(Update) Another Tenant died...and then two more!

[Nathan Gesner]

I received a call from concerned neighbors. This Tenant normally goes for walks every day. Nobody has seen him for three days, his lights are on, and his truck has not moved. I go over for a welfare check and find him face down in his workout room. It appears he was working out with dumbbells and just dropped dead. He was 77 years old and a very happy, active guy.

The point of this post is to remind everyone to have a plan in case a renter is deceased or even incarcerated. This is my second renter to die in two months and the sixth one in two years. Who do you call? Who should you allow into the rental to remove belongings? What do you do if rent or utilities are owed?

Build a plan before it is needed.

[Mike Reynolds]

Originally posted by @Frank Rolfe:

When someone dies in a home, the first step (as discussed here at length) is to know the laws of your state with great specificity. All of the answers on here are pretty accurate, but I wanted you to know about one special rule that you don't want to fun afoul of in your state, if it's a part of your state's law.

In some states, even the dead person has no known heirs to claim their personal property, you are still required to box up and store anything that is "irreplaceable" such as photo albums, trophies, etc. until such time as a family member may claim them. This statute typically has an end time of around 6 months or so. So once you obtain possession of the home through abandoned property action, you can't just throw everything into the dumpster. Instead, you have to sort through every item and decide whether it's household in nature (cleaners, clothes, etc.) or of "family importance" such as photos, certificates, etc. You then box those items up and store them in a secured storage locker for a set amount of time to see if anyone comes forward to claim them.

That being said, you can get pretty aggressive about it to save yourself the cost of the storage. I once had a resident die and nobody came forward to claim their estate. Then another resident told me that they had a sister who lived in town but hated them. I called the sister and they told me that they hated the deceased individual and wanted nothing to do with them, so I boxed up all the important items and had them delivered directly to her so she could decide what to save and what to discard (even all of it if that's what she wanted) so that I didn't have to pay the $100 per month storage fee.

The bottom line is that we live in a very litigious society where everyone is always looking for a lawsuit and you need to know all the special requirements in the very real scenario of a resident dying. Your state mobile home association (MHA) will have a lot of information on this, as will a Google search. 

 Thanks Frank, That's great info. 

[Clifton Coffman]

I have dealt with this. First, your responsibility is to the tenant/estate. All belongings are property of the estate. Change the locks and DO NOT allow people in and out unless they are the executor of the estate. Trash all the refrigerator/freezer food and remove any pets. The lease ends at the end of the month when they pass away (break lease). Mail a letter to the person/executor/estate the tells them what will happen and how long according to the lease agreement the possessions will be held. You CAN relocate the items to storage and are still responsible for the protection and damage. I recommend recording the condition and consolidating items in 1 room to prepare for a new tenant.  

[Clint Shelley]

@Jim K.

Lmao

[Bill P.]

@Nathan G. In all my years of being a landlord, this has never happened to me. I think it is because of my lease clause #14:

As a tenant, you are not allowed to die, become incarcerated, get sick and go to the hospital or abandon the property in any other way.

:>)

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Bill P.:

@Nathan G. In all my years of being a landlord, this has never happened to me. I think it is because of my lease clause #14:

As a tenant, you are not allowed to die, become incarcerated, get sick and go to the hospital or abandon the property in any other way.

:>)

That's a much simpler solution than mine!

[Stanley Kallas]

@Nathan G.

I’m sorry to hear this happened but I do appreciate you posting this because it does raise very good questions that may not be easily answered in the moment.

Thanks -Stan

[Jack Martin]

@Mike Reynolds you got it straight from @Frank Rolfe above and I would agree with the special attention this kind of even requires.  We have only had that occur twice in all the MHPs we have operated and managed over the years. In both cases, we were able to connect with the family and work out a solution with them that made good sense for everyone.  If you don't have an attorney that is familiar with the state laws around MHPs and a death of a resident owner, reach out to your states Manufactured Housing Communities Association and they will be able to point you in the right direction.  

[Samantha Wilson]

@Nathan G.

I’m so sorry to hear that...

[Bonnie Low]

Very interesting topic @NathanG. I'm sorry for all involved that this happened and, honestly, it has just never crossed my mind to think about it. I'd be interested in hearing how you handle this situation. For instance, who do you call? Local Sheriff? Coroner? Do they handle any clean up (yuck, I know, but it's a practical question), do they charge you for cleanup and removal? I assume LE notifies the family. What do you have to do with their belongings? Let's say it takes time to notify next of kin or none can be found, what happens to the belongings? Do you have to pay to store them somewhere while the case goes through probate, etc, etc. I'd be interested to know how you handle these arrangements.

