Meaning & use
rent abatement
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Meaning
nouncountable or uncountablelegalformal
A reduction in the amount of rent a tenant must pay, often because the property is in poor condition or the landlord has failed to make repairs.
Grammar: Can be used with 'a' or without an article: 'They asked for a rent abatement.' / 'The court granted rent abatement.'
Patterns
- ask for a rent abatement
- grant a rent abatement
- be entitled to a rent abatement
The tenants requested a rent abatement because the heating had been broken for a month.
After the flood, the landlord offered a small rent abatement as compensation.
The lease says you can claim rent abatement if repairs are not done within 30 days.
Common combinations
- request a rent abatement
- The tenants decided to request a rent abatement after the mold problem was ignored.
- grant a rent abatement
- The housing authority granted a rent abatement to the affected families.
- partial rent abatement
- They received a partial rent abatement for the months the elevator was out of service.
- full rent abatement
- In extreme cases, a court may order a full rent abatement.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rent reduction
- A more general term for any lowering of rent, not necessarily due to legal or habitability issues.
- rent relief
- Often used for temporary help, such as during a crisis, and may come from the government rather than the landlord.
Commonly confused: rent abatement or abatement?
rent abatement vs abatement
On its own, 'abatement' can mean ending or reducing something (like noise abatement), but 'rent abatement' specifically refers to rent.
Practice
The tenants asked for a rent abatement because the landlord refused to fix the leaking roof. What does 'rent abatement' mean here?
Choose one answer.
A rent abatement is a reduction in rent, often granted when the property has problems. It is not a payment from the landlord (that would be damages or compensation), nor an eviction or a new lease.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rent abatement”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.