Tenant Temporarily Without Heat Question

[Logan Beckner]

Looking for some advice for a current situation for one of our rentals that we self manage. On 2/20/25 our tenant said that the HVAC heating was not working. I went out that night, reset the breaker and the furnace - heat came on and worked no problem. The house was 72 degrees at the time. 24 hours later the tenants said that the heat was again not working. The thermostat was set to 72 but the inside of the home was 68 and the furnace was not coming on. That was on Friday at 7pm. So we contacted our HVAC person and they agreed to come out on Monday 2/24/25 at 8am. In the meantime, we offered space heaters so that they would be more comfortable. On Monday morning the HVAC tech came to the home and determined that the control board failed on the unit and would take about 5 days to get the part for install. Now, the next day on 2/25/25 the tenant is requesting that we give them a 25% reduction in the rent for the month, sighting that 30% of the month they have been left without heat. They claim that they cannot use the space heaters at night due to it not being safe. I have never come across a situation like this so I’m reaching out to get some advice. Let me know if there’s anything you need clarified to help! Thanks everyone. 

[Josh Otero]

Quote from @Logan Beckner:

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

Quote from @Logan Beckner:

Looking for some advice for a current situation for one of our rentals that we self manage. On 2/20/25 our tenant said that the HVAC heating was not working. I went out that night, reset the breaker and the furnace - heat came on and worked no problem. The house was 72 degrees at the time. 24 hours later the tenants said that the heat was again not working. The thermostat was set to 72 but the inside of the home was 68 and the furnace was not coming on. That was on Friday at 7pm. So we contacted our HVAC person and they agreed to come out on Monday 2/24/25 at 8am. In the meantime, we offered space heaters so that they would be more comfortable. On Monday morning the HVAC tech came to the home and determined that the control board failed on the unit and would take about 5 days to get the part for install. Now, the next day on 2/25/25 the tenant is requesting that we give them a 25% reduction in the rent for the month, sighting that 30% of the month they have been left without heat. They claim that they cannot use the space heaters at night due to it not being safe. I have never come across a situation like this so I’m reaching out to get some advice. Let me know if there’s anything you need clarified to help! Thanks everyone. 

 This is what renters insurance is for.

Chris, thanks for the reply. Could you elaborate by what you mean by this? 

 yes, I'm also curious to hear about the renter's insurance and how it plays a factor in this scenario