Tenant contacted me yesterday. AC unit wasn't blowing cold air. He said he left it turned off for 24 hours (before I was made aware of this) and turned it back on and still didn't work.

It's under warranty. The company was out this morning and they said it needs a new compressor and it will take up to three days to arrive. So they may be without AC for up to three days.

Should I compensate the tenant in some way for being without AC? He has asked for anything. But I haven't been in this situation where there's a delay before. Not sure what the best thing to do is. Thanks.

I do not compensate. Rather, I keep 3-4 small window AC units on hand and will put them in temporarily if we believe the repair will take more than 48 hours from the time they reported it and allowed us access to check the issue. Never had any complaints with this strategy. Have received several thank-yous from residents grateful to have at least 1 or 2 rooms cool enough to sleep in.

Try to avoid compensation wherever possible. It sets a bad precedent in my view. Rather, have strategies in place like the temp ACs and offer quick, professional service.

No compensation to tenant. You need a different HVAC company.

My local supply house had another condensing unit that was freight damaged, I was allowed to rob it's compressor to repair my customers unit. The warranty replacement compressor then went back into the freight damaged condensing unit. 2 hour delay vs. 3+ day delay.

Thanks Sid. They said they MIGHT have it by tomorrow afternoon. I guess 3 days is the max time.

This unit was installed in 2010 by the previous homeowner. I bought the house in 2013. Since the AC unit was relatively new and under warranty, I kept it instead of replacing, but it's had to have several service calls. I've been using the company that originally installed the AC for the service calls.

I get what you're saying and understand why you're using the original installer, but I still don't like their uncertainty. To me that suggests they are juggling their installer schedule, not waiting for parts. I work for a Fortune 500 retailer in their Supply Chain division, and we can tell you not only the day but almost to the hour when your part will arrive. Amazon does the same stuff. It's considered a basic level of service these days, even for smaller shops. My guess is they're getting their more lucrative jobs done and fitting you in whenever they can, using parts delivery as an excuse. Whatever...

I look at it this way. Who would compensate you on your house if you had this problem. No one? Why would tenant need compensation then?

I had this issue last year in the dead middle of Florida summer. I offered a wall unit but they declined and moved in with family instead. They asked for nothing. Took a week to get it fixed because it happened late on a Friday, part not ordered until Monday etc...

I compensated them for 1/2 days rent times seven days which was $94 that I rounded to $100. They've been in the home since 2008 and never complain. I figured they could use it to buy their relatives a pizza or two while they were staying there.

I'd say it's situationally dependent.

Diminution of value is a well-established concept in law. If the tenant were to go to court and ask that he be reimbursed for the diminished value of the rent due to loss of A/C, he would win. The customary calculation of the diminished value is the difference between the fair market value of rent with and without air conditioning.

I just found out that they will be there tomorrow to replace the compressor unit. So I don't think I'm going to compensate, it hasn't been an unreasonable amount of time.

Absolutely not. WHY. You got the call? you made a call to maintenance? your on their schedule?

Here's your fear-- they may ask for something. ANSWER is no today and NO tomorrow. Ask yourself this-- as an owner occupied home would your mortgage company allow you to not pay the mortgage for the days your AC was out-- how about stopped up toilets-- could you not pay the mortgage? Before you say but these are renters-- if you have a mortgage so are you-- REALLY.

No, I'm not -- Laura and MYOB -- I've moved on to trying to find out why this is happening in the first place.

I don't think I mentioned that this is the second time the compressor has failed at this house and had to be replaced under warranty, and the system is 8 years old. That isn't normal.

Anyone here have an idea what could be causing this? I know it's not dirty coils. I was reading online that improper voltage coming from the house could cause one to fail.

Is the heating system gas heat? or is it a heat pump? If it's a heat pump, I may be able to help explain why you are having failures.

Heat pumps should NEVER be run on hot and cold cycles immediately adjacent to one another. The reversing valve flips over, and the refrigerant in the compressor can cause hydraulic lock...ruining the outside unit. Tenants should be taught to turn the system from heat to OFF, wait an hour or so, then turn to cool...and vice-versa.

