THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, August 12, 1995 TAG: 9508100385
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: LANDLORDS & TENANTS
SOURCE: BY WILLIAM MAZEL, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Q. Recently, the tenant in the apartment directly below mine was careless in cooking. The result was a small grease fire in his kitchen. Very little damage was done to his apartment but there was a lot of greasy smoke and the smoke came into my apartment. There was no damage to my apartment directly, but my drapes, furniture, rugs and clothing had to be cleaned because the greasy smoke covered then with grease and soot. My bill has gone over $500. I have presented my landlord with the bill but he refused to reimburse me for my expenses. I asked him to contact his insurance company. He did, but the insurance company refuses to pay.
I am completely innocent but no one will pay me. The tenant below is unemployed and has no money. Who can I sue?
A. You can sue anyone you want to, but you cannot recover from the landlord because he was not the cause of your loss and is not the insurer of your premises. The insurance company is only liable to you if the landlord is, and he is not. Therefore, the insurance company is not. The tenant who caused the damage is liable to you but does not have a job or money and, therefore, you cannot recover from him unless he later gets a job or come into some money. You are just the innocent loser.
My former co-author and I have, from time to time, urged all of our readers who are tenants to buy insurance for their own protection. You could have and should have purchased insurance for your own protection. Tenant's insurance is not expensive. Most of us insure our car, and yet our clothing and furniture and other personal belongings often are more valuable than our cars.
Sub-tenant wasn't on the lease
Q. I own several apartment units in Virginia Beach. Since the area is a very transient area for tenants, I have always included in my lease a provision forbidding the tenant from subletting or assigning the lease to anyone without my prior written approval. I have been very afraid of a tenant renting the premises and then deciding to move out and rent to someone who might not take care of the property as I would want it cared for. I always check my tenants before renting, for their past records and I especially I try to contact previous landlords to determine the condition of the premises when my prospective tenant moved out. Recently, a tenant of one of my apartments, apparently, has subletted the apartment without my approval. I have checked several times and I do not find my tenant at home. I haven't found my tenant's automobile parked in the parking area and there are other people living in the premises. The rent has been paid on time but I know nothing about the subtenant and I want to know how I can evict the suntenant, if that be the case, even though the rent is paid up to date. What do I do now?
A. First of all, you have indicated that the rent is being paid and, for many landlords, that is the prime consideration. I can appreciate, however, your desire to pre-approve your tenants before they move in because, as we all know, a bad tenant can certainly cause a lot of damage.
If I were you, I would go by, talk to the person who is apparently the subtenant, tell him that there is a provision against subletting, and that before you grant approval for their taking over the lease and staying in occupancy, you want to run a prior check on them. Get their name, Social Security number, prior address and license number of their car and a name and address of one or more previous landlords and the location of the previous rental. Then do your checking. If the returns from your investigation indicate that the tenant is a good one, you're in luck. I would suggest that you accept the tenant. If you find that the tenant is not acceptable, your main course of action would be to notify the tenant that he or she is not acceptable and that they have to move. To be safe, I would give them five days notice to move. After that five days is up, I would then go down to the General District Court, Civil Division, and seek an Unlawful Detainer Warrant. This is a procedure whereby you would ask the court to evict the tenant because they have no right to be there. You would then, of course, go down to the court on the trial date, take a copy of your lease with your original tenant for the premises, and be prepared to tell the court that you did not approve of the subletting, that you were not informed before the subtenant moved into the property, that you have made the investigation, what the results of your investigation were, and that the tenant is not acceptable to you.
The court should, as long as there is not discrimination involved in the matter, grant you a remedy and will order the eviction of the subtenant. MEMO: William Mazel is a retired lawyer. Send comments and questions to him at
Real Estate Weekly, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510.
by CNB