All Forum Posts by: Tim Harrison

Thanks everyone for the useful responses. We ended up listing options provided here for the tenant but did not offer to do anything ourselves. Neither dehumidifiers nor air conditioners are commonly used here--either in rentals or in owner-occupied homes, so we did not feel we were being unfair. 

Tenant will be moving, and we are totally okay with that!

Matthew, yes, that is exactly what I was thinking when I first heard the complaint. We are one of the rainiest places on earth. I'm not sure how I am meant to control that.

Yup, from the mainland, and I think the complainer is a homebody too, which makes this area maybe not so enjoyable since everything is geared towards being outside here. A lot of people think they're going to love it here until they get here and realize visiting a resort (with 24/7 A/C and weekly pesticide spraying) isn't quite the same as really living here. 

We'd really be happy if they moved, as it really doesn't seem like a great fit. 

Yes, I wish our tenant could have that attitude! What a great pic!

We considered a dehumidifier. Our concern about a dehumidifier would be that it seems like it wouldn't work well when the humidity outside is an average of 92% unless the tenant were to shut up all the windows and run it (?). While it is a temperate climate, it would still get pretty hot indoors without any windows open.

I should also note that we once lived in a small condo here (less than 800 sq.ft., and bought a window A/C to use a few hours before bedtime and during the hottest hours of the day. Our electric bill was just shy of $400 for the month, so we ended up selling the A/C unit. Electricity on an island is crazy expensive.

Thanks for the response. I should clarify the house doesn't actually have A/C. The vast majority of homes here are built without A/C both because energy is much more expensive here and because temperatures rarely get above 80 degrees. Even many million dollar homes are built without A/C here.

We have a rental in a tropical area that is naturally humid and making it even more humid, our property is next to a pond. According to online weather resources, the humidity right now is 97% and the average humidity level in this area is 92%. It rains several times a day here--every day.

We have a tenant that complains our rental is too humid and wants us to do something about it because dampness in the home can cause health problems. I'm a little surprised they didn't know it would be humid here--it just seems like common sense given the locale.

Most of the comments here on BP address high humidity inside a unit as a problem that can be solved (by fixing a leak or something), but since high humidity is a result of the natural environment here and not a leak, I don't see how I am supposed to remedy the situation. They are not saying there is a leak but just that the unit is too humid.

I do fear that no matter what we do they will still be unhappy because it will continue to be humid regardless. We want whoever lives in our unit to be happy, but it may not be possible in this instance. 

Appreciate any advice on how to handle this situation.

FYI, they are on a month-to-month lease, so they can leave if they want which would be fine with us.