Argentine American Star Kat Von D Is Being Accused of Burning Down a Rental Property and the Man Making the Claim Has Been Waiting Years to Say It

Teva Dresbach waited until his mother was gone to tell this story, and he is clear about why. The Hollywood Hills Castle, a rental property his family owned, allegedly caught fire in 2010 while Argentinian tattoo artist and beauty mogul Kat Von D was the tenant, and the legal and emotional aftermath of that incident consumed years of his mother Deborah’s life before she died of cancer. Teva, who says he inherited the property from her, took to social media on June 10th to publicly recount what his family says they experienced, arguing that celebrities should be held truly accountable for their actions.

According to Teva, his mother agreed to rent the property to Von D beginning in 2008, and the arrangement started without incident. During one visit, he says he encountered what he describes as a bizarre living situation inside the home, with candles covering every surface, every corner, every mantle, lining the steps and walls throughout the property. When the house later sustained severe fire damage, he alleges that arson investigators determined the cause to be a candle fire. The damage he describes included holes throughout the hardwood floors and smoke damage across the entire structure, with the home surviving largely because it was built from stone.

@hollywoodhillscastle

Some stories deserve to be told #castle #hollywood

♬ original sound – Teva

A Son Who Was Never Asked to Sign Anything

Teva claims his family reached a legal settlement with Von D following the fire, but that the agreement required his mother to sign a non-disclosure agreement preventing her from speaking publicly about the incident. Because Teva was a minor at the time, he says he was never asked to sign anything, which is why he considers himself free to speak now that his mother is no longer alive to tell her own story.

He described watching his mother spend years fighting to hold onto what she had built, facing the financial and emotional strain of the fire, the restoration process and the lawsuit simultaneously. He said he believes that stress played a role in the return of her cancer, and that watching her navigate that experience while trying to be present for her family was something he witnessed firsthand and has not forgotten.

In a statement to People magazine, Teva explained that the story belonged to his mother while she was alive, and that she had fought hard to protect her family throughout the ordeal. He described her as someone who deserved an apology she never received, and said he is telling the story now because he believes some stories deserve to be told.

Kat Von D Responded and Told a Different Version

Von D addressed the allegations on TikTok on June 12th, confirming that she did rent the Hollywood Hills home from Deborah over 16 years ago but disputing nearly every other element of Teva’s account. She said she was not present in the home when the fire occurred and described the cause as an electrical fire in the basement resulting from faulty wiring, which she claimed she had brought to Deborah’s attention before the incident. She alleged that Deborah responded by sending her untrained husband to address the wiring issue.

Von D also pushed back on the candle narrative and said she suffered her own losses in the fire, including clothing, computers, hard drives, personal photographs and her cat Valentine, a loss that was reported at the time. On the question of the NDA, she said she did not require Deborah to sign one, and that any document she provided was a standard agreement she gave landlords to prevent them from sharing information with tabloids.

She addressed Teva’s claims about his mother’s health directly, saying she could not imagine losing a parent but that she did not set the house on fire and that the incident was a tragedy outside of both parties’ control.

What the Insurance Records Show

The dispute has a documented legal dimension that predates Teva’s social media posts. In May 2012, State Farm insurance filed a civil complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court against Von D, whose legal name is Katherine von Drachenberg, alleging negligence and breach of contract. According to documents obtained by People, State Farm claimed that Von D had caused multiple candles to be lit inside the property on November 21st, 2010, and that the incident led to an insurance payout of 909,199 dollars. Upon completing its own investigation into the fire, State Farm determined Von D to be liable, according to the complaint.

The existence of that lawsuit and its findings adds a layer of documented context to a dispute that might otherwise rest entirely on competing personal accounts, and it is the reason Teva’s story has gained the traction it has across social media in the days since he first posted. People magazine has reached out to representatives for Von D and had not received a response at the time of publication.