<p>HELP ME QUICK! I have to send out an email in the morning.</p>
<p>Our rental unit just became uninhabitable due to a massive water leak from a water heater. The gist is, it will cost us $5800, and insurance pays for the rest, including replacing all the floors, wallboard, water mitigation, mold cleanup, etc. That is not my problem at the moment. It’s actually kind of a good deal to get new floors, heater and paint for that price, so that’s not so terrible.</p>
<p>It will take about a week and the tenant needs to go to a hotel. Our insurance will only give us $40/day to cover the lost of rental income during a repair. They have renters insurance but do not yet know if that covers lodging (really, how long does it take to find that out)? I don’t think we have any obligation for their housing, except to reimburse them for the days they can’t live there at the rent they paid ($40/day), but we want to do the right thing and pay for a hotel. But…the wife just contacted my husband and is talking about staying at a 4 star boutique hotel because of their inconvenience…really? </p>
<p>My idea of doing the right thing is to say, look, we’ll pay $200 for the first night at that hotel (after that, the rate goes up to $350, so no way). Then we will pay $120 for every night after that, you stay where you want to, but $120 covers the cost of a decent hotel (Comfort Suites type, with kitchenette, so they don’t have to eat out all the time). We are really doing this to be nice, and no other reason. It stinks being put out of your house, but I don’t think people should take advantage of this situation when people are just trying to be considerate. I will also suggest that if they choose, they can break their lease with no penalty to them (which is fine by me anyways). Also, that if their renters insurance pays, the daily amount towards a hotel that is paid to them would be deducted towards our $120. But if they say the insurance doesn’t pay, we have no way to know the difference.</p>
<p>Is this reasonable? Am I a sucker? Or do I have a responsibility to put them up anywhere at all? I don’t see anything about this in tenant/landlord law.</p>
<p>Their renters insurance should cover a hotel stay for them. It’s part of the standard policy. I would not offer to pay anything toward their hotels. If they are renting from you they are adults and should deal with this on their own.</p>
<p>I would check to see if your insurance company can get special deals at certain hotel chains. It seems that when I had to used a rental car for insurance purposes that my insurance steered me towards a rental company that would accept the per diem rate in my policy.</p>
<p>I would find out what your state law says about loss of use before you agree to anything. I would also find out their insurance company’s loss of use before you agree to anything. If they are dragging their feet about it, I would just ask the company name and policy number in your email.</p>
<p>All that being said, living in a $40 per day hotel for a week would be pretty miserable. I would not agree to put them up in a fancy hotel. That’s ridiculous.</p>
<p>I didn’t know how common it was that it would be covered on a renter’s policy, but it does seem odd that their agent said “it could take up to 48 hours to get that information.” Takes us 5 minutes to get an answer from our insurance company about our policy.</p>
<p>Problem is, we have already said we would cover a hotel if their policy didn’t. I don’t know how to back out now! I can’t find anything about “loss of use” and landlord’s responsibility written out, but I’ll keep looking.
Good idea about the company name and policy number.</p>
<p>You said you will cover IF their policy does not. If they say it does not, I would request that be sent to you IN WRITING by their insurance company before you agree to anything. I think a hotel with a small cooking area/kitchen is suitable. A boutique hotel…nope. </p>
<p>And since you are offering a place with cooking and refrigeration, I would NOT offer to pay for dining out…which is likely what they will ask for next.</p>
<p>Thanks, VeryHappy, I need condolences. I really dislike doing rentals, but my husband likes it. We bought these condos for a song and the cash flow is great. Except this one, it will take awhile to get a positive cash flow back!</p>
<p>“And since you are offering a place with cooking and refrigeration, I would NOT offer to pay for dining out…which is likely what they will ask for next.”</p>
<p>Good Lord, next it will be steak dinners at Ruth’s Chris. I’ll have an answer ready before they ask for that one.</p>
<p>Going on some flights, so I won’t be able to respond much when people post their great advice. Sorry, and thanks for all the great advice. I’ve already altered the letter we’re sending to them a couple of times with your suggestions.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, due to their attitudes about what they ‘deserve’ this is one of those times where renting property requires more gritty insistence that they follow the rules and do what is reasonable, than is personally comfortable. Your attitudes regarding helping pay for accommodation are exemplary. Unfortunately, their attitudes are not the same, requiring you to develop some grit. Keep that in mind, as you work towards a solution with these entitled folk! </p>
<p>I can see why it would take a while to get an answer on the policy–they will need to check to make sure that the loss you had is a covered loss on the policy. If it was not a covered loss, say flooding, then their policy would not pay for the hotels. Since it was a burst pipe, that is usually a covered loss.</p>
<p>Let your insurance agent work for you. Have them call your tenants and get their claim number, etc and have your agent call their insurance company. Let them work as a team to verify the details. Agents are usually willing to do this, and your agent will be honest with you in regard to their coverage limits in regard to temp housing.</p>
<p>You didn’t cause this issue. Crap happens. If this was their private home, their insurance company would make them hold to their limit on temp housing. Just like when someone rear ends you in your car, not your fault, but I assure you, you are limited to a daily amount on a rental car. And they don’t care if your BMW 750 is in the shop. If the insurance company pays $40 a day, its a Chevy Malibu for you. </p>
<p>There is no need to feel any guilt for not suppling a “boutique” hotel for them. They have renter’s insurance for a reason.</p>
<p>I’m sure it is a covered loss, seeing as it is for us, with insurance paying big bucks…10K plus, and the condo has no heat or hot water, with construction going on. But it seems to me that it would be easy to just look at their policy. I can do that online, and my insurance company answers th phone when I call. They first contacted their insurance company yesterday morning, who said it could take 48 hours for an answer. That sounds just odd. I can see a delay, but 48 hours? Seems like they would have to talk to us also.
