Tenant Has Passed Away the First Week of Lease

[swanlee]

My question involves landlord-tenant law in the State of: GA

So I'm a new landlord of a house I own, my tenant passed away at another residence while completing the move in to my property. Items were moved into my house, utilities were removed from my name, lease agreement signed, security deposit and 1 months rent was given to me per my lease agreement. She did not die on my property and we literally signed the lease 3-4 days before she passed away.

No blood relatives are remaining for the tenant, An Ex husband and the daughter of the ex husband are the only ones claiming to have anything to do with the tenant.The daughter is not the daughter of the tenant. This just happened so they are not executors of her estate seems there is no named executors of her estate which complicates things and will draw things out longer.

Somehow the Ex husband got keys to the property and are looking through her items for a will. I'm not happy about that as this will cause a lot of problems. Yes he may end up being executor but as of now I see him as a trespasser, but if there is no other heirs do I have any liability for her items and the fact the ex husband now has access to her stuff? Still trying to find out how he got a key.

Do I change the locks now?
I've contacted the local medical office and they gave him the right to cremate and bury the body but nothing in their documents say he has a right to go through her items.

Now assuming he does become executor of her estate it might take a month or more for that to play out.

What rights do I have to some type of rent during this time from the estate? This assumes her items are held in the house.

When can I legally remove her items from my property so I can get it back on the market to rent out?

Who if anyone gets the security deposit?

If no executor is named what happens then?

I'm pretty disappointed in this scenario as my tenant was a very nice lady but I'm totally unsure what to do next.

The Ex Husband is the only one contacting me about her items and he seemed reasonable and wants to work out getting the executor status so the items can be moved. Is it in my best interest to work with him or do I just not speak with him and let lawyers and authorities handle it?

Right now my real estate agent is getting other legal help but I thought I'd get some advice before hand. What a way to become a landlord huh?

So as a landlord my main goal is to get the items out of the house and get the house back on the rental market asap so I'm not paying two mortgages.

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Anyone got any idea where I even need to start off with?

It looks like I have to go to court to terminate the lease, even though the person is deceased it seems my tenant is now the "Estate" of deceased person.

I'm confused about my options on getting the stuff removed and re renting my house.

If my tenant is the Estate of deceased but there is no executor yet, what am I supposed to do? It can take months for an executor to be appointed to the estate and if my property has to sit there and I'm paying double mortgage it will screw me up financially.

Looks like all the laws are geared toward protecting the tenant and as a landlord in situations like this I'm either out court fee's, time or am dealing with double mortgages.

There has to be something I can do to terminate the lease, legally remove the items from the house and get my house back on the market without costing me thousands of dollars and months of time.

[Mr. Knowitall]

You can't sue the estate without opening an estate. (An eviction is a type of lawsuit.) As a creditor, you can open an estate and ask the court to appoint an administrator, although obviously that puts an increased burden on you.

You will be able to make a claim for any rent owed against the estate.

The easiest resolution is normally to allow an heir to establish that he has the legal authority to act on behalf of the estate (e.g., show proof that he was appointed administrator / executor of the estate) and to allow that person to remove the tenant's property, then to make a claim for any additional rent owed or damages against the estate (or refund the owed balance of any deposit to the estate).

You can tell the ex-husband that he is free to enter the apartment once he's appointed administrator, but unless he can show that legal authority he needs to stay out.

[swanlee]

You can't sue the estate without opening an estate. (An eviction is a type of lawsuit.) As a creditor, you can open an estate and ask the court to appoint an administrator, although obviously that puts an increased burden on you.

You will be able to make a claim for any rent owed against the estate.

The easiest resolution is normally to allow an heir to establish that he has the legal authority to act on behalf of the estate (e.g., show proof that he was appointed administrator / executor of the estate) and to allow that person to remove the tenant's property, then to make a claim for any additional rent owed or damages against the estate (or refund the owed balance of any deposit to the estate).

You can tell the ex-husband that he is free to enter the apartment once he's appointed administrator, but unless he can show that legal authority he needs to stay out.

I'm not looking to sue the estate, I'm just looking to get items out of my house and get a new renter in ASAP. I wanted to make sure I was not doing anything wrong in the process.

