Tenant move out for emergency construction- who pays for housing?

[Kaira Resch]

Hi BP community! Quick question-here’s the scenario we have a long-term tenant who we needs to move out for a couple months due to emergency ceiling and wall work that needs to happen in his unit. We will be paying for all construction, of course as well as not charging him rent for the two months or so that it will take but he’s also asking that we pay for his housing elsewhere, my question is are we responsible to pay for his housing while work gets done? 
We live  in Honolulu and Airbnb’s are super expensive as our hotels so not sure what to do. Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Leo R.]

@Kaira Resch I'm no lawyer, and I don't know what your local laws/regs are for in a situation like this (so, you'll want to do your own homework on that)

However, in many leases, I think there are often clauses that terminate the lease if the unit becomes uninhabitable due to some uncontrollable event (like a fire, or a tree falling through the roof). In those types of situations, I doubt it's the landlord's responsibility to pay for the tenant's housing...does your lease have any clauses regarding what happens if the unit becomes uninhabitable? (if not, you may want to add one for the future).

Even if the landlord had another unit that the tenant could temporarily move to, the tenant would presumably still be responsible for paying the rent at that unit (although, if the tenant had a good history, the landlord might be well-advised to give them a discount for the inconvenience of moving).

...hopefully that helps...

Good luck out there!