A/C broke, tenants want to be compensated, need advice

[Alejandro B Yoon]

I currently manage my mother's property that is using a rent by the room strategy. Last week the A/C in our unit fried from a power surge and required a new thermostat and tablet piece. After back and forth with the technician and 2 trips to the home, I finally have the guy fixing the A/C today on Friday. 7 days after it broke.

In the meantime, the tenants have been complaining daily and I have been telling them that the technician keeps postponing his date to fix since we needed to order a part. 

They say it got so bad they had to sleep in a hotel/out of the house for a night or two. Multiple tenants want me to either reimburse for the hotel stay or reduce their rent for the following month. What should I do?

[Travis Timmons]

It's Houston in June with no A/C. I'm not sure that there is a worse city in America to live in without A/C. You have to do the right thing and offer some sort of compensation. I may be in the minority here, but owning and managing property is also customer service. You have to make sure that your tenants feel heard and taken care of in situations like these. 

I'd honestly consider no A/C in Houston in the summer at the same level as no water or power. I'd rather have no water for a week than no A/C for a week...perhaps being a bit dramatic, but it's an absolute essential. It's not your fault that it happened, but you have to have a band aid (portable A/C, window units, etc.) or permanent solution in place within 24 hours. Telling your tenants that it's not your fault and that the technician keeps postponing is not good enough.