State Farm blames floor refinisher for fire in West Lunt Avenue apartment; seeks $44K

An insurance company is suing over claims a hardwood flooring refinishing worker negligently used combustible products too near a stove and caused a fire.

State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., as subrogee of Eric McLoyd, filed a lawsuit Oct. 23 in Cook County Circuit Court against Expert Flooring Inc., Viorel Lozneanu, Urban Equities Real Estate Consultants Inc. and Lunt Apartments.

According to the complaint, McLoyd was the tenant of an apartment on West Lunt Avenue in a building owned by Lunt Apartments, managed by Urban Equities and insured by State Farm. Expert Flooring, the suit states, was hired to perform hardwood refinishing work in McLoyd's apartment on July 24, 2013.

The insurance company claims that Lozneanu, an employee of Expert Flooring, applied a Lenmar product floor finish too close to the constant pilot General Electric stove, but failed to ensure the gas was turned off, starting a fire that spread throughout McLoyd's apartment and the building.

State Farm is seeking more than $44,000 in the property damages it alleges was caused by the fire and is represented by attorney Gregory Oltman of Oltman Law Group in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court case number: 2014L011021.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt and it represents only one side of the story.