Do I need to provide a hotel for tenants?

[Jeff Duford]

Asking for some assistance for a newbie landlord here.  We recently had some ice dam damage which resulted in a leak to the master bedroom ceiling/dry wall.  i'm going to have to have a company come rip up the drywall, dry everything out and re-drywall/paint....I imagine that whole process will take at least a week.

The home is a 3br/2ba...their 2 children's rooms are unaffected and the couple in the master could move their bed/clothes to a "play" room downstairs or live in one of the two living rooms in the home.  

Am I obligated though to put them up in a hotel since the master will be un-usable for about a week?  

[Michael Gefvert]

You need to check your lease and relevant state statutes and case law on the matter but typically in a situation where the home is still habitable you would reduce tenants rent by the reduction in value of the property, which is likely substantial when going from 3br/2ba to 2br/1ba.  Being proactive here would be helpful-- you could offer to help move your tenants belongings from the master bedroom to whichever room they choose to set up in temporarily.  I would move everything out, drywall dust will get into anything left in there.