Other problem is, no other living relatives at all at this point, no parents, no siblings, no children etc. I have a house full of stuff and a lease to a deceased person and the ex husband is the only person who even has any type of relationship with the deceased. No one else is going to claim the executor role of the estate he is not sure he even wants to, I called the probate court in my county and they said they can't give me any advice or help me so I have given up on that. That really irked me so sorry if my post is coming off wrong I'm a little peeved at the lack of options or guidance in the laws for this type of scenario which must have happened before. I talked to a local attorney and he advised me to just work with the Ex husband since he is the only one that has contacted me and he is the only person that might be considered next of kin. I can't really wait or rely on him to be executor of the estate that could take months.

The EX husband wants to pay rent until he can get the items out of the house. At this point regardless of his motivations that is all I have right now. I cannot have my property be used as a holding bin for a dead persons items while the state takes months to establish an estate for someone with no living relatives, it will financially cripple me to not have this property rented out in the next 2 months.

So my main concern is getting my house back on market, I will definitely adjust the lease terms to include this next time. Wow what a nightmare I can't believe a rental property could conceivably be held hostage by something unfortunate like a death.

[Mr. Knowitall]

Again, an eviction is a type of lawsuit. When somebody is deceased, you can no longer file a lawsuit against them - so to proceed with a lawsuit you need to sue their estate.

Your lawyer has advised you that if you don't want to jump through the necessary legal hoops, you can probably get by simply by allowing the ex- husband to do whatever he's doing. But I expect the lawyer has also told you that there is a risk in giving the estate's assets to somebody who has no legal authority to take those assets, and about the legal hoops involved in effecting an actual eviction.

If the ex- is paying the rent, you won't be financially crippled - you'll be getting the rent. If you want to try to avoid probate and eviction, subject to the caveats above, you can ask the ex- if he can have everything out inside of two months. Whatever else you decide, you can ask him to sign a guarantee of the rent for any months during which the apartment remains unavailable for a new tenant.

[swanlee]

Again, an eviction is a type of lawsuit. When somebody is deceased, you can no longer file a lawsuit against them - so to proceed with a lawsuit you need to sue their estate.

Your lawyer has advised you that if you don't want to jump through the necessary legal hoops, you can probably get by simply by allowing the ex- husband to do whatever he's doing. But I expect the lawyer has also told you that there is a risk in giving the estate's assets to somebody who has no legal authority to take those assets, and about the legal hoops involved in effecting an actual eviction.

If the ex- is paying the rent, you won't be financially crippled - you'll be getting the rent. If you want to try to avoid probate and eviction, subject to the caveats above, you can ask the ex- if he can have everything out inside of two months. Whatever else you decide, you can ask him to sign a guarantee of the rent for any months during which the apartment remains unavailable for a new tenant.

He has agreed to pay the rent until the end of June as that is when he expects to be able to have the house cleared of items, but that probably goes out the window if I tell him not to touch the items. If I tell him to go away get an executor paper which he is not sure he even wants to do, and can take 1-2 months already knowing that he is the only living next of kin and wait for the state to figure out what to do with the estate then I'm out months of rent, and then when or if anything gets established I have to go to court to fight for back rent which I can't afford. Getting back rent won't help me when paying double mortgages cripples me along the way.

While the EX may not currently have the legal right to the items, I don't have a right to them either and as of right now no one else on this planet is going to step up and become executor of her estate.

Why isn't the lease auto terminated when the person dies even if there was no clause? How can I have a binding contract with a deceased person? Why am I responsible for deciding who gets her items? I have nothing to do with her estate if anything there should be some state probate that would quickly remove the items and hold them until an heir steps forward but the local probate court told me to call a lawyer and they can't help me.

Nothing in the lease says who to give her items to in the event of death. Where is the protection as a landlord in a case like this where time = money? I'm not looking for back pay just the ability to utilize my owned property as a rental unit. Realistically why would I need to evict a deceased person? Seems a silly procedure to do in a case like this. It seems instead of creating laws in a case like this they just retro fitted existing laws to account for death.


From what you say along with what the local attorney says it sounds like I have leeway to handle this as I want given the fact that their are no relatives. I'm going to have to just work with him and get my property back on the market ASAP.

My only other questions is

Am I required by law to evict the deceased person before I can have a new lease with a new tenant?

[jk]

Why isn't the lease auto terminated when the person dies even if there was no clause?

because that is what the law requires.

