Coverage barred for property damage caused by tenant smoking meth

The Oregon Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court Wednesday that a tenant’s use of methamphetamine was not vandalism and that damage to a rental property caused by smoking the substance was not covered under the landlord’s policy.

The three-judge appeals court panel in William Lockner et al. v. Farmers Insurance Co. of Oregon said that a contaminants exclusion in the landlord’s policy barred coverage for any damage.

The panel said that even though a vandalism exclusion was in the policy, it only applied if the building owned by William Lockner was vacant for more than 30 days.

The appeals court was not persuaded by Mr. Lockner that the tenant’s personal use of methamphetamine, which caused damage to the building’s HVAC system, constituted vandalism because the tenant knew that it would cause damage.

The appeals court said, “There is no evidence that smoking methamphetamine was an act that plaintiff’s tenant knew or should have known was likely to cause property damage.”

It also ruled that the residue left behind by the tenant’s use of methamphetamine was a contaminant and that any damage caused by it was not covered.

Mr. Lockner had sued Farmers after it refused to cover the costs of remediating damage caused by the tenant’s use of methamphetamine. The parties filed competing motions for summary judgment, and the trial judge sided with the insurer.

Representatives for the parties did not respond to requests for comment.