Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

You can be legally responsible for negligence, even if you did not intentionally cause the fire. Like a car accident, where one driver makes an error, but does not cause the accident on purpose. You should retain an attorney right away, as evidence must be preserved and the best time to win such a case is to convince the other side not to bring it. If you had renter's insurance, they should cover you.

Mr. Dorfman is exactly right. The insurance company is suing you under a legal doctrine called "subrogation." Subrogation applies where one person or company is obligated to pay someone who is damaged, not because they were at fault, but because they have some other basis for obligation to pay, most commonly an insurance contract. The person or company that pays then is "subrogated" to the claims that the other person COULD have asserted against the person who caused the damage. So in this case, your landlord COULD have sued you for negligence in the use of your extension cords, and when the insurance company paid on the claim, they were subrogated to that right to sue you. Whether you were actually negligent or not, is an entirely different question, but they have the right to claim and try to prove that in court and you will have to defend against that claim. As Mr. Dorfman said, if you have renters insurance, tender defense of the lawsuit to them. Most of the time these subrogation cases are really just two insurance companies fighting over who will have to bear the loss in the end. If you don't have renters insurance, you need to contact an attorney yourself immediately to discuss your options for defending against this lawsuit.