Legal Question in Civil Litigation in United States Virgin Islands

Re: Jurisdiction

I can only give you general answers because the answers to the questions you raise are very dependent upon the facts.

1. Can you be liable? As a general rule, yes. The owner of a property can be liable to people who are injured by an unreasonably dangerous condition on the property. Since there were fines levied by the fire marshall before the fire, I assume that there are sufficient facts from which a jury could conclude that there was a dangerous condition on the property.

2. Is there jurisdiction? This is more difficult to answer. It depends upon how often you come to the VI, what your contacts were with the VI, the last time you collected rent, etc., etc. The fact that you've paid the fines probably helps support a finding of personal jurisdiction. I doubt that a court would find no personal jurisdiction unless it found that you had abandoned the property at the time of the fire. And since you paid fines, that would suggest that you had not abandoned the property. (If you've paid the property taxes, that also would undermine any claim of abandonment.)

Also, there is another form of jurisdiction called "in rem" jurisdiction that could give them jurisdiction over any property you own here. In that situation, they could get a judgment against you but only enforce the judgment against the property here in the VI. (They could also assert both personal and in rem jurisdiction and try to get the best of both worlds.) There could be other things that affect the analysis, such as how the property is owned (whose name is it in, was the title transferred from the estate, etc.)

Please keep in mind that what I am giving to you is very general information and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship can be formed with me or my law office unless there is a written agreement, signed by both attorney and client, stating that we have agreed to such a relationship.