Florida residential rental - AC issue and Hotel reimbursement

[Mike H.]

I have received an reimbursement request from tenant regards her hotel bill due to AC outage.  The AC request was received and AC tech was sent the next day.  I assume on the day of AC outage, she decided to stay in hotel due to possible discomfort at house.  Under this circumstance, would LL be responsible for the bill even though the service was called immediately.  Does State of Florida (Oviedo FL) has any clear statement on this type of responsibility?

Thanks in advance!

[Tom Reynolds]

Note: I am not an attorney. But, as an owner of rental property in Florida, this question regarding the landlord's responsibility caught my attention and I've done a little research. Florida State Statute does not appear to address air conditioning requirements for rental property. The Florida Landlord Tenant Act in Statute (83.51) "landlord's obligation to maintain premises" does not list air conditioning as a requirement. The Housing Code and (HUD) mention air conditioning but are only applicable if adopted by the local jurisdiction. Those standards do not require air conditioning but if present maintenance is required. In this case, The City of Oviedo does not appear to have adopted those minimum standards. Unless your lease details you're responsibility for this scenario, reimbursing the tenant for alternate housing while repairs are made is really up to you.

Responding to a tenant's notification of a malfunctioning (HVAC) system within 24 hours is reasonable. After all, if it was your residence and your (HVAC) system that broke down it would be at least 24 hours before a service tech would be available, unless you are willing to pay an additional emergency fee.