california ,, tenant dies horader

[Greg C]

my tenant dies,,,, his place is packed with lots of stuff some valuable stuff most of it is trash, cars motorcycles etc mostly old broken apart vehicles,, contacted the daughter told her the month to month rent is paid for feb and  ends

march 1st ,,,, she is young and i dont think has the ability to move out truck loads of stuff,, what happens in march 1 when the place is still full of stuff, what do i do can i rent a dumpster and start dumping,, what is the law for this in calif any one know ? thanks

[Sarah Ziehr]

Put her in touch with a 800-GotJunk type of service and also someone who runs an Ebay/estate sale company. 

The estate sale people can come and take away anything of value and sell it for her on Ebay, Etsy or another marketplace. The other company will haul it away and either donate it or landfill. 

Ask her if she has a friend who is local who can help. 

Lastly, have a little patience and empathy for someone who lost a parent and needs to dispose of their belongings. 

[David Dachtera]

Another option you might pursue...

One of my investment group leaders recently purchased a such a home. Not a hoarder house, but brimming with actual furnishings and belongings. He offered to buy both the home and its contents thus saving the heirs the cost of clean out and disposal. After the heirs took what they wanted, he loaded 5 box trucks and a minivan to furnish some of his other holdings (he's REALLY into historic restoration!), and still had enough stuff left for three "estate" sales and a garage sale. I'm told he made around $35,000 on the contents of the house after expenses. FMV on the house is around $650K, I think.

David J Dachtera

"Success is not a destination. Failure is not an event. Success is a process, failure is a choice."
- DJ Benedict

[Katrina Edwards]

For a property in California, you need to be careful how/when you dispose of personal property.  Best bet would be to get a release from the daughter (if she is in control of the estate) saying she has removed all items she would like to keep and that you are authorized to dispose of the remaining personal property.

If you cannot get a response from her or whoever controls the estate, the first step is to post a notice of belief of abandonment.  After the 18 days expires, you can then either have a sale or dispose of the items (depends on value). If the estimated value is over $700, then you need to have a sale.

You can move the items to storage and charge them for storage, if need be before the sale.

Best to have a professional give the estimate of value.  Lots of folks out there do liquidations.  Estate sale folks, etc. 

See these links:

http://www.aoausa.com/forms_member/145_Notice_Of_B...

http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/notice_of_belie...

It's never fun when someone passes away.  Especially if there are special circumstances like yours.  Work with the heirs gently and be mindful of the laws protecting tenants and their property in California. 

Don't forget to disclose the death to renters and buyers if the tenant died in the house.  You'll need to do that for the next three years if he passed away in the home.  Consult your attorney for disclosure verbiage depending on how he died if he died in the house.

Good luck to you and keep us updated on what happens.

[Jeff B.]

Originally posted by @Katrina Edwards:

For a property in California, you need to be careful how/when you dispose of personal property.  Best bet would be to get a release from the daughter (if she is in control of the estate) saying she has removed all items she would like to keep and that you are authorized to dispose of the remaining personal property.

If you cannot get a response from her or whoever controls the estate, the first step is to post a notice of belief of abandonment.  After the 18 days expires, you can then either have a sale or dispose of the items (depends on value). If the estimated value is over $700, then you need to have a sale.

You can move the items to storage and charge them for storage, if need be before the sale.

Best to have a professional give the estimate of value.  Lots of folks out there do liquidations.  Estate sale folks, etc. 

See these links:

http://www.aoausa.com/forms_member/145_Notice_Of_B...

http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/notice_of_belie...

It's never fun when someone passes away.  Especially if there are special circumstances like yours.  Work with the heirs gently and be mindful of the laws protecting tenants and their property in California. 

Don't forget to disclose the death to renters and buyers if the tenant died in the house.  You'll need to do that for the next three years if he passed away in the home.  Consult your attorney for disclosure verbiage depending on how he died if he died in the house.

Good luck to you and keep us updated on what happens.

 BINGO!! Anything left on/in the unit becomes Abandoned Property and *MUST* be handled as such.  Get the relative to provide PROOF of kinship and entice with

 "there's lots of valuable stuff left here.  Come take it all and I'll help with the transportation costs".

Make'm take all or nothing and anti-up a couple of 100s just to be done with it.  Get a signed receipt for all "abandoned property received".

[Fred Dray]

Hmm, we've gone over this a few times in our property mgr training sessions and it seems you have to store items for 30-days if their estate or trustee does not claim.   After that point, not sure you can keep or profit from sale of items.  Think it has to be donated to charity.

Be interesting to see how CA law treats this.  I did a quick google search and only found info on storage after eviction.  I think everyone gives you good advice about filing for abandonment. 

Sorry to learn this has happened. 

[Fred Dray]

I should know the answer to this and didn't.  Bothered me enough that I did more searching for CA law.   Still no definitive instructions, but I did find this

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/landlord-rights-event...

I would do as they suggest, if the daughter removes anything, take pictures or at least document items.   And my instinct tells me you just shouldn't give key and let someone take everything.   The court/will should define an estate mgr and they decides what happens with stuff...as the link suggests.

Definitely don't discard anything until you get some kind of official statement.

Please let us know what you find out and what actions you take.

[Gina C.]

We had a tenant that passed away and out of common courtesy, we extended the move out time. We wrote the lost rent off.

[Rick H.]

Same CA 21 Day and over $300 value law applies.

Photograph and document with reason. 

Most items of interest will be keepsakes, not valuables. 

You'll feel really good about helping the daughter later when you look back at the situation.

[Benjamin Tighe]

An investor I know purchased a property as is. The place had tons of stuff, i.e. furniture, random items... They had either an auctioneer or estate sale company (dont recall) come through and ended up making a few hundred bucks, as opposed to losing on the dump fees. I don't know about the legal side of your issue but my approach would be talk to the daughter, explain that you need the place emptied and rented, and offer your resources to help her move what matters and dump the rest. Losing your parents sucks (lost both before I was 35) and a little help and empathy can go a long ways. Like mentioned before, you'll feel better in the end. Like my boss and father in law both tell me, "its only money, go make more."

hope this helps,

Ben