A tenant owned home caught on fire in December. Family got out and everyone is safe. Tenant would like to rebuild home but does not want to pay pad rent until family moves back in home. Tenant can not give accurate time frame when family will move back in due to weather conditions (NY, snow) and cost of repairs. We are trying to be understanding. Considering the family lost everything and is now renting an apartment, should half pad rent be charged, give 3-4 months rent free? Should we evict? Never had this situation before… Any suggestions??
@rsvp , as per your post:
- “Home Fire - charge pad rent while making repairs?”
You are the MHP Owner…you have control of the situation.
You can evict…as they probably have no money to pay for Lot Rent and Apartment Rent.
However, after an Eviction and an Abandoned Mobile Home Process you will be left with a burned out Mobile Home.
Will you be able to fix this Mobile Home at this point or will you have to demolish it?
Personally, I would give them 4 months free rent and then start charging rent. I would set the expectations by having everyone agree to this in writing.
Either they will be motivated to fix the damage and move back in or they might just give up on the whole process.
If after 4 months they do not pay you, I would then go through the Eviction process and the Abandoned Mobile Home Process.
We wish you the very best!
Good thoughts Kristen. I would ask if they had insurance to cover the fire damage and ask for proof that I would verify BEFORE I offered free rent. If they had some, how good was it? Does it contain language about replacement value without depreciation, etc.? Is any deductible something they can afford? If not, the insurance company probably won’t do anything until it is paid. If they had none, they probably really won’t be rebuilding anything. Especially if the MH was not free and clear of liens. It also depends on how long they have been there and how timely they have been with the rent. We all run into problems that set us back. I would necessarily lose a good tenant over and terrible event like a fire. Remember, in a fire, you usually lose everything (family photos, clothes, anything of value and of valued memories). Treat them with the utmost respect but don’t set yourself up for lingering problems either.
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I would not provide free anything. Either the insurance company wrote a check they can use to pay rent or they have no insurance and will not be rebuilding.
The likelihood is they are simply playing you to get every dime they can out of the situation before they arrange to bail out. Bu no allowing free rent you will move them along quicker.
In most cases the insurance company is slow to pay which if this is the case they are stalling and once they get the check you will never see them again.
Don’t fall for the sympathy scam.