[Logan Hartle]

First of all I'm sorry this happened to you. That's terrible. I would be distraught if any of the tenants I've come to know and love over the years passed away. I know it's part of life but it doesn't make it any easier. Sorry you had to go through this.

That being said I now plan on contacting my attorney to start building a plan for this exact scenario. What can I do and what can't I do. I've not thought of it before. Thanks for the insight.

[Sherif Kaissi]

@Scott Mac just curious on what bases would you get custody of firearms and cars ?

[Jay Compton]

@Scott Mac I have a lot of years in the real estate investing world, but my day job is restoration...So my advice would be to have an upfront conversation with one of your local restoration companies (not the national green truck guys) ahead of time. I know without insurance involved, most landlords think our services can be expensive, but someday you'll run across something that you can't or won't want to handle....six week old decomp cleanup, meth lab cleanup, excessive mold, sewage, hoarder contents, suicide by shotgun (gross and dangerous) etc.

If you take one of the owners or senior management to lunch upfront, before something happens and ask them to give you a price plan in writing...I know I would do that. We've never actually had a landlord do this with us, but just thinking through the context of this thread, it sounds like a good idea. What we don't like is to get that call at 11pm with seven feet deep of sewage in a basement, and then ask us to cut our prices because we're too high. Haha... Cool, you clean it up, I'm going back to bed.

It's just like anything, good communication and planning upfront before something happens will make it seem easy.

Here's my first intro to a death in a unit...

When I first got into multi-family in about 1993 (I was all of 19 at the time), my first two six-plexes were next door to each other, and I had a great family in one unit. Everybody knew the family and they got along with everyone. One day he and his wife got into it, and she picked up a steak knife and pointed it at him. He, being the man of the house, wasn't going to be disrespected, so he grabbed a little pocket .25 (thinking it was not loaded, cause the wife told me it was never loaded) and started beating it on his chest telling her... You are not gonna disrespect me in my own...BOOM. Right in front of mom and daughter. Very sad situation. As a small landlord, I even went to the funeral.

That's the first of several throughout my landlording days. That one wasn't near as damaging as the man that set himself on fire inside a unit a few years later, or the guy that blew up his unit and three more in a gas explosion before that (crazy guy actually lived), but I still remember how much each one cost me...I wish I would've had a plan before they all happened.

Good luck...

[Aileen Yu]

@ Scott Mac, thank you for those details! I like to plan ahead for such events. Didn't even know who I would/should call for the body. I'm guessing the sheriff's came with ambulance to take the body? Are there any costs associated with a deceased tenant?

[Marlen Weber]

What a terrible situation, @Nathan Gesner Thanks for the reminder. 

[Patti Robertson]

@Nathan G. Just had my first tenant death where the person was the only adult on the lease. 33 year old kindergarten teacher - single mom. Heart breaking.

[Nathan Gesner]

@Bonnie Low @Aileen Yu

The first person you call is police. They will come out to secure the site, confirm the death, etc. They will send a detective to start an investigation. Any "unattended" death (nobody else present) requires investigation to see if there was any foul play involved. After the detective wraps up with pictures, interviews, and investigating the scene, then the coroner will come remove the body. Once it's clear, they'll return control to you.

Some things the police may confiscate:

• Prescription medications
• Firearms, particularly if they were possibly involved in the death
• Illegal drugs

If they remove anything from the property, they will leave a copy of the inventory showing exactly what was removed. I recommend you take a photograph copy of that document and/or secure it somewhere.

There is no charge from the police or coroner.

In my state, they do not confiscate weapons unless there's cause. My tenant that died in October had over 30 rifles, shotguns, and pistols. He also had over 50 ammo boxes full of various ammunition. The cops handed me the keys and I took responsibility for it. In my case, the family didn't want any of that so I arranged for a local auctioneer to inventory the items and sell them for the family.

Again, there's a lot more to unpack here. I'm trying to get it all on paper and then I'll share.

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Patti Robertson:

@Nathan G. Just had my first tenant death where the person was the only adult on the lease. 33 year old kindergarten teacher - single mom. Heart breaking.

