Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Setting the scene: I rent space in my home to a friend. Large home (2 floors, 3 BR), renter has personal items in many rooms of the house, i.e., she pretty much has run of house for extremely reasonable rent (750 + utilities in Seattle). She feeds my pets as I live elsewhere but I visit friend and pets regularly. I pay for all pet related expenses. Situation: My partner said he would refinish floors buried under carpets for entire time I have owned home. I am paying him his regular fees for this (it is his business). I asked my friend (renter) if this would be OK with her since it would involve a lot of upheaval. She needed to move her bedroom to basement while upstairs getting done, and use of kitchen was possible but not user-friendly due to floor equipment in it. She had use of basement bathroom, refrigerator, etc. I offered her a room in my partners house, which she declined. Her friend said she could stay with her but she felt that the distance was too far from work, so she declined. While the work was getting done, she asked if I would consider giving her a rent reduction (without suggesting an amount) due to the inconvenience and trauma that the project was causing her. I have not yet answered (the work is done, it took a little over 2 weeks total but it is taking time to get the house back to completely liveable condition too). I feel that I don't charge her nearly what I could, have not raised her rent in the 3+ years she has been living here, so I was a bit "floored" to be asked for a reduction. I am wanting to know what others think.

Oh, and she agreed to the floor job but after the fact said if she had known how much upheaval, she would have stayed in a motel.

Posted by j f, WA on Friday, September 21, 2012

Your situation is different because your arrangement is a little in the "friend zone" which complicates the landlord-tenant relationship. In my opinion, everything should always be verbalized, preferably face-to-face and agreed upon. You should actually have a chat about the fact that you don't charge much rent because..., you haven't raised the rent because..., you could maybe get $x amount of rent/month, but you like having them as a tenant because... This establishes a little bit of the landlord-tenant relationship and puts you in the driver's seat. I would tell your tenant everything you expressed in your question - honest open communication is always best. After verbalizing the above, I would probably say that you didn't expect it to take as long as it has, and given the "give and take" situation you have, maybe offer $100 for the inconvenience and call it a day. Your tenant will feel like they got something out of the deal, and you will have a rental place with nice new floors for perhaps the next tenant who will pay quite a bit more in rent. ...perhaps a new tenant in the near future may not be a bad idea. This is simply how I would handle it. Good luck!

Posted by Chris H, AL on Saturday, September 22, 2012

Sounds like some useful advice, thanks ! I think I might check to see what people ARE asking for just a basic room in a furnished house as a comparison, too. I know I've heard of at least what I am charging for just that, with essentially no other room.

Posted by j f, WA on Sunday, September 23, 2012