Tenant passed away, family hasn't clear the house 45 days after

[Jeremy Anan]

Hello BP - Hope all are doing great. I am reaching out to have your input. I last communicated with my tenant in early June; he was doing okay. He last paid his June rent on June 6. After not receiving his July rent payment (totally unusual from him not to pay on time), I was in his area and decided to stop by the house because he wasn't answering any calls/texts. When I arrived there, after knocking hard for a while with no answer, I kept calling his phone while at the door. His daughter finally answered his phone, I introduced myself and she told me that her dad suddenly passed away on June 25.

The wife called us about 6 months ago to have her remove from the lease because they were splitting. The house was now occupied by the dad and one daughter; only the dad was on the lease.

The daughter promised to remove everything from the house by last Friday (AUG 5). She was hoping that her mom and another sister will join her. They didn't. She only got help from a neighbor (who is also our tenant). Yesterday, I entered the house and it is quite full of their belongings. The sister who informed me of the death is quite active; she rented a U-Haul, removed all her items from the house and gave her keys to the neighbor so they can be return to me.

I also finally spoke to the "ex wife" yesterday, she was very polite and simply wants more time. No one is paying rent. 

45 days after the death of the lease holder, the house is still full of personal items?

What should I do? Thanks as always for the input.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Jeremy Anan:

I'm surprised you don't know the answer as a Property Manager. I spent two minutes searching Google and found that Baltimore code has some guidance (Baltimore City Code, Article 13, § 8A), but Maryland doesn't really address it. 

Many States leave fail to address this, so it's up to you to figure out what's fair and right. My recommendation, reach out to the family members one more time and ask them if they intend to remove the items or abandon them. If they claim they will remove them, tell them they have one week and they need to pay the unpaid balance of rent for up through the day of removal. If they don't respond, don't pay, or don't want to remove anything, then you haul it off and dispose of it as you see fit. If there are items of value, you sell them to recoup your losses. If it's junk, you take it to the landfill. If it's something of sentimental value, you can try to forward it to the family, but I wouldn't bother if the daughter didn't find it important enough to take with her.

I suspect you have a bunch of old guy stuff that nobody cares about and it can all go to the landfill.