A Curbed reader emails his plight:
There was a fire that destroyed the second floor of my building and my landlord kicked my roommate and me out of our 4th floor apt (the rest of the building is empty) because they turned off the heat, water and power. They haven't been able to give us a definitive answer on when we can move back in, so I am obviously looking for a new place. What are my legal options with respect to the rent that I have already paid for March? Is there any sort of mandate where if your apt. becomes uninhabitable then you get your money back?The obvious answer seems to be that the landlord should be a solid dude and refund the money, but what are the actual rules pertaining to situations like this? Do leases have clauses about fires/disasters and what goes down if the place becomes uninhabitable? Let's hear it from the experts in the comments.