Am I required by law to evict the deceased person before I can have a new lease with a new tenant?

the lease must be terminated either through the courts or by mutual consent between the parties involved. Since there is nobody to represent the estate in legal matters, you cannot negotiate a termination of the lease. That means you either wait or sue to evict (and that has been partially explained to you and why it is a problem).

Everybody understands your frustration at the situation. As a LL, why should you be put in this position when all you want is a tenant to pay you rent. We get it but any sympathy from those here doesn't change what the law requires.

[swanlee]

because that is what the law requires.

[/COLOR]
the lease must be terminated either through the courts or by mutual consent between the parties involved. Since there is nobody to represent the estate in legal matters, you cannot negotiate a termination of the lease. That means you either wait or sue to evict (and that has been partially explained to you and why it is a problem).

Everybody understands your frustration at the situation. As a LL, why should you be put in this position when all you want is a tenant to pay you rent. We get it but any sympathy from those here doesn't change what the law requires.

Thanks for the explanation

So without a terminated lease from a deceased person how does that effect a new lease I may acquire with a paying living person?

Let's say things go fine with the Ex. items are removed house is prepped for the next tenant, no one ever comes asking about her items since their is no family left. New lease is signed tenant stays living hopefully and pays rent.

Besides an unknown relative coming for me would state or rental property records reflect the unterminated lease and would that put me in legal trouble with the state?

If not at this point I simply can't go through the eviction process since their is no estate, no living relatives no one willing to be executor and wait for the state itself to come around and have the EX walk out on our current arrangement.

My next lease will include very specific verbiage about death, who gets items and lease termination in the event of a death.

[jk]

So without a terminated lease from a deceased person how does that effect a new lease I may acquire with a paying living person?

until the current lease is terminated, you cannot legally enter into a lease that allows occupancy to run concurrently. The estate has a right to demand the lease be continued. If the estate has no issue with your actions (illegally terminating the lease), then there will be no problems. The problem: there is nobody to speak on behalf of the estate at the moment.

The biggest issue I see is what happens with the property in the house. If you move it, you are liable for any damages to it. If something is lost, you are liable. Now, whether anybody would attempt to make such a claim or is in a position to know what is in the house, I have no idea. It would be a gamble.

Let's say things go fine with the Ex. items are removed house is prepped for the next tenant, no one ever comes asking about her items since their is no family left. New lease is signed tenant stays living hopefully and pays rent.

honestly, that is likely what would happen BUT if nobody opens probate (or a small estate administration), nobody has a right to act on behalf of the estate. If some person later opens probate or a small estate administration, you would have to answer to them for your actions.

Besides an unknown relative coming for me would state or rental property records reflect the unterminated lease and would that put me in legal trouble with the state?

the only real issue is if the estate is injured by your actions. Other than that, nobody would have a problem with you unilaterally terminating the lease because there would be nobody to complain or have standing to take any action against you.

If not at this point I simply can't go through the eviction process since their is no estate, no living relatives no one willing to be executor and wait for the state itself to come around and have the EX walk out on our current arrangement.

the state is not going to initiate a probate action. Things will set as they are forever if nobody takes some action.

You say the ex is hesitant about opening probate. While it is still probate, many states have what is called a small estate administration. It is like probate light. I do not know really anything about the situation in GA but I would suggest you or the ex looking into it. It might allow everything to be settled with much less work.

[swanlee]

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated

At this point I'm willing to take the Risk on the items in the house since the only living kin is the person I'm currently working with.

My real estate agent is going to have her lawyers draft a new lease for future tenants with provisions in it about death, lease being terminated and who is to get the items after the fact.

[swanlee]

Just to update things for future reference

I am not having to evict the deceased person, since the deceased person cannot pay rent, and cannot fulfill their obligations to her lease, like having utilities on, and having the backyard mowed every two weeks I have terminated the lease because deceased has defaulted on our lease agreement. So that takes care of the lease part.

As far as the items goes Ga has a 30 day abandonment law, items on my property are mine after 30 days if no one with a legal right to them claims them. So that is going to allow me to do what I want with her items. Also in the lease it stipulates in a default situation if not claimed her items are mine and that if she defaults I'm not allowed to be sued later down the line.

So the combination of a defaulted lease and 30 day abandonment law covers me to do what I want.

Didn't think about the fact that because she is deceased she has defaulted on the terms of the lease we agreed to but she obviously cannot meet those terms now.