
Mauricia and her brother followed their mother out of the apartment and had to leave everything behind.
Patrick Fraser: “Now, what happened to all your clothes?”
Children: “It got burnt.”
The unit where the fire started was destroyed, but the smoke spread into Valencia and her children’s place, leaving everything covered in soot. Look at the floor.
Kenya Hill: “It smell like smoke. It got black. The black stuff on it. All the clothes.”
And things got worse. The next day, when they returned to try to save some belongings, they found out the hot water heater in the apartment above them had busted open.
Kenya: “We come in, water just draining down, so that’s how our TV got messed up.”
Valencia Thrope: “Nothing, no good. The beds, our bed, the bunk beds, the clothes, the floor. We lost shoes, clothes, all the kids’ clothes.”
Kenya asked the property manager to help pay for their lost clothes and furniture. The answer was blunt.
Kenya: “He said that they can’t do anything about it, so we are trying to see what we can do about it.”
The smoke and water poured into Kim Smith’s apartment next door as well.
Kim Smith: “Because it was like a waterfall going on.”
When Kim asked the property manager to help pay for the damage the response came in an email.
Kim: “They’re not at all compassionate with us over here. I try to keep myself from crying.”
Kenya and Valencia can’t cry. They don’t want the kids to see them, but they are broke, and they don’t know what to do since they don’t have renter’s insurance.
Kenya: “Mostly people in this building don’t have it.”
The trunk has their clothes. Almost everything else is in the garbage. Without insurance, they are desperate and turning to Help Me Howard to find out if the landlord has to pay for the damage a fire and busted water heater caused.
Howard Finkelstein: “If you can prove the landlord’s negligence caused the damage from the fire or busted water heater, they could be responsible, but it’s expensive to prove that, and if you are broke, you cannot. Meaning, if you don’t have renter’s insurance, you are out of luck and on the street.”
I spoke to the property management company. They said their insurance didn’t cover the renter’s belongings, that the fire wasn’t their fault but was caused by a another tenant’s electric scooter.
They did pay for a hotel for Kenya and Valencia and the kids for two weeks, gave them their security deposit back and are working to see if they can do anything else for them. In the meantime, the family is moving from one place to another.
Valencia: “We live from like, different family members’ house, my mom, her sister. We go from place to place.”
The women are now hoping a GoFundMe page will help them scrape together enough to restore their lives. In particular, clothes for the children.
Patrick Fraser: “Do you need clothes now?”
Children: “Yes.”
The kids need clothes, their parents need the money to move to another apartment. Even the smallest donation would be great.
The link to Kenya and Valencia’s GoFundMe page for the children, as well as a link to their neighbor Kims GoFundMe page are at WSVN.com under this Help Me Howard.
Also at the link, everything you need to know about renters insurance. You’ll need it if you are a renter.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser.
GoFundMe for Two Children
gofundme.com/f/help-kenya-and-valencia-due-to-fire-destroys-home
GoFundMe for Kim Smith
gofund.me/8d737116
Click here for information about Renters Insurance
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
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