Do you give a rent discount if one room unusable?

[Lisa P.]

We had a water heater leak that flooded one of the kids bedrooms.  Dry wall and carpet are being replaced so the 2 kids have to share a room.  Do you ever give a rent discount in this type of situation.  Right now the tenant is refusing to pay rent until it is done.  How would you proceed?

[Bryan O.]

Do you require renter's insurance for your tenants? Renter's insurance covers loss of use. Do you have a clause in your lease that states that you are not responsible for loss of use?

I have both of these, and when an SFR flooded this year and deprived one of the tenant children of a room for a couple of weeks I issued them a rent rebate. I calculated % of space lost, how long it was lost for, then had the manager send a rebate check to the family.

I don't know what your State laws are, so this is just words, not specific advice. If they refuse to pay, I'd issue a pay or quit notice and possibly offer to let them break lease for a reduced or waived fee prior to evicting them.