My parents own several rental properties, mostly duplexes. They had one trailer (this was actually their first home that they moved out of 26 years ago) and about a week ago it burned down. The cause of the fire was under investigation and I have not heard an update on it yet, but sounds like probably was a cigarette left unattended on the deck. Everyone got out ok and no injuries, but they did lose their cat. 
The deck was where the fire began and the deck, living room and kitchen were affected the most. The fire did not spread to the bedrooms or bathroom, but of course everything was engulfed in smoke and soot.
My parents are obviously upset because their rentals are a big part of their retirement income. All of the rentals are paid off and the money goes into a joint account (my parents divorced amicably a few years ago). My Mom is 57 and she retired a few years ago. My Dad is 59 and will probably retire in the next 5 years or so. Not only do they lose the income from the property, but they also have to pay to have the trailer pulled out of the trailer court and disposed of, and to have the lot cleaned up so the trailer park can rent the spot to someone else. Luckily my parents are great at saving a buck (I LEARNED FROM THE BEST!) and they are doing what they can to soften the blow. They sold the shed for $50, they sold a separate room (my Dad had built on to the trailer 20+ years ago) for $100 (this also saved on the cost for pulling it out), they also sold the water heater (I think for $50?). Of course they have insurance on the building, so they will get that, but in the long run it doesn’t help much. They also took out the toilet, the kitchen sink, the washer and dryer, and a few other items that they could salvage and keep to use on their other rentals as needed.
So my Mom called the renter and told them to make sure they come and take everything they can before they pull the trailer out. The girl comes by and essentially tells my Mom she can’t save anything there and leaves. Yes, I feel bad about the fire, but if I had that happen to me and had nothing now, I would be on my hands and knees digging through the soot trying to save anything I could. She just doesn’t want to put any effort or elbow grease into it. So once she said she didn’t need want anything else in there my Mom went through and took anything worth value. She got 2 whole garbage bags of food, mostly canned goods, (the kitchen wasn’t actually one fire, but it is off the living room where the fire was), and also some boxed items, cereals, pastas and taco shells, all unopened, nothing burned, just has marks where the smoke was. What is wrong with them? NOTHING! She also got a blender, an electric griddle and over 200 DVDs! The DVDs were in the living room, and the cases on all of them are a little melted, but there are nothing wrong with the DVDs, she tried them in her DVD player and they work fine, so she is going to clean them off as best she can and see if she can get $1 a piece at the rummage sale. So at least they will get some money back from this loss…but I just can’t believe that girl left all that stuff there when she has nothing. She even left her daughter’s baby pictures there after my Mom specifically pointed them out and asked her if she wanted to take them.
My Mom gave me a bag of food as well, mostly boxed pasta and rice. I will go through that this weekend to make sure everything is ok and get it transferred into better containers.
Fire at Parents Rental Property
October 11th, 2012 at 07:52 pm
October 11th, 2012 at 08:06 pm 1349986000
October 11th, 2012 at 08:12 pm 1349986326
October 11th, 2012 at 08:25 pm 1349987151
October 11th, 2012 at 11:31 pm 1349998286
October 12th, 2012 at 05:33 am 1350019998
She's messed up your parent's retirement plan but when she tells her story it will be their fault that the mobile home caught fire.
October 12th, 2012 at 11:55 am 1350042942
However, I am going to play devil's advocate about the renter. As someone who was inside the house during a housefire, it is tramatic and overwhelming. Afterwards, if you have lost everything (or most things) the thought of trying to salvage anything is incredibly overwhelming. Regardless of the reason for the fire (unattended cigarettes are not ok!) the renter could be seeing everything as a loss because it has been tainted by the fire. To this day, I can remember the smell of the house burning. I certainly wouldn't want to bring in boxes of food or dvd cases with smoke damage to where I move to. THe reminder would be too great.
As for the photos, I echo previous posters. Have your mom save them for a bit & reoffer them to the renter. Right now, she may be over-emotional due to the issue and not thinking straight.
October 12th, 2012 at 03:11 pm 1350054676
As far as taking any belongings that she could have salvaged, I believe 100% that she is just too lazy, and she will milk the system rather then put in a little effort to help herself and her child. No they did not have renters insurance, and they also did not have car insurane (ILLEGAL) on the car that was parked next to the deck and was totalled.
Again I apologize if this sounds callous, but if you knew her you would agree.
October 12th, 2012 at 06:15 pm 1350065723
October 12th, 2012 at 08:37 pm 1350074256