Reimburse Tenant for sulfur smell in water?

[Eva Neikirk]

Water heater was old and developed a sulfur smell in hot water...affected shower and laundry.

Replaced water heater (new).

Tenant complained that water still smelled bad, so had her flush the bathroom, kitchen and washing machine lines to get rid of any bad water remaining in pipes.

I sent her a $50 gift card for her trouble ( which she didn’t acknowledge until I asked if she’d received it.)

Now she’s complaining that her towels and husband’s work clothes stink when wet even though they don’t smell bad when dry.

This is a SFR in a fairly nice area in Midtown...I believe she's hinting at free rent ($1288-) for a month or more.

Should I even consider that? What would be a fair compensation?

[Joel Calkins]

Hey Eva, 

Here's my take. At the end of the day, your rental properties are a business so you must treat it as such. I would be very wary of letting tenants slide on rent. The reason being they might take advantage of you and try to find new problems that also deserve a rent deferral. You have done everything in your power to fix the issue, perhaps have a plumbing professional look into it further.

If you have any other questions feel free to PM me. Good Luck Eva!