In Charlotte our county requires that if the outside temperature drops before 50 and the heat is out we must provide an alternate source of heat. If we offer AC and the outside temp exceeds 80 then we must provide alternate AC.

I have had 3 times when the AC when out on July 4th weekend with 90+ degrees and all of the supply houses were closed.

I offered to put them up in a hotel. Two declined and said they'd use the ceiling fans (we have them in every room) but one had a wife that had 3 open heart surgeries just in the time they'd been my tenants so I insisted that they go to a hotel.For those that opted out of a hotel I reduced their rent for that month.

I purchased 5 free standing AC/dehumidifier units for emergencies.

The biggest problem we used to have were tenants that would turn the AC off when they went away in the summer and on their return turn it down to 60 so that the unit would freeze. It took a long time to convince them that it was costing them more money trying to cool down a closed up house with no AC than it was to simply turn the thermostat up when they left.

In Charlotte our county requires that if the outside temperature drops before 50 and the heat is out we must provide an alternate source of heat. If we offer AC and the outside temp exceeds 80 then we must provide alternate AC.

I have had 3 times when the AC when out on July 4th weekend with 90+ degrees and all of the supply houses were closed.

I offered to put them up in a hotel. Two declined and said they'd use the ceiling fans (we have them in every room) but one had a wife that had 3 open heart surgeries just in the time they'd been my tenants so I insisted that they go to a hotel.For those that opted out of a hotel I reduced their rent for that month.

I purchased 5 free standing AC/dehumidifier units for emergencies.

The biggest problem we used to have were tenants that would turn the AC off when they went away in the summer and on their return turn it down to 60 so that the unit would freeze. It took a long time to convince them that it was costing them more money trying to cool down a closed up house with no AC than it was to simply turn the thermostat up when they left.

No compensation if you respond immediately but there is a delay due to ordering parts or scheduling a repairman. You are fixing it as fast as you can.

You might want to check out FL LL tenant laws. They allow tenants to withhold rent if repairs aren't made in a timely manner. The examples given are leaks, heat and air.

I was involved after the a/c was fixed in a situation where the tenant went to court for the 4 days of -diminished value-, it looked kinda bad at the pre-trial but after doing the calculation the difference was 45bux lower rent times 4 days resulted in 4x1.50 or 6 bux, the clincher was she denied access to the inside where the t-stat for testing so the judge ruled in favor of the owner and she had to pay her 1400bux legal fees but was awarded half of the damages she went after.

Something to keep in mind when comparing personal residence issues with a rental: the tenant is paying to NOT have to deal with structure and major systems issues. So while we, as homeowners, can choose what and when we will repair in our own homes, we don't have that luxury in a rental property. We have to repair/replace major systems as soon as possible.

Since we don't have control over some repair time tables, offering alternatives is an option. Sometimes the alternative is just to let the tenant know it will be done as soon as possible. Sometimes offering an emergency AC/heater or two is the best choice.

I do not like offering reduced rent as the first option because with some tenants that might encourage "issues."

I did not compensate my tenants in any way a few years ago when the AC unit needed to be repaired and it took several days to get it done.

Thanks. The unit was replaced yesterday afternoon.

I hadn't thought of the tenant doing something to cause these compressor failures. I'd assumed it was the AC company's fault since the evaporator coil also had to be replaced years ago before this tenant moved in. I thought maybe the unit was a dud or the installation in 2010 was done wrong.

Usually when people here want to save money they'll keep the AC set at like 80 degrees (which this tenant does). I suppose someone could keep switching it on and off frequently in an effort to save money although that seems a bit odd. I have some with the 5 minute delay but I can't remember if this unit has that.

unless the tenant has a medical condition that requires it i would let them know it is on the schedule and they can look fwd to cool air ASAP. if they whine ask them what seems fair...maybe a few frosty beers is their idea of fair. if so toss 'em a $20. if they say more then consider that and send a change of terms of tenancy that has them paying for the repair of the AC. one more benefit of a month to month term

my lease has them repairing the AC and swamp cooler since they are the ones hammering them.