Landlords demand rent on flooded Houston homes

Re:Landlords demand rent on flooded Houston homes by bdcravens on Tuesday September 05, 2017 @12:42AM (#15172588)

"Under the Texas property code, if a rental premises is “totally unusable” due to an external disaster then either the landlord or tenant can terminate the lease through written notice. But if the property is “partially unusable” because of a disaster, a tenant may only get a reduction in rent determined by a county or district court."

However, there's not a provision for living rent-free; only lease termination or rent-reduction.

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Re:Landlords demand rent on flooded Houston homes by lovich on Wednesday September 06, 2017 @05:07PM (#15187146)

So would a state ordered evacuation count a unliveable? I don't see how one arm of the government would be able to say that everyone in an area needs to leave while another arm can state that the premises are liveable and pretend that they are using any sort of logic

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Re:Landlords demand rent on flooded Houston homes by bdcravens on Wednesday September 06, 2017 @06:51PM (#15187778)

Not mutually exclusive. Evacuations are typically due to imminent risk, not necessarily that the housing is unlivable once that risk passes. An evacuation can even be ordered when the house sustains no damage, as a precautionary measure. Evacuation != condemned property.

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Re:Landlords demand rent on flooded Houston homes by lovich on Friday September 08, 2017 @01:28AM (#15198079)

That is true, but if the government orders you to no longer be in that area then you are legally unable to live in it, correct? On whose side does the damage fall when this occurs in Texas is my question. The tenant who has to pay rent for a good they can no longer use, or the landlord whose investment can no longer make money

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