Tenant Found Dead In Unit... I Would Appreciate Some Advice.

[Joel Florek]

Hello BP, 

This is a tough subject and I am looking for some help from my peers on BP about how to best handle the situation. 

I just had my manager call and let me know one of my tenants passed. Supposedly the son had been calling their elderly mother the past few days and was not getting an answer. He stopped over and asked our manager to check on the unit with him and found her... Their guess is she has probably been dead for a few days based on the smell in the unit. 

My first question is clean up. I dont know the extent of the damage as I am out of state and didnt feel that was right to press questions on my manager given this just happened. I wanted to provide my verbal support and give everyone time to deal with the situation. After the authorities take the body and finish anything else needed I want to be sure that there are going to be no future health risks for other tenants so proper cleaning is in order. Does anyone have experience with this or can point me to some good resources to understand the process?

The next question is tough for me. I dont want to sound insensitive but it is a concern and I am hoping to get others opinions. The son, a doctor, signed the lease and pays for the mother. Moving forward there will be an extensive professional cleaning required, replacing flooring, and the time it takes to get that done even though she is no longer living there. I would assume the unit would not be ready until January 1 at least. All of that will rack up $2k to $3k in expenses. Technically the son is required to cover all damages since he signed the lease. I know he is in a financial situation where the expense is not an issue, but morally I feel a sense of responsibility to cover some of the costs out of respect. 

Part of me says that I would ask him to cover Decembers rent, the professional cleaning and a portion of the carpet. I would cover the other portion and not require him to continue paying any rent after December 31. 

Again, I am not trying to sound insensitive, but I have a family to support and this real estate is how I do that so I have my daughter and fiancee to keep in mind as well. 

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you,

Joel