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Tenant negligence

Domain guide, Property subrogation, theory 3.4

The theory

A tenant's conduct caused damage to the landlord insured's building: an unattended stove, a frozen pipe, an unreported leak.

Who must be on the roster

  • tenant.

Facts that establish it

  • tenant_conduct_described (required).
  • cause_attribution_to_party corroborates. Tenant conduct alone is not attribution.

What defeats it

  • A lease waiver (lease_subrogation_waiver) or a contract waiver (waiver_of_subrogation_present): both bar a tenant target under the waiver scope record. Read the lease first.
  • The implied co-insured doctrine in some states, under which a tenant is treated as an insured under the landlord's policy and cannot be subrogated against. An adjuster verification today; a structured tenant_co_insured_rule is pending.
  • The tenant being an insured or additional insured under the policy: a routine condition on every tenant target.

Recovery channel

  • Demand letter to the tenant or the tenant's renters or liability carrier.

What the carrier does

  • Obtain the lease and read the insurance and waiver clauses first.
  • Obtain the tenant's carrier.
  • Take statements.
  • Preserve the appliance or fixture involved.

A claim that fits

The insured owns a four-unit building. The second-floor tenant, Amber Cole, left for a two-week trip in January with the unit's heat off; a supply pipe froze and burst, flooding two units below. The lease requires the tenant to maintain heat and contains no waiver of subrogation. Cole carries a renters policy.

How the engine reads itTenant on the roster; tenant_conduct_described stated; lease waiver and contract waiver both not stated after the lease and policy were checked, so neither defense fires. Tenant negligence confirmed, refer, demand letter to the renters carrier, with a routine condition to confirm Cole is not an insured under the landlord's policy.

Records behind it

Theory record PROP-SUBRO-THEORY-004 Defenses PROP-SUBRO-DEF-001, PROP-SUBRO-DEF-002, PROP-SUBRO-DEF-004 Waiver scope SUBRO-WAIVER-SCOPE-v1

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