(Washington State) My condo neighbor called fire department, FD broke down my door, no fire, now what?
My neighbor called the police because she smelled smoke and thought that something was burning in my unit. It is a multi level condo building, and some units have fireplaces. I wasn't home. The FD broke down my door to see if there was a fire. There wasn't, and they determined that it was just chimney smoke from someone below me having a fire that was blowing into an open window of another neighbor (I'm on the top floor). I'm not trying to sue my neighbor or the fire department, but does anyone know if it's typical for an HOA to cover damages like this? Thanks.
Posted Oct 21, 2019, 3:56 AM UTC
11712
You'll need to read the documents that govern your condo to determine if the door to your unit is your or the association's responsibility.
Sometimes it does fall to the association to replace (because the association wants total control over everyone's door facing a common area), sometimes it does not (because the association is satisfied with simply having rules regarding paint color and the like).
Why would this not be the fire department or neighbor’s job to replace?
Before reaching that question, it should first be ascertained who between the unit owner and the association is actually responsible for fixing the door.
If it's not the unit owner's responsibility in the first place, the inquiry really can stop there as it's someone else's problem to chase after the correct party for payment.
If it is the unit owner's responsibility, it's probably too small for an insurance claim and we can proceed:
Fire department was acting in good faith based on a concerned citizen report. They may replace the door out of goodwill, but they are likely not legally required to do so.
The neighbor may bear some liability in this. But again, good faith and they didn't ask the FD to force entry. There's also the chilling effect of suing your neighbor when they are trying to do the right thing (even if they turn out to be wrong).
Sometimes damage is just a cost of owning property.
The entire envelope of the building is governed by the HOA, windows and doors are tricky though. I will check the docs, that is a great idea, I do know off hand that if our window is broken in from the outside the HOA pays for replacement, and if it is broken from the inside the owner pays. Since there was no negligence and this was done for the safety of all residents, I feel strongly that the HOA should pay.
If nothing's explicitly stated about the door, you could also try to argue that like a window, the door is a similar opening in the structure. As such since the door was broken from the outside, you expect the HOA to cover the cost.
Because both parties acted reasonably. The neighbor saw smoke and called 911. The fire department responded and evaluated the situation. They then took reasonable steps in entering OPs apartment since they must've had reason to believe that was the source.
Some fire departments choose to reimburse homeowners in cases like this. But it's purely voluntary to keep good community relations, not because they're legally liable.
Some counties have victims funds for things like this. I know when my friend had her door kicked in accidently by the police (serving a search warrant at the wrong address), the county victims fund paid to replace her door.
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Fire department has no liability barring negligence, which is a HIGH bar to prove in virtually all situations. Fires are exponential, if they take the 2-30 minutes to find someone with a key a fire can go from smoldering to fully involving rooms or even the entire building. As such kicking down the door is the reasonable, correct, and even textbook guide to do, especially if they had an odor of smoke.
As per the neighbor, calling 911 for an actual valid or justifiable reason is also 0 liability, provided you are a good faith actor.