We were visiting my in laws overnight when bad weather arose and a tree fell on top of our ONLY vehicle totalling it. We do not have compreh...

Question

We were visiting my in laws overnight when bad weather arose and a tree fell on top of our ONLY vehicle totalling it. We do not have comprehensive coverage so our insurance will not cover. My in laws rent and their landlords homeowners insurance is refusing to cover it as well. The landlord lives in a different state and employs real estate co to handle home and groundskeeper to handle property. My father in law says he told groundskeeper that the tree was leaning prior to the bad weather and nothing ever came of it. My question is who is liable and what are our options at this point. We are now stuck at my in laws home, they don't have a vehicle and we don't have money for a rental, because if we leave we are stranded and can't get our children to and from school, to and from work, or to the grocery store. I am most likely going to have to quit my job and we also used our vehicle to get my elderly father in law to and from doctors. To say our lives revolved around this vehicle is an understatement. Please HELP

Answer

The landowner would not be responsible for an Act of God, like a tree falling in a storm, unless the tree was an obvious hazard before the storm (e.g., clearly rotten, leaning very badly, etc.) and the landlord knew about the obvious hazard and refused to do anything about it. Those are hard standards to meet. Still, if you think you can meet them, you can file suit in small claims court without a lawyer, assuming your damages are less than $5,000.00. Find the Justice of the Peace who has jurisdiction over the home your parents live in and go file a small claim against the landlord and his insurer. Good luck.