Cigarette butts cause accidents
Alterations expand damage
This fire of "one change" house
How exactly are responsibilities divided?
Tenant cigarette butts started fires that hit neighbors
In the early morning of July 31, 2020, a fire broke out in a rental house in a section of a section of Xiamen City, Fujian Province. The landlord, Ms. Zhang, divided the house into 5 rooms for rent, and the location of the fire was in one of them, while the rest of the suites and two neighbors in the same building were also affected to varying degrees. According to the fire department, the fire originated from the cigarette butts left in the house by the tenant Kobayashi, and the cigarette butts that were not completely extinguished ignited the combustible materials in the house, and the fire spread as a result.
Ms. Zhang, the landlord, said that the fire caused by the cigarette butts left by Xiaolin caused her a lot of losses, and the decoration, furniture and home appliances in the house were damaged, the rent was lost, and the house was devalued. Ms. Zhang demanded compensation totaling nearly 280,000 yuan from Xiaolin.
Kobayashi believes that there are no legal procedures for the house to be "changed more than one", it is illegally rebuilt, and it is not equipped with fire fighting facilities, resulting in the fire not being extinguished in time, resulting in the spread of the fire, so Ms. Zhang should be mainly responsible for the fire. To this end, Kobayashi also submitted a "Notice of Administrative Law Enforcement" as proof. The notice states that there are multiple sets of one set of the house, and the legal procedures (or incomplete procedures) cannot be provided on the spot, and Ms. Zhang is required to bring information to be questioned at the specified time.
Due to the failure of the negotiation between the two sides, Ms. Zhang sued Xiaolin to the court.
Court: The tenant bears primary responsibility
The court commissioned a professional appraisal agency to assess the property damage caused by the fire and the depreciation of the house separately. The appraisal showed that the total amount of damage to decoration and goods caused by the fire was 106,467.19 yuan, including ms. Zhang's loss and the loss of two other neighbors.
As for the depreciation, the appraisal opinion held that the load-bearing structure of the house was not affected and, after repair, would not have an impact on the main indicators that determined the value of the property. Considering the psychological taboos of some homeowners or potential buyers, there is a slight depreciation, which is discretionary to depreciate by 20,000 yuan.
The court held that the tenant Kobayashi's cigarette butt fire caused a fire, and there was a tortious act that infringed on the rights and interests of others, and there was a fault for the occurrence of the accident, and should bear tort liability. At the same time, because the house involves "one change and more" illegal reconstruction, and is not equipped with corresponding fire fighting facilities, which does not meet the fire safety requirements, Ms. Zhang, as the owner of the house, has a certain fault for the expansion of the damage. On all the considerations, the court decided that Kobayashi bore 80% of the responsibility and Ms. Zhang bore 20% of the responsibility.
Regarding the determination of the amount of losses, the court adopted the opinion of the appraisal agency, but since Ms. Zhang did not pay compensation to the owners of the other two households, the court only determined the decoration and loss of goods in Ms. Zhang's house, with a total of 166148.27 yuan for decoration and article loss, rent loss, depreciation loss, and appraisal fee.
In the end, the Siming District People's Court of Xiamen City, Fujian Province, made a first-instance judgment that Xiaolin should compensate Ms. Zhang for economic losses of 132,918.62 yuan.
Judge's Statement
Housing "one change more" transformation and then rent, will lead to tenants living crowded, narrow access channels, lack of fire fighting facilities and other problems, there are fire safety hazards. The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China stipulates that if the infringed party is at fault for the occurrence or expansion of the same damage, the liability of the infringer may be reduced.
In the event of an accident such as a fire, homeowners face administrative penalties due to illegal alterations. In addition, the landlord is at fault for the expansion of losses, and needs to bear part of the consequences of the losses, and needs to bear the liability for compensation for other tenants and neighbors. As the owner of the house, you should rent and manage the house in strict accordance with the law, and do not hold a fluke mentality, because of small mistakes, regrets.
Source: CCTV Today