Single tenant passed away..proper procedure?

Question

A few weeks ago I'd received a call from a man informing me that my tenant (his mother) had just passed away unexpectedly. I confirmed this with the local police department as well. The tenant was an older woman who lived alone but had children and grandchildren living nearby. Apparently they have access to the property and were the ones to discover her deceased when they went to visit. The son did not say whether he was the executor of the estate or anything like that but did promise to remove all of her things and clean the unit within a month. I did not grant explicit permission of entry but as stated it did sound like she had provided a key to her family and I was hopeful that everything would be taken out without me needed to get involved much.

I had not heard anything so I visited the property to ensure the heat was on now that it's getting cold and whether her items had been removed and it didn't appear that anything had really been removed or changed since other then some documents laid out on the bed. I was also worried about items in the fridge, etc.

She was a good tenant who always paid on time and it is an unfortunate situation all around but I'm wondering how I can best deal with this situation to ensure that I'm following the legal guidelines of my state (Minnesota) while also minimizing financial losses. I did not receive November rent of course and even if the unit was completely emptied and cleaned so that I could start trying to re-rent today I'd miss out on at least 1 additional month and most likely 2 additional months to re-rent and find a qualified tenant. This is thankfully the first time I've had a situation like this but not one I'd really planned for so I'm asking for advice on the best path forward as I can see this adding up to a substantial amount for me and I have a feeling there may be a lot more work involved to clean out the unit and the remaining property.

Reading the MN state law it does appear that the fixed term lease is still in effect even if the tenant passes but I would be satisfied with covering my expenses for cleaning, utilities, any storing of property, and the months it takes to re-rent the unit. How would you proceed?

Tim Miller · Answer

First thing is to change the locks. Then you need to check the state and county law on how to handle a deceased tenant. In Maryland we have to file for an eviction and there is a box to check, Tenant deceased.

Next you need to find out who is the legal executor of the tenant estate. This is the only person that you should be allowing access to this unit. If the tenant didn't have a will then a family member needs to go to court and be appointed to be executor. The last thing you want is to be in the middle of a family fight over the very precious and one of a kind whatever items.

You may need to file for an eviction to get legal control of the unit back and to push the family to either do something or lose everything. Good Luck.

James Hamling · Answer

@Kyle Kipka The process is very similar to if tenant abandon's the unit.

You will have to secure item's, make efforts to contact/locate executor, serve notice for items and financials, and follow the same actions of can't locate etc..

I suggest contacting county to confirm and/or get death certificate.

The heir's may be ghosting you, or they may just be overwhelmed. hard to say which it is, but regardless you need to defend your business and move forward in a business like manner. I have seen families take month's on end and even years to clear out a place if afforded such luxury.

Lookup the procedures for abandoned unit and follow that, with the obvious modifiers of course.

And if get stuck with a unit full of "stuff" I suggest use of an auction house. I generally negotiate a deal where it's 50% commission, off-site, they remove everything and that's also a term, they take EVERYTHING no cherry picking, EVERYTHING leaving me a broom clean empty place.

Kaycee Miller · Answer

What an unfortunate situation. My sympathies to the family of the deceased and my best wishes to you as you navigate this sensitive issue. You need to continue communication with the family that originally contacted you. Let them know that they are still responsible for rent on the property for the remainder of the lease, but you are open to ending the lease early once the belongings have been cleared.  You can let them know how much security deposit is held for the property and that can be used to clean the property if they release possession and agree to end the lease early. You might also check with your insurance , some landlord insurances policies cover lost-rent, and I am not sure if that includes tenant death, but couldn't hurt to check. Good luck!

James Hamling · Answer

It varies, depends on the dollar amount's "in-play" and how friendly/difficult the estate/heir's are being.

You have a lease in place, that roll's over to the "estate of". Generally one connects with the family and ask's who is the executor or acting as executor. Often times a tenant's family won't have an executor or even know what that is, you explain person in charge of everything, but be sure to ask how many siblings and if they are all in agreement or not.

If it's little $, I just connect with all heir's, and simply talk it out, make agreement, set deadlines etc.. Keep it simple right.

Kyle Kipka · Answer

I worry you might be right regarding the situation and best course of action. Should I call and ask if her son will be acting as the executor or is there another way to find out? And who do I make the notice for payment too?

Is this something that's relatively easy for a first timer to figure out and navigate the process or is this a situation where it could make sense to hire an attorney? I'm just worried about it dragging on much longer or if the son (whom I assume is the executor) doesn't respond or take care of financials, property, etc..

Single tenant passed away..proper procedure?

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