Q: Rental house hit by Ian is habitable. Renters intend on deducting rent because fence cannot be replaced yet. Legal?
Our rental home was hit directly by hurricane Ian. The house is habitable, lights, water, roof, etc are all working. We are working with an insurance adjuster and insurance company to work the remaining repairs. The tenants are now saying they are going to deduct the cost of a temporary fence from their rent, as ours was destroyed and they rented the house with a fence. Because a fence is not an emergency item, insurance will not reimburse if I jump their process and replace now. Is the tenant within the law to do this? Even though the house is completely safe and livable just 3 weeks after a CAT 4?
A:
There are very few justifications for a tenant to withhold rent, and this is not one of them. Tenants owe you the full amount of rent, and this garbage of "we rented the place with a fence" is just that unless you are obligated by the lease to provide a fence.
You should have a business relationship with an attorney in the town or county in which your rental is located, so that when you have questions, you can ask someone with whom you have met with or at spoken to, rather than some random internet lawyer. Landlording is a business, and for your own protection, you should have that business relationship with a lawyer.
Bruce Alexander Minnick agrees with this answer
A:
Your tenant is trying to take advantage of you only because they know it will be hard to replace them for a while.
Call their bluff: Tell your tenant they can withhold whatever amount of rent they want, but you will evict them immediately for doing so.
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