They seem like nice people, I would hope they wouldn’t get the money from us and also claim it, saying insurance wouldn’t pay. But I’m not sure that loss of use isn’t a more expanded policy.</p>
<p>You’re right, Great Lakes. We need to just be professional. I wish there were clear guidelines on our obligations, but we’d still want to go above anyways.</p>
<p>It actually classified as a “Luxury Boutique Spa hotel”. In Conde Nast’s top 100 hotels in the world (actually, it’s #88). I suspect they would like to stay there because I think she works either there, or next door. It is a really nice place. I looked at it online, and most of the time for the next week, it could be booked for $200/night. That is a fantastic price for such a hotel. But really. Maybe my husband misunderstood the request, to give them the benefit of the doubt. The truth is, though the contractor says it will be a week, we really don’t know for sure, so what if it lasts longer?</p>
<p>I don’t know what would take 48 hours, zoosermom, but I am going to follow collegeshopping’s advice and see if I can get my insurance company to help verify this. Maybe they will give some advice upon what we should do. And yeah, we didn’t cause this, crap does happen. My God, look at what is going on in the northeast, and people would be happy to stay in a condo with a little water under the floor, even though they don’t have hot water or heat (it’s reasonably warm this week, and they have a gas fireplace). Though I wouldn’t expect anyone to stay there, I just want to be fair. But not broke.</p>
<p>You are very generous to want to go beyond what is absolutely required, but they have sent a clear signal that they will not be reasonable. Suggesting that you house them in a boutique hotel is obnoxious. And they are being evasive about the renter’s policy. You might ask your insurance agent what is normally covered in a renter’s policy. If a hotel allowance is normally included, then it should have been their responsibility to get a normal policy. </p>
<p>Your insurance agent should be a resource for you. As others have suggested, the insurance companies have relationships with hotels. I would find out what you are required to do, then decide what you are willing to do. In your place, I would be less willing to go beyond what is required for someone who is trying to take advantage of the situation.</p>
<p>If she might work at that hotel or near it, could she have a corporate discount of some sort that she might want to use? We have corporate discounts, steep ones, with certain hotels. Strangely, one of the discounts is with the Ritz Carlton chain since it’s a client. We get rates that are at the Holiday Inn-type level. Maybe she’s not being greedy?</p>
<p>I wonder if the 48 hours is really the tenants’ insurance verifying the claim rather than getting any response at all? We just had our car damaged in a hit and run, though they caught the guy later. Our insurance company replied right away with where to take the car and that the WOULD pay-but HOW MUCH they would cover and the deductable differed whether the guy had insurance or not. They didn’t get back to us for a couple of days as they worked to verify that part of the claim. I assume the renters gave the info on the landlord to their insurance company, which will then work to verify converage. </p>
<p>That said, a $40 a day hotesl in the Seattle area are places that rent by the hour. I wouldn’t put my kids anywhere near one. That’s a really low-ball amount. When our water heater broke when we were renters, it didn’t require more than two days away-obviously it was a smaller heater and did less damage. Our LL told us to send him the bill for wherever we picked. We chose a Holiday Inn level place and were not greedy, but I am very thankful he did not hold us to $40 a night!</p>
<p>sseamom, I’m not sure what the deal is on the 48 hours. Because the insurance company has not contacted us, nor do they even know the name of our insurance company or policy. I think. I thought it was to just get an answer on what their policy covers, but I have been getting things second hand, since neither me nor my husband are in town right now. I really think it would be so much better if I can get my insurance involved talking to theirs. The $40 that we need to reimburse them for is actually not for a hotel. It is reimbursement of rent that they paid. The additional is just because we want to be fair. You were considerate choosing a Holiday Inn hotel, but I have a feeling that if we said “pick anywhere”, we’d get a $3K bill for the luxury spa suite. I’m such a sucker that I was thinking about offering them our home…then now I realize that we sure couldn’t even measure up to a 2 star.</p>
<p>These are nice people, and I do want to give them the benefit of the doubt. I think they might be just asking to see what they can get.</p>
<p>zoosermom, we thought maybe she’d have a corporate discount. But the price they quoted is the same as online, so it doesn’t reflect any discount (unless they were looking at an upgraded room with a discount). And they’d have to show us receipts anyways, so there would be no use in saying it cost a higher price than it does, so I’m not worried about that.
But I’m not sure that she works there, or just nearby.</p>