Tenant Dispute for Rental Property

[Kashyap Shah]

Requesting Guidance on Tenant Dispute for San Jose, CA Rental Property.

Details:

• Lease started on August 5, 2024.
• Initial walkthrough showed no signs of rodent activity.
• Tenant reported a rodent issue on August 25. I suggested using traps, and there were no further complaints until November 17.
• I promptly hired a professional for rodent treatment, which was completed within 10 days.

The tenant is now demanding 3 months of free rent, claiming the property was "infected," despite my timely response and corrective measures.

I need assistance crafting a response to this demand within 2 days to avoid escalation to small claims court. Any advice or solutions are appreciated!

[Theresa Harris]

I would do a walk through of the property to see if anything they re doing is attracting the rodents.  I'd simply respond with facts-you were told about the problem on X day and you called the exterminator on X day and they were there on X day.  So you dealt with it within X days of being notified of a problem.  

If the property is in California, I'd check the local laws.  But if they were living there, then the problem wasn't so bad that they had to move out or incur additional costs.  I'd also tell them if they aren't happy, they are welcome to break the lease without penalty, but that this is a one time offer that expires in 72 hours.