Florida apartment fire claims

Injured in a Florida Apartment Fire? What to Save for a Landlord Claim

By Miller & Jacobs Premises Liability Attorneys

A Florida landlord may be responsible for a fire injury if a failure to meet a legal duty caused or worsened the harm. A fire alone does not prove fault. After emergency care and a safe place to stay, save fire reports, repair records and proof of your injuries and losses.

Begin with the incident

Get the fire record without putting yourself at risk

You do not need to determine the fire’s cause before asking for help.

Ask the fire department for the incident number and whether an investigator was assigned. Find out who holds the response report and any separate cause report. Keep both if available. A response report may record the address, time and crew observations without saying how the fire started.

If the report says undetermined, the cause has not been established. That does not settle whether the landlord failed to meet a duty. Read what the investigator found and could not resolve. Use the full report rather than only an insurer’s summary or a label.

Do not reenter until the fire department says it is safe, as the U.S. Fire Administration advises. Do not test damaged wiring or dismantle an appliance. Tell a lawyer about planned cleanup or disposal before a possible source of evidence changes.

Two different questions

Check what caused the fire and what made the injury worse

Faulty wiring may explain why the fire started.

A failed alarm or blocked exit may explain why warning or escape came late. Keep evidence that links each problem to the injury.

Under Florida section 83.51, landlords must follow building, housing and health codes that apply. A separate smoke-detector rule in this section covers single-family homes and duplexes when a tenancy starts, unless a written agreement says otherwise. That is not an alarm rule for every apartment. Check the code requirements for the actual building.

Section 83.55 allows damages caused by failure to follow the rental agreement or residential rental law. It does not make the landlord pay for every fire loss. A code problem still needs a link to the harm. Check who owned or controlled the property, what they knew and the history of the condition.

Our Fort Lauderdale premises liability lawyers can review who controlled the unsafe condition. That condition must have contributed to the injury. This guide focuses on records from a rental fire.

If you are healing from burns while trying to find a place to stay, small tasks can feel harder. You can begin with one repair message, one photograph or one receipt.

Before the fire

Put repair records in date order

Save original emails, texts, online repair requests and letters about the hazard. Keep attachments, ticket numbers and replies from management. A written complaint can help. It is not required for every claim against a landlord.

What was reported

For each record, note the date, exact place and problem, who received it, and what happened next. A complaint about a sparking outlet says more than a general request to inspect the unit.

How management responded

Keep repair dates, work orders and contractor names. Save any message saying the repair was done.

What remained

Keep earlier photos, witness contacts and any inspection or code-enforcement records. Separate what you saw from what someone later suggested caused the fire. You can name records that may exist without going into a unit you are not allowed to enter.

Mark J. Miller, Partner

Rick S. Jacobs, Partner

When records are missing

Speak With Our Apartment Fire Injury Lawyers

Miller & Jacobs can review your fire report number, repair messages and injury records. We can help identify missing records and ways to ask that evidence be kept. Bring what you have and note what is missing.

Call 954-465-8733 Schedule a Free Consultation

After the fire

Keep injury records and household losses separate

Injury and work

Keep provider names, care records, bills, referrals, work limits and pay records. Note changes in sleep, movement, work or daily tasks. Save plans for future care and records of symptoms that continue.

For issues tied to burns, our Fort Lauderdale burn injury lawyers can review the care records.

Belongings and displacement

For belongings, make an item-by-item list. Keep photos, purchase records, each item’s approximate age and proof of value. Save hotel, laundry, storage and other fire-related receipts. Mark estimates as estimates and keep proof of insurance payments. A receipt shows a cost. You still need to explain how it relates to the fire.

Ask your renters’ insurer which belongings and extra living costs the policy covers. Check the deductible, limits and how it values each item. Save the answer. A policy claim and a claim against the landlord are separate routes. Neither means every cost will be paid.

Our Pompano Beach premises liability lawyers can review the fire findings. Repair records may help show what was known before the fire.

Before deciding what to do

Questions tenants ask after an apartment fire

What if the landlord says I caused it?

Keep reports, original photos, witness details and repair messages. Use them to check the landlord’s account.

Under section 83.51, a landlord is not responsible for a condition caused by the tenant’s negligent or wrongful acts. This also applies to such acts by the tenant’s family or someone there with the tenant’s consent.

Each person’s acts and any other basis for a claim still need review.

Can I collect belongings or stop paying rent?

Do not return before entry is safe. Section 83.63 applies when fire or other casualty damage substantially limits use of the home and was not caused by the tenant’s negligent or wrongful acts. It allows lease termination and departure, or departure from the unusable part with rent reduced by that part’s fair rental value.

The law also requires a safe chance to collect belongings, or notice of when collection will be available within a reasonable time. Check your options before stopping rent payments or treating the lease as ended.

How long do I have to bring a lawsuit?

Florida generally gives two years to file a negligence suit if the claim arose after March 24, 2023. Section 95.11 and the 2023 amendment set that rule. Have the claim’s start date checked. Older fires, product claims, claims under a rental contract and other facts may require a different date. Treatment, a fire investigation or insurance talks do not, on their own, give you more time.

This article gives general information, not legal advice. Learn about Miller & Jacobs and its partners.