My tenant is dying... what would you do?

Question

Okay, so one of my tenants (My oldest, longest, and most loved tenant), an elderly lady, went into the hospital at the end of December for surgery. She told me her January rent might be late a few days because of it.

Well, she had complications from it, never came home, and now is in a coma and expected to pass away in the next day or two.

So, while I'm sad cause she was an awesome lady and my best tenant, I'm also looking for advice from a landlord standpoint.  Please, don't mistake this as being rude or uncaring, but I'm just trying to know what others have done in this situation.

Who cleans out her stuff? She has no family nearby, just one daughter across the country. The tenant likely has no money (she's been on social security.) Do I need to?  What about rent? I'm sure I'll never see any of the late rent, which is fine. But what about from this point forward? I can't evict, I'm sure. But what do I do, especially if the daughter doesn't move her stuff out?

What would your next steps be?

Thanks all!

Brandon Hicks · Answer

Whoa...Slow down on donating ANYTHING at this point. Talk with the daughter and document everything. Talk to an attorney as well. If it were me I would try to negotiate with the daughter to forgive the back rent and give them 2-3 weeks to get it cleared out or negotiate for you to be able to move everything out to a storage unit that the daughter pays for. I would take several videos of the items in the apartment to document what was there.

Its a touchy subject for sure. Keep us posted and good luck!

Jason A. · Answer

Hi Brandon,

That did happen to me -- twice. In both cases, someone from the family stepped forward to handle affairs. So, you definitely should contact the daughter immediately and have a talk with her. Even from a distance, nowadays it would not be that difficult for her to coordinate resources to get just about anything done (as long she is willing to spend a little $). If you are friendly with the family, you could offer to help in this regard.

You'll probably want to know who her heirs are and who is specified as the executor of her estate because you probably will have to go after the estate for the unpaid rent balance and any other costs (assuming you don't have a deposit from her). Don't assume she is destitute. You would be surprised at the number of people who live in apparent poverty who have (or at death leave behind) substantial assets. Depending on the state, there is usually a time limit to make a claim against an estate. The probate court may also have a special form for this purpose.  Even if she is destitute, someone in the family will usually take some responsibility and/or try to work out some kind of agreement with you.

Just some thoughts. Most of my elderly tenants were among my very best tenants and I hated to lose them. Of course, there were exceptions -- stories best left for another day.

Michele Fischer · Answer

Brandon,

When we rent to anyone who is the only adult, we add the following clause and have them add a name, address, and phone:

In the event of abandonment, arrest or death, the following person has the authority to decide when to terminate tenancy and how to store/distribute my belongings:

May be something to consider, then you can talk about their wishes before it comes up.  Is this the lady renting at the Kurt Cobain house?

Bummer...

Jon Russell · Answer

I have had to do this once with a tenant I inherited in a 4-plex I bought from a bank...

In your case I would take a 2-pronged approach. Contact the daughter emphasizing you are not after money, just looking for some guidance as to what to do with her mothers things.

Secondly, I would proceed with the legal eviction process via our states abandonment laws.  My recollection is that you are responsible for removing personal items and storing them for 45 days before dispensing.  I think you can put a lien against the estate for your costs (including past rent), but I would probably just be thankful for a great past tenant and write these expenses off.

FYI:  4 years later, I still have a box of this guys very personal items in my basement.  Letters to/from Vietnam, his Engineering degree certificate from UW, birth certificate, family pictures, etc. just in case someone from his family contacts me.

Tough situation.  Good Luck!

Joel Owens · Answer

Another thing I didn't think about until now.

Would you only want to give the executor access to her property inside the unit once she passes?? What if you gave the family access from a certain member and things went missing??

This has a lot of problems that can pop up and you have to be careful how to proceed.

The attorney even if you are not filing eviction would likely have some very good points and direction as they have ran into this many times.

Karen Margrave · Answer

Definitely contact the daughter, and have her email you something, signed, indicating what she wants to do. You don't want to move her stuff, because there could be something of sentimental value that gets lost. Even though you think she has no money, you could be surprised.

Years ago, I lived on the outskirts of town, and when I'd drive my VW Bus into town. there was an old man in a black wool coat (it could be 100 outside, still the same) he had long gray hair (he looked like a character on Laugh In) and he'd be hitchhiking. I'd pick him up and he'd have me drop him at the Greyhound Bus Depot where he'd hang out for the day. Several months later, after having done that routine many times, the sheriffs found his body, in his one room cabin, and in it were coffee cans filled with hundreds of thousands of dollars! You just never know! (Now I know this story gives away my age, but ... thought it was worth sharing) Here's the Laugh In character.

Brandon Turner · Answer

Thanks everyone, this is some great advice. I'll probably hold off doing anything until she passes. I'll keep you all notified!

Marcia Maynard · Answer

@Brandon Turner

My condolences. It is difficult to see our favorite tenants depart.

Here is a link to another BP discussion about preparation for death of a tenant. Perhaps you could glean some more ideas here.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1079...

I wouldn't assume that the daughter has any legal rights or obligations to her mother's estate. Your tenant may or may not have a will or trust. If she dies intestate, there will be a process to determine the disposition of her belongings. Washington State landlord-tenant law does not provide guidance as to what to do when a tenant dies, so it will be up to the estate's executor to resolve this with you. Do check with your attorney, but being from the same state, I would think you could regain possession of the unit via abandonment procedures (see RCW59.18.310) and there would be no need to go the more costly and time consuming eviction route.

Here is a link to an article from the Seattle Times from awhile back, that gives some more insight about how to handle rent due and security deposits after a tenant dies.

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/elizabethrho...

Phillip Trenk · Answer

Tough one, I have no experience with anything even remotely connected to this situation but if you contact the daughter I would recommend presenting it from the angle that she is/was a wonderful tenant and you want to insure the security of her mothers possessions while the property is vacant Etc. ask how you can "help out" maybe suggest local resources (movers, self storage)

Good Luck,

Lauren Frost · Answer

Very tough situation - I had a great tenant who very unfortunately got into a bad car accident and was in the hospital for months (and couldn't pay the rent). He was a great guy, but I had to go through the eviction proceedings to legally take back possession of the property in his absence for the sake of making sure the house didn't get damaged or vandalized. He understood that I had to do it and I gave him plenty of notice so that his family could get his belongings before eviction day. Obviously with your tenant being in a coma, you don't have the same luxury I did but hopefully you can still contact the family to collect her belongings. Most leases say that the lease become void in the case of a death of the tenant, so if that is the case then you probably wouldn't have to evict.

You definitely want to get the utilities switched to your name immediately to make sure the heat stays on and try to go to the property to make sure its secure.

My tenant is dying... what would you do?

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