Tenant was evacuated for 3 days, how to handle?

Question

My rental house is located in Santa Clarita CA, where the big forest fire "Sand Fire" just went crazy last week. My property was close to the burn area, but no damage. The area was under mandatory evacuation for 3 days, and my tenants left, wisely. I believe they stayed with family, don't think they paid for hotel.

Should I give a rent credit for those 3 days? Extend the time to pay rent? Or business as usual? My lease doesn't handle this exact situation, just if the property is beyond livable condition and they have to end their lease.

Ronan M. · Answer

Why give a break ? It was noting to do with you that they had to vacate. Plus they still had "possession" of the property those 3 days.   Would a bank give homeowners a "break" on their mortgage because they had to vacate for 3 days ? Doubt it.

Next thing you know they will take off to Mexico for a vacation and call looking for another break cos they were not in your property for that week.

Brian Reynolds · Answer

Great feedback everyone.  I just spoke with him, while I didn't offer anything, he mentioned expenses related to the fire.  I gave them 3 day extension without late fees and he seemed thankful.

Account Closed · Answer

The only problem with giving a reprieve is you might set a precedence, now ant time there might be a problem they are going to expect a extension. It is not uncommon to have a fire they thought was out flare back up, what if it happends again and next time it's 30 days not 3 ? Are you responsible ? No, your not. I applaud you for being a good guy but sometimes good guys get taken advantage of because people mistake goodness for weakness. Anyway, I wish you the best and God Speed

Colleen F. · Answer

@Brian Reynolds  I  think you struck the right note by giving an extension in sympathy to their being in the fire zone and having their lives a little messy for a bit.   Had they spent extra money related to preserving the property (water,etc) that I would re-imburse but I don't know what you do besides leave with that kind of fire.

Levi T. · Answer

Did they ask for it? just give them a credit.. if not, just move on.

Jay J. · Answer

Hmm...  tricky question..

On one hand, you have a profit margin to maintain.  :-/

..on the other, karma pays much bigger dividends and (if it were me) I'd give these people a free three day pass. I mean, they were kicked out / evacuated, probably highly stressed, put in uncomfortable situations..

cut them a break..  whats 3 days rent anyway..

(and yes, if they aren't 'good' tenants, remove them when you can!)

Brian Reynolds · Answer

Account Closed  Thank you for your feedback and I hear you, my "being taken advantage of" radar is stronger now. They were under mandatory evacuations.  The sheriffs came by, knocked on the door and said "leave".  I'm OK with that precedent.

To clarify, I didn't reduce rent, I gave them an extra 3 days to pay their normal rent, after that, it's late fees as usual.  I believe that is reasonable given the circumstances.

To give an accurate picture of the absolute carnage - here is kinda sorta where my house is.

Account Closed · Answer

I understand, I believe in karma also and paying it forward. In my experiences I've been taken advantage of a lot because I'm a nice guy, or used to be. Now I won't even loan a family member money because to many of them decided that paying me back was not a priority after I helped them out of a jam. I wish those lessons would have been cheap but unfortunately not. You know Trump is getting a bad rap right now because he's a shrewd businessman. Now I don't know him and I never meet him and this place is not for politics so by no way am I trying to debate his effectiveness as a possible president. I guess what I'm saying is something you already know and demonstrated by your posts, it's that most times nice guys get taken advantage of. That being said kudos to you for being human and waiving what might not seem that much to you but might mean the world to your renters. I always remind myself when leaving a tip, this extra dollar or two on top of 20% won't break me but might make a waitress or waiters day.

Best wishes and God Speed my friend.

Brian Reynolds · Answer

Levi T. Thanks for the input and everyone too, keep it coming, good reading.

James Lemon · Answer

Glad to see the responses 2 weeks ago storm dropped a tree on one of my rentals. Mother and Daughter shared home and are deciding to not move back in together. I refunded the deposit but did not refund half month rent, I encouraged them to obtain renters insurance when they moved in.

Tenant was evacuated for 3 days, how to handle?

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