Should a rental property owner give a tenant a rent concession when something breaks at the property? From my perspective, not necessarily. And often, the answer would be no.
Here’s the situation that came across my desk recently. We have a property owner who wants to give his tenant a rent concession — a full credit for the month of July. What happened? The water main broke and we had to get it fixed. The tenant has a carport as part of her lease, so parking is included in what she’s paying for, and during the repair she wasn’t able to use her carport. Obviously inconvenient.
The owner wants to give her the full month of July as a credit, and that’s fine. I can understand his reasons, and we’re going to facilitate that at his request. But our property management company tends to view these situations differently — and I think most experienced landlords should too.
Properties Break. That’s Just Reality.
Here’s how I look at it: properties break. When they do, it’s not good news for anybody.
- It’s not good news for the tenant, who has to live through the inconvenience.
- It’s not good news for the property owner, who has to pay for the repair — and sometimes these repairs are expensive.
- It’s not good news for the property management company, whose job it is to facilitate the repair. For us, that’s time and energy to make sure the job is done right. It’s not a profit center.
Think about it from the homeowner perspective. If you own the home you live in, at some point in the last three years you’ve almost certainly lived through an inconvenience. Your washer died. Your dryer died. Your refrigerator died. Your hot water heater went out and you were without hot water for a couple of days. Your HVAC needed a repair in the middle of summer. That’s part of home ownership. And it’s also part of using a rental property.
Is a Rent Credit Legally Required?
I’m not an attorney and I can’t give legal advice. But I do believe that legally, no one is going to require a landlord to give a rent concession when something breaks — as long as no one was neglectful.
That’s the key qualifier. As long as the landlord didn’t know the HVAC was going to fail, didn’t know the water main pipe was going to burst under the concrete, and — this part matters — the repair is addressed in a timely manner, there’s no neglect. In our water main case, we fixed it as quickly as humanly possible.
Where landlords get into trouble in landlord-tenant court is when they sit on repairs. If a tenant reports something serious and you drag your feet for weeks, that’s a different conversation. If you handle maintenance and repairs the right way, the law generally isn’t going to force you to hand back a month’s rent.
What I Actually Do With My Own Rentals
I own rental properties myself in addition to managing them for clients. Would I hand out a full month’s rent credit every time something broke? No. That’s not what we do as a property management company either.
Our approach is simple: get it fixed, get it fixed fast, and communicate clearly with the tenant while it’s happening. That’s what a tenant is really paying for — a landlord who responds. Not a landlord who lets things linger and then tries to buy their way out of it with a rent credit.
Now, if an owner wants to give a concession as a goodwill gesture — like this owner did — I totally understand the motivation. Keeping a good tenant happy has real value, especially when you consider what tenant turnover actually costs. If a small credit keeps a great tenant in place for another year or two, that math can absolutely work in the owner’s favor.
But there’s a difference between choosing to give a credit as a business decision and believing you’re obligated to. You’re generally not obligated to. Properties break. That’s part of owning them, and it’s part of renting them.
The Bottom Line for Philadelphia Landlords
If something breaks at your rental property and it wasn’t caused by neglect:
- Get the repair done as quickly as possible.
- Communicate with your tenant during the process.
- Don’t assume you owe a rent concession — you generally don’t.
- If you want to offer a small goodwill credit to keep a good tenant happy, that’s a business decision, not a legal requirement.
But what do I know? I’m just a humble Philadelphia property management company owner doing my very best to answer your rental property investing questions. As always, happy rental property investing.
