Tenant Has Passed Away the First Week of Lease

jk · 06-10-2012, 11:18 AM

swanlee;624853]

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.

NNOOOOO!!!!

actually, you cannot unilaterally terminate a lease. The actions, or actually lack of allowed you to issue a cure or quit notice and if not cured, you would then have the right to initiate eviction proceedings and then we are right back to evicting the estate issue.

If nobody argues about your action, then you win but if something happens, you now have an illegal eviction.

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.

cconcerning an estate is going to change the issue. I haven't looked but most stated require certain actions be taken before you can take the property as well.

So that is going to allow me to do what I want with her items.

good luck with that. I surely wouldn't want to be you if anybody with a right challenges your actions in the future.

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.

all I can say is:

good luck. I hope it works out well for you.

**swanlee** · 06-10-2012, 01:28 PM

Quoting jk

NNOOOOO!!!!

actually, you cannot unilaterally terminate a lease. The actions, or actually lack of allowed you to issue a cure or quit notice and if not cured, you would then have the right to initiate eviction proceedings and then we are right back to evicting the estate issue.

If nobody argues about your action, then you win but if something happens, you now have an illegal eviction.

cconcerning an estate is going to change the issue. I haven't looked but most stated require certain actions be taken before you can take the property as well.

good luck with that. I surely wouldn't want to be you if anybody with a right challenges your actions in the future.

all I can say is:

good luck. I hope it works out well for you.

Well she has defaulted on SEVERAL conditions of our lease, the utilities were not turned on in her name, the lawn has not been mowed within two weeks among several other conditions of this nature. The items were very specific in the lease that if not met would result in a default of the lease. I have sent a registered letter to her previous residence stating because of these defaults I'm terminating the lease. The lease says if these issues are not cured within 3 days of receipt of the letter then the lease is terminated. This isn't an eviction this is a lease termination the lease has it stated what I must do to terminate the lease. The lease states what procedures I must take to terminate the lease which was a registered letter to the person's previous address if they are not occupying my property.

The problem is their is no estate, their is never going to be an estate, the only living person to even acknowledge her existence is an EX husband he says he is not going to even try and get an estate setup for her. And he is the person the items are going to go to. I'm not going to go through months of legal wrangling to get an estate created for a person I have no relationship with other than tenet\landlord just so I can evict them and then try and sue the estate for back rent. The person died and left their items on my property and after 30 days the state considers them abandoned since no one with a legal right to those items has claimed them.

Their is no need for an eviction since they violated our lease agreement and I have gone through what the lease states as the proper process to term the lease based on lease violations. Plus the person obviously does not exist anymore and neither does an estate for them or heirs to an estate.

Default on the lease + 30 day abandonment law covers my needs here. A lawyer and a my real estate agent agree this is the course of action to be taken as the alternative is not reasonable and not legally necessary in my state since I'm covered by the 30 day abandonment law,

On the flip side is it REALLY reasonable for the law to hold my house hostage?

I could not imagine what would happen to a landlord in this situation when there are actually heirs and they are fighting over the right to the estate. The rental unit becomes a storage place for a deceased person and the landlord is out tons of money in the process.

**Mr. Knowitall** · 06-10-2012, 01:54 PM

Look, if you want to ignore everything you're told and go ahead and act illegally, nobody here wants to argue with you. You are free to ignore us and act instead on the advice of a local lawyer, or ignore us and see if you end up digging yourself into a deep hole. Time will tell.

**swanlee** · 06-10-2012, 02:17 PM

Quoting Mr. Knowitall

Look, if you want to ignore everything you're told and go ahead and act illegally, nobody here wants to argue with you. You are free to ignore us and act instead on the advice of a local lawyer, or ignore us and see if you end up digging yourself into a deep hole. Time will tell.

There is nothing illegal about me terminating the lease based on conditions that cannot be cured, their is no estate, their is no living heirs or blood relatives, the conditions of the lease allows me to terminate it based on items when they are not met which they have not been. Leases can be terminated legally, which is what I have done, I've met the conditions of the lease which allows for me to terminate it.

If their were heirs or an estate or an executor this would not be an issue but their is none so I've taken my right to terminate the lease and deal with her abandoned items as the law allows. The lease is termed and the items have been abandoned on my property.

I'd like to see some one come back an a year or so and claim they have a right to her items, I should have been contacted by now by someone, the only contact was by the Ex husband and in talking with her real estate agent and him their is not another living soul who has any relation at all to her so this is what I'm left with.