What to do with tenants during major repairs

[Aaron Tornes]

Hi, I am a landlord in KY. Recently a SFH rental of ours was discovered to need a new sewer main. Long story short the house is an old shotgun and a lot of the plumbing is not up to code and won't get approved by an inspector if just the main is replaced. To get it updated will require a renovation where the tenants will need to be out of the property for some time: 2 days for plumbing job then a number of days for contactor to put everything back and finish.

This is my first time doing a repair of this scope with tenants in the house and my question is how do I manage their living needs while repairs go on? Do I need to provide accommodation for them or can I ask them to find temporary housing and then deduct it from the rent?

Thanks for any help anyone can provide here.

[Greg M.]

Unless the law says otherwise, they get two options.

1) You pay for a hotel.

2) You deduct a pro-rated amount off their rent and they find their own lodging. 

Depending on the tenants, you may want to go above that due to the inconvenience. Nothing wrong with a gift card for dinner or an extra free day of rent to keep good tenants happy.