Instances worthy of Prorated Rent

[Jonathan Dempsey]

Hello BP Community, I have an interesting scenario to throw at you. A tenant moved in on the 28th of April, and there was an issue with the HVAC system. The lease did not start until April 30 at noon (I let the tenant move in on the 28th as it was a weekend and wanted to show a kind gesture). The HVAC was repaired by noon on May 1st. The tenant had asked prior to its official repair for prorated rent during the period the issue was being fixed. I agreed, stating that hot water in some capacity is a required living condition. To repair the HVAC, piping had to be redone in the walls, including walls in the tenant’s room. Two 1’x1’ holes and a 2’2’ hole were left in the wall and were not repaired til the 7th of May. The repair still needs paint. My tenant appears to be under the assumption that rent is being prorated for the entire cosmetic repair of the wall. However, it is my understanding, and I thought I was clear in the original discussion, that only days with no hot water would be prorated. What is the best way to handle this situation? I am heavily leading toward prorating just the one day accompanied by a written explanation of the prorated day including “living condition language”. Am I totally out of line to say the cosmetic issue is no reason for any prorated rent? Note: The house is under warranty, so the builder’s have shown low urgency to these matters, but none the less the repairs are done free. Otherwise I would just paint it myself. Thanks in advance, JD