Natural Disasters: What Are Your Responsibilities as a Clearwater Landlord?

Natural disasters can appear at any time and any place. Doesn’t matter if its a  tornado, flood, earthquake, or fire, natural disasters cause extensive property damage and displace thousands of people every year. When a natural disaster hits and destroys a rental property, property owners have specific concerns to their renters apart from attending to the devastation of the rental home. The nature of these concerns relies upon whether or not your Clearwater property is still habitable or not.

As a property owner, you should already know that all rental households must be capable or human habitation. Regardless of the location, all rentals must provide a tenant with water, heat, electricity, and a sanitary and structurally safe building. While the definite guidelines can vary, some guidelines state that if the rental home does not satisfy these requirements, a tenant is under no obligation to pay rent and may even end the lease. They may also be adequate to accept their security deposit forthwith in full.

Thus, when a rental home is damaged by a natural disaster in Clearwater, the extent of the damage must be assessed right away. All of the damages should also be thoroughly documented, just in case of the event that questions start to arise later on. If the damage is minimal and the tenant will be displaced for only a few days or weeks, your burdens as a property owner are to improve the property as quickly as possible. Your tenant may still be bound to carry out the terms of the lease, and also pay to fix or recover any damage that was done to their personal property.

If, however, the damage is extensive, or the maintenance will take several months or more, it is the responsibility of the owner to determine how to handle the lease. If the household is uninhabitable, you may need to release your renter from the lease and return the security deposit in full. A tenants’ security deposit cannot be used to pay for damages caused by a natural disaster. Besides that, if the natural disaster strikes close to the beginning of the month or immediately after a month’s rent has been paid, the landlord may have a responsibility to return that month’s rent to the renter.

Identifying how to act after a natural disaster and which measures to take in regard to the lease, rental payments, and security deposits is something the specialists at Real Property Management TradeWinds have years of knowledge with. With our team on your side, you can stay calm and confident in the knowledge that even when disaster hits, your Clearwater rental properties are in the dominant desirable control. Please contact us online or call us at 727-400-4722 for more information.