If a renter sends you a letter notifying you they are moving because your house is damaged from a storm and is not returning, wants a prorated share of the rent returned, How long do they have before they move there furnishings at no rent? Thanks for any info. GNG in Texas

hi there,
Of course it is his responsibility to pay renter the prorated share of rent and also return back the securities which he takes in advance.

first they should agree that the property is not habitable. i don't know if the Texas property code or local HUD or other regulations came up with a temporary law for hurricane victims, but under normal circumstances the Texas property code states that if a property is damaged then it has to be tagged as not habitable and then the tenant can break his lease, get his security deposit returned and his share of the rent back for that month. With the recent hurricane, there were a lot of tenants saying their residence was not habitable, while the landlord was saying it was. Also, under normal circumstances (not sure if that changed with hurricane situation) if the property was habitable but needed repairs, the landlord is not responsible for making repairs until the insurance claim has been received. if you go to http://www.recenter.tamu.edu/ under publications and to online store, you'll see "tenant and landlord guidelines #866" it is only about $10 and is a great resource for property management. it explains the texas property codes in simple language. Just about every question is answered in that book.

jj