What to do when tenant dies in your unit

[Andres Ortiz]

I'm sure this is the post that everyone dreads.  I just had a tenant die in a rental unit last night.  She was an Eden tenant who recently ran out of funding, so I reached out to them.  Does anyone know the procedure for getting possession back and clearling out the unit?

[Devin De Lange]

Hi Andres,

First of all, I'm sorry to hear this happened to you. It's a lot to handle on all fronts. 

I found a few interesting resources on this (linked below), and they all seem to summarize the same main steps:

1. Secure a notification of death from a family member or lawyer

2. Secure the property

3. Handle closing out the lease and remaining rents

4. Cleaning out the property - the designated next-of-kin and executor will be responsible for removing and dispersing the deceased tenant’s belongings before the lease period is over.

Unfortunately, it does look like this can be a long process and patience will be needed as you will be dealing with an estate. 

Link 1

Link 2

I hope this helps!