Thoughts on an unheard of rent situation

[Daniel Travis]

I have read a ton about owning income property and I am always reading more. I bought my first SFR out of state last year and things are going well. I am vocal with the people around me about my passion for real estate investing. Because of that I was approached by someone who was in a very unique situation. It was unimaginable to me. I researched the issue and couldn’t find any answers because it’s just unheard of. So I wanted to check with you smart people. What are the tenants responsibilities when a landlord stops cashing rent checks? That’s right, since the the beginning of the year property owner hasn’t cashed a single check. The owner is elderly and is in failing health. Can his family demand the back rent? Can the family evict based on failure to pay? I’d love to hear thoughts on the issue. Daniel

[Lynn McGeein]

Not a lawyer, no legal advice,  but common sense would state that, from the tenant's side, if the checks aren't cashed, the tenant should still have all rent funds in their account and should be ready for landlord to cash them at any time.  They also should have been sending them priority mail or some way of tracking to prove timely payments once they noticed the checks weren't being cashed .   From the landlord's family side, they should be taking over his finances,cashing the back checks, setting up a direct bank transfer in the future, and working something out with the tenant to cover rents due if the checks have expired.    I had a Section 8 tenant at one point where she mailed me a small check for her portion each month, and sometimes I didn't deposit for 3-4 months because everything else was direct deposit and I lived out of state from my bank at the time.   She knew it in advance, though.