Although I had my rental house tented for termites before the tenants moved in, I recently went to inspect the property and found some evidence of termites. I called the termite tenting people and they confirmed I do indeed have termites. Tenting requires that the residents leave for 3 days and 2 nights and to take out all food and pets.
As the landlord, do I just tell them the house needs to be tented and to have them schedule the tenting while they are out of town, or do I need to offer them an alternative place to stay while it is being tented?
The tenants and I are not on the best of terms. They've only been in the house for 6 months and have consistently tried to pay late every month (I have insisted on on-time rental payments, and they have complied, but grudgingly), brought a dog in despite a "no pets" policy, and are generally stand-offish (the first thing they did when they moved in was install a security system, and when I come by the house even with an appointment, they call me while I'm on the front steps and say that they're not in the house).
Any advice would be appreciated.
First, I would hold off on the tenting. Do the tenants have a lease or are they month-to-month?
If m-t-m, give them 30 days notice to move. If a lease and the lease states they are not to have a pet, file for eviction for cause. Either way, once they are out, schedule the tenting and list the property for rent again.
You ended up with bad tenants and I wouldn't want to have to deal with them any longer.
As to your original question, I'm not a lawyer and I don't know Florida real estate law, but my guess is a landlord is responsible for putting tenants in a hotel during a time when the rental unit is inaccessible.
Good luck.
@Jean H. I am not familiar with the laws in your area, but I would think that you are still obligated to provide a place for the tenants to live when they are not able to stay in the house they are paying for. If not required I think It would still be a good practice.
Im sure that if you talked to the tenants and explained the situation, and if they just happened to be out of town in the near future it could be possible to arrange something, but you say the relationship is not good.
The best option would be to go over the laws in your specific area to find out what your obligations are and then conduct yourself accordingly.
Definitely avoid having them near the property while its being tented. You are opening yourself up to all kinds of issues if you do not manage the tenting process correctly, especially since they already appear to be a nuisance. I'd be a bit worried about this situation; especially the security system, getting the dog and their reluctance to let you into the property. Are they growing pot or dealing drugs?
First, I would hold off on the tenting. Do the tenants have a lease or are they month-to-month?
If m-t-m, give them 30 days notice to move. If a lease and the lease states they are not to have a pet, file for eviction for cause. Either way, once they are out, schedule the tenting and list the property for rent again.
You ended up with bad tenants and I wouldn't want to have to deal with them any longer.
As to your original question, I'm not a lawyer and I don't know Florida real estate law, but my guess is a landlord is responsible for putting tenants in a hotel during a time when the rental unit is inaccessible.
Good luck.
I agree with Randy to get rid of the tenants first. Otherwise, you're opening a can of worm for many excuses you end up paying for. They can blame the termite damage for anything that might happen inside the house including what the dog might do. I've seen damage by dogs to doors and kitchen that cost me thousands. Also, they might ask you for thousands to replace food and many other things to get back at you.
Could you tent at the end of their lease?
I would guess that you will have to provide a place for them to stay. Either prorate the rent for the days they are out of the rental or foot the entire hotel stay. Check your state laws.
Also would their renter's insurance cover their hotel stay?
I think @Randy E. gave you great advice and I was going to reitterate the same thing. If you have a no pets policy you should have evicted when you found out they brought in a dog. They already signed off on the lease that states there are no pets allowed, therefore they are breaking the agreement. Also, it is your property whether they installed an alarm system or not. If you give proper notice, have proof of this, and then enter when you state you are going to, I would think they would be held liable for any charges incurred on having the alarm go off. It's their responsibility to leave the house unarmed if you told them you would be there, or to be there themselves if they feel necessary.
I would double check your state laws, and check to see if they have renters insurance (my guess would be they don't) because you would most likely be held responsible for putting them up in a hotel during the tenting, but I agree on holding off until after they move out... something that will hopefully happen in the next 30 days! Best of luck!
Thanks for the advice. After finding out about the dog, I agreed to let the dog stay with an additional $200 security deposit, so I can't evict because of that. They are on a yearly lease which runs out in February. I do not plan to renew. I do not think I can evict them now since they are not, actually, late with rent; I had agreed to the dog; and from what I've seen, they do appear to be taking care of the property. The security thing is annoying, but I don't think it's evictable.
@Yvette May I actually required them to get renters' insurance as a condition of the lease, so I will look into that option. Thank you.
@Vic French and @Adam A. I hadn't thought about the possibility of opening myself up to liability. That is a concern. One possible solution is to try to spot treat the termites, and then wait until the lease is up in 7 months to tent the place. The termite tenting people say it would cost about $600 to spot-treat, with no warranty that the termites won't come back. Tenting would cost $1300 and would come with a 1-year warranty.
Thanks for all the advice!
The termites won't eat the whole place in seven months. Give notice of intent to terminate their tenancy in October, you could even send now and offer to let leave early if very concerned. All the tenant would be entitled to is a 3 day rent credit. Nothing else.
Just verified. Florida Law 83.51. You must give 7 days notice. They must leave for up to four days. You only need credit the rent.
How nice that you found the actual statute! Now you can quote the law to your tenants.
I was going to say that all you have to do is deduct their rent for the days that they can't be in the apartment.
