Water damage causing the home inhabitable...next steps : ezLandlordForms

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Water damage causing the home inhabitable...next steps

Leigh H

started a topic over 2 years ago

My rental home had a pipe burst going into the hot water heater that is kept in the attack. The started to flood from the top-down of the one-story home. Water mitigation says the home is inhabitable because the entire kitchen floor needs to be removed, including the subfloor. One bedroom needs carpets to be replaced. The living room and dining room need all furniture removed so the large fans can dry the wood floor and hopefully save it (the wood floor is original to the 100-year-old bungalow). The lease is up March 31 of this year but tenants were hoping to stay on until they need to move the following year. We need them to move out so we can make all necessary renovations. Since their lease is up at the end of March, we told them they can move back in when it's livable and keep all of their belongings that fit in the two small bedrooms that do not need work. The contractor says work will take 30-90 days due to the extent of water damage, holidays, and labor and material shortages. We would be happy to end their lease now so they can just move out since this is not suitable for them to live through. We offered to refund November's rent and immediate repayment of their full security deposit. Questions: They do not want to move out and asked us for either 1-2 months rent as compensation (on top of November and security deposit) for the trouble of moving unexpectedly OR the ability to move back in as soon as it's livable and live there until they need to move 15-18 months from now...month to month. What are we responsible for? The water heater was old and is in worse shape than we noticed so are we obligated to compensate them for this trouble? What are my options?

1 Comment

Leigh H

said over 2 years ago

I should have been more clear. We are willing to honor their lease until the end but we would love to sell as soon as possible.