Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: structural fire on a rental

It depends. Do you have a written rental agreement? If so, your rights are whatever have been agreed upon in the rental agreement. If you do not have a written agreement, then you would at least be entitled to a rebate of rent for any prepaid rent for a period of time after the unit burned down. Did you pay independently to obtain any renter's insurance? If you had such a policy (you would have had to get it on your own, as landlord's do not provide this), then you would be able to obtain the value of your personal possessions by making a claim under the renter's insurance. The landlord's policy will likely cover only the structural loss, and not a tenant's personal belongings, but you should ask your landlord what type of policy they carried on the property. The cause of the fire is also a factor; if anything you did caused or contributed to the fire, then any insurer may dispute any claims made by you under the policy. It is really impossible to give you a definitive answer without knowing more facts and what type of damages you incurred.

Re: structural fire on a rental

If I were representing someone in this position, I would start out by asserting that the destruction of the leased premises terminated the lease as of the time of the destruction.

If you are responsible or might be charged with responsibility for the fire, you have problems that go well beyond the question of whether the lease was terminated. If you are charged with anything, retain a lawyer at once.