I am sure someone on this board will have an answer or opinion for me.

it is happenning to one of my friend in Missouri.
she paid her rent on may 1st,on may 3rd ,there was a fire in her building.she is unable to live there.and was unable to retrieve any belonging.the roof is unstable.even if her appartement didn';t catch on fire .she can't go in there.
her landlord doesn;t want to reimburse her rent.and wants her to deal with her renter's insurance.(thank god she has one.)apparently her apartemnt suffered smoke damage,but no water damage.
the landlord also wants her to sign a waiver for her property as of the date of the fire.
she is going into her appatrment with the insurance adjuster on thursday.
what can she do?is it right for the landlord to keep her rent?

thanks

I don't think anyone could answer that without see a copy of her lease, but, maybe someone else will know differently??

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I don't have any advice for her but I just wanted to ask a question. I thought renter's insurance only covered your possesions so how does he expect it to reimburse her rent? Maybe I'm wrong though.
Good luck to her.

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"Let me watch my children grow to see what they become
Lord don't let that cold wind blow til I'm too old to die young'

sounds like she needs to talk to an attorney. Most will give at least a free consultation.

I would not sign anything the landlord wants me to sign (other than my lease) without first contacting an attorney. Remember, the landlord is looking out for his own behind--not that of his tenants.

Get a lawyer.

When we lived in Virginia and went through a hurricane, rain was coming into our apartment through the brick walls! Our landlord refused to come clean up the black mold that was forming under the windows! So we took her to court, and the judge stated the for every month that the home was unlivable, we were exempt from paying rent....when the 3rd month rolled around that we were still not back into our home, we went to court again and the judge nixed our lease and all responsibilities to the property. We lost everything because of the mold problem, but the landlord ended up paying all our court costs and attorney fees and we were reimbursed monetarily for SOME of our items lost.

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SPJRNTGADL!

The landlord should have insurance that would put up the tenants in a hotel or something while the building is worked on, if not, then she can sue for back rent. This is my understanding from watching The People's Court!

She needs to talk to a attorney Asap. I would not sign any waiver until I have talked to a attorney& the attorney has read the waiver...Is this a waiver for her personal property? Depending what is on her lease I would assume anything her renter insurance doesn't cover than she could could go after the landlord insurance.As far as getting her rent back it depends what is in her lease.

This is what in my home rental lease--I must carry renter insurance,I don not hold the landord or the owner liablitly for any personal property damage that may occur...I am release from my lease if the property suffers severe damage where it is unliveable for a certain amount of time.

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Angels may not come when you call them, but they'll always be there when you need them.

You may want to get more info here Local Tenant Rights, Laws and Protections: Missouri - HUD or
Landlord-Tenant Law: The rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants :: General obligations of tenants and landlords.

thank you for you answers.it is just a mess!!!!
I found fishy that the landlord won;t pay for a thing,even a motel room.the red cross helped my friend and her family(hubby and 2 kids) for teh first 2 nights ,and she now lives with some friends .
I will give her your advice and also the links....
thanks again.