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Anyone know how California law works with regard to breaking a rental agreement if there is an extended power outage that effects the area? I have a vacation rental home. My contract says no refund for things that are beyond my control such as power outages. No refunds for down time while the city is trying to get the power back on. Does that even hold up in court? Are they entitled to a pro-rated refund for downtime or can they even break the entire rental agreement for remaining time?
We've never had a power outage last more than 6 hours but I wonder about the legal ramifications if there was a long power outage.
If that were the case then every rental property in the whole outage area would owe their tenant's refunds or allow everyone to break their leases. That would be insane.
If your particular building alone had some kind of a power outage that would be a possibility because that would be your responsibility however, not a whole area outage that is the city or power company's responsibility and beyond your control. That would mean the same thing could be said during a storm or any natural disaster that knocks the power out. Tell them to 'try' suing the city.
I honestly have no idea if CA has any wacky laws that may allow it but I highly doubt it.
We've never had a power outage last more than 6 hours but I wonder about the legal ramifications if there was a long power outage.
I would think if you had a power outage lasting longer than 6 hours there is a legit reason for it. Typhoon? EarthQuake? EMP attack? Etc. The reason for the power outage might fall under the "beyond their control" scenario.
Taking a vacation might be the least of your worries.
Up here in the Northeast, the only time power is out for more than 4-5 hours if if there is some sort of natural disaster like a major blizzard/ice storm or hurricane.
Anyone know how California law works with regard to breaking a rental agreement if there is an extended power outage that effects the area? I have a vacation rental home. My contract says no refund for things that are beyond my control such as power outages. No refunds for down time while the city is trying to get the power back on. Does that even hold up in court? Are they entitled to a pro-rated refund for downtime or can they even break the entire rental agreement for remaining time?
We've never had a power outage last more than 6 hours but I wonder about the legal ramifications if there was a long power outage.
Why would the owner of the rental property be liable for a citywide power outage?
They wouldn't. Usually areas with power outages have a history of such . I know before we bought our home in the pocono's we checked out the history in that respect .
Longest were only a partial day. We did have a memorial day weekend once where a really intense storm took 2 full days while we were there. We ended up going home and just barely.
I usually fill up before leaving . I never imagined a storm like this making gas unavailable. We couldn't get gas until 20 miles away . It was pretty scarey just driving in hopes of finding a place with power
Just a suggestion: If you have a vacation rental in an area that has power outages, invest in a decent generator.
Either take it over and set it up yourself, or have your manager take care of it for you.
Blackout on vacation can be a little adventure as long as a few lights work and the refrigerator doesn't go out.
Ive got rentals in an area that can get very cold. All of my rentals have at least one heat source that doesn't require any electricity to keep the house warm. If your rental is in a cold area, it should have either a wood stove and firewood, or else a propane heat system that does not have an electric ignition, and a propane tank that is kept full.
Things in the Refrigerator can stay cold for hours IF you don't keep opening it. We had a power outage for 10 hours last summer, Did not know a thing about it. Came home with a month supply of groceries! 1 hour after it went out!
After the Northridge quake it took about 5 days to get the power back on in some areas.
after hurricane sandy we took weeks in some areas . it took 3 weeks just to get the gas stations pumping again .
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