Renters insurance does cover their hotel costs - IF - they have a loss of use rider. I pay extra for my loss of use rider on my renter's insurance but it's still really cheap. If your tenants didn't get insurance or a loss of use rider, that's their problem, not yours. All you have to do is give them a rent credit for the days they can't be in the unit. You don't have to credit them more than what their rent would have been for those days.
It's completely legal to tell them they need to vacate for termite tenting with 7 days notice per the law quoted. No need to worry about any other liability issues, in my opinion.
And won't it be fun to relay all of the above to your PITA tenant? :-)
I had to relocate a few tenants, when I was managing. If I had a vacant unit, I'd give them keys to the vacant unit. Once I didn't have a vacant unit, and the tenant pulled a boo-hoo whoa is me on the owner (too nice) and so he gave the tenant money for a hotel for the one night she couldn't be in the unit. Then, after taking the money for the hotel - she went and stayed with a friend LOL. So, it's entirely possible your tenants will just go stay with friends, anyway, and they'd just be hoping to cash in or have a stay-cation on your dime. But, you're not legally responsible to give them one.
The law in California is far different, Sue, as you probably know. "Reasonable relocation expenses"
A very vague liberal statute to be construed by a liberal judge for the maximum benefit to the tenant. And if you don't work a deal out with them it's a permissible reason to withhold rent.
I only miss the weather.
The law in California is far different, Sue, as you probably know. "Reasonable relocation expenses"
A very vague liberal statute to be construed by a liberal judge for the maximum benefit to the tenant. And if you don't work a deal out with them it's a permissible reason to withhold rent.
I only miss the weather.
Nope. In CA you don't have to pay for their hotel, either. Same deal.
The only way they can withhold rent, is if they requested you fix a habitability issue - like no running water - and you didn't fix it within a reasonable amount of time. And even then, it's a big risk for the tenant, because in the meantime, you can start eviction (which puts an unlawful detainer action on their eviction record) for nonpayment of rent. Then, they have to prove that they had the right to withhold rent, etc., and that they gave you time to take care of the problems, etc., etc.
People love to think that CA law is anti-landlord, but it's not. So, we disagree on this point.
It's a path not every tenant would know to take, but if they learned about the termites and had a city code officer over to issue a citation the landlord becomes liable under the Health & Safety code. Check out the lists of reimbursable expenses in Health and Safety 17987.7. I misremembered "reasonable" at some point the state assembly enumerated everything and the list is long.
Next time I would charge them a pet fee instead of a deposit, if their dog destroys something you'll have to go through the deposit claim process which they could (and often do) dispute. In Florida you're not required to put them up in a hotel but you should abate/refund the days they can not use the unit. I have done both. In the past I paid to put a tenant up in a hotel try to maintain a good relationship and be nice even though I wasn't required to. They recently moved out and did a lot of damage to the house. I made a claim on their deposit and they hired an attorney and threatened to sue. Apparently goodwill doesn't last very long. More recently we tented a small 10-unit building and did not pay for hotels for anyone but abated rent. Don't pay for a hotel especially if they're bad tenants.
It's a path not every tenant would know to take, but if they learned about the termites and had a city code officer over to issue a citation the landlord becomes liable under the Health & Safety code. Check out the lists of reimbursable expenses in Health and Safety 17987.7. I misremembered "reasonable" at some point the state assembly enumerated everything and the list is long.
That's only if the city finds the unit uninhabitable and basically condemns it. They give the owner so much time to fix the problem. If the owner doesn't, and they say the unit is condemned/not habitable - then relocation expenses can become mandatory.
But, just needing to get a tenant out long enough to tent a unit, which the landlord is instigating, is not having a place condemned, etc.
So, you're using a code that's not relevant to the situation. I'd guess that even in FL or anywhere else, if a tenant has to go to the city to get their unit condemned, the city probably still gives the owner time to fix the problem before condemning the place and requiring relocation expenses.
So, we disagree on this.
Thanks # JR T. for the Statute.
After talking with the termite people (termites are active in the attic and garage) and the tenants (they don't want to have to leave the house), we decided to just spray in the attic and garage. Then after they leave in February, we'll see if we still have problems with termites and tent then.
Thanks for all the advice!
Although I had my rental house tented for termites before the tenants moved in, I recently went to inspect the property and found some evidence of termites. I called the termite tenting people and they confirmed I do indeed have termites. Tenting requires that the residents leave for 3 days and 2 nights and to take out all food and pets.
As the landlord, do I just tell them the house needs to be tented and to have them schedule the tenting while they are out of town, or do I need to offer them an alternative place to stay while it is being tented?
The tenants and I are not on the best of terms. They've only been in the house for 6 months and have consistently tried to pay late every month (I have insisted on on-time rental payments, and they have complied, but grudgingly), brought a dog in despite a "no pets" policy, and are generally stand-offish (the first thing they did when they moved in was install a security system, and when I come by the house even with an appointment, they call me while I'm on the front steps and say that they're not in the house).
Any advice would be appreciated.
Get them out of your property. If you have a no alteration claus in your rental unit, use that as a cause for eviction. Give a 3 day notice to remove the animal. Next time they are late on rent do not answer calls or have a phone convo just give a 3-day notice to pay or quit.