The landlord's dilemma when the building burns
Legal experts debate whether tenants are entitled to a rent refund when their rented rooms are destroyed by fire mid-month.
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Thomas R. Shepard and other legal counsel have engaged in a public debate over the 'rent question' following a recent justice court case. The issue centers on whether a landlord must refund rent paid in advance for an oral lease if the building is destroyed by fire during the rental period. While some argue that common law obligates the tenant to pay regardless of the building's condition, others, citing cases like McMillan v. Solomon, contend that once the specific apartment or room is destroyed, the 'thing rented' ceases to exist, thereby terminating the lease and the obligation for further rent. The matter remains a point of significant local interest as residents look to the courts for a definitive ruling on whether rent for rooms can be apportioned after a fire.
“It would be shocking to our sense of justice to compel a tenant to pay rent for a room of a house for twenty years which had been destroyed within the first twenty-four hours of the term.”
This 1888 debate mirrors modern Seattle’s ongoing struggles with tenant rights and habitability. Just as nineteenth-century tenants grappled with the loss of their homes to fire, contemporary renters face similar instability during natural disasters, demolition, or systemic failures, highlighting the enduring complexity of lease obligations.
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