That's terrible. All of mine have been elderly people, so it's a little easier. One was a 40-year-old committing suicide but she had only lived there for about six months, paid online, and nobody really knew her except that she was really nice when she applied and signed the lease.

[Jon Ladd]

@Nathan G. — Wow, sorry to hear.

[Brian Lucier]

WOW! Who knew? I actually wrote a blog post on this in October 2017.

10 Tips for what to do when residents pass on:

The Plan

Contingency Plan Checklist for Death Loss in your rental:

1. Your insurance policy clause:
   Read your insurance policy to know what it covers and what your deductible is. This way you can be better prepared when an event occurs. You do not want to be looking for your policy to find out what it says when time is of the essence. It may also be a good idea to have an insurance adjuster review your policy for your. They read these all the time and can inform you if there are any gaps in your coverage. You also need to know your deductible, just in case.
   .
2. Your rental policy clause:
   By now you should be thinking of possible verbiage to cover any contingencies and have them put in your rental agreement. The basic items would be:
   • The name of resident signing the lease
   • A brief authorization form to cover the details, type of death, permission to enter, etc.
   • The name of the person authorized to enter and remove personal belongings
   • The contact information for the authorized person who may enter and retrieve the personal belongings
   • If possible a time frame in writing to identify the length of time to clear the apartment
     .
3. I. C.E. (In Case of Emergency) Surviving Family Residents:
   It is a great idea from the very start of the rental application process to have the applicant indicate who you should contact in case of an emergency. This has multiple purposes. There are application clauses that even list this I.C.E. person as responsible to pay the rent, should the rent not be paid by the resident. At least, you will have a number to call in the event of having to empty out the apartment in case of death.
   .
4. Unattended deaths:
   There are several scenarios to consider here. Deaths can be natural, accidental, unintended, intended, or otherwise. The emphasis here is to build a contingency plan and an action list in case the worse case scenario happens. If you prepare for the worst and then the worst happens, you were prepared. If nothing happens, you were even better prepared.
   .
5. Deaths from misadventure:
   This is where the death event is caused by some more unfortunate circumstances. We live in a day and age where we are encouraged to carry Zarcan and know how to administer it in case of any emergency. Some neighborhoods are more prone to crime and violence and this can be a negative factor to take into consideration too. In addition to your contingency plan and action list items, you may need to expand the reach of that list to include emergency numbers for overdoses, and other crimes, and illegal activity.
   .
6. Police Department:
   For all of your properties, you should know the phone number for your local law enforcement agencies. These numbers should be presets in your cell phones too. Within one or two clicks on your cell phone or other smart device, you should be in touch with local authorities within seconds. When you are in the heat of any emergency and your nerves may be shot, is not the time to be browsing in a search engine to find the phone number for the police.
   .
   
7. EMT:
   The same holds true for having preset numbers for ambulances and other first responders. Wherever you rental market may be, there are probably two or three ambulance services that respond to emergency calls. Again, it is a good idea to do the research upfront and have the conversation with the emergency personnel before it becomes a time critical situation. It is always easier to ask the tough questions in a relaxed, calm environment, than before time where seconds matter most.
   .
   
8. Fire Department:
   Fire, flood, blood, heat or hot water. These are the major emergencies we end up dealing with in the day to day of property management. Always a good idea to post the number for the fire department at your building and to keep these numbers stored in the presets of your phone as well. Make sure your residents know to call the fire department instead of you if there is a fire.
   .
   
9. Hazmat Teams:
   Blood is a hazardous material and chances are you are not authorized or licensed to deal with the clean up of blood and other human bodily fluids. Have a phone number on hand for just these types of emergencies. Your local police department should be able to provide you with contact information to help you find a reliable, licensed Hazmat team.
   .
10. Insurance adjuster:
    If you have an insurance policy, you should also have a phone number to a good private insurance adjuster. You should periodically have your insurance adjuster review your insurance policy to make sure what you think you have for coverage, it what you really have for coverage. If you are anything like me, I am sure when you bought your property you were more concerned about getting the binder in time for the closing then what the policy actually said it covered.

[Adina McCollough]

@Jay Hinrichs where is the property located? I’m interested.

[Guido Nunez]

@Nathan G. Great post. I found a tenant who passed away myself. I had to learn on the go of what to do. You’re right. Be prepared.

[Eugene Tan]

@Nathan G..

It’s very unfortunate but it could happen sometime. Even I never had such Instance but be good to prepared. I don’t want to have any discrimination here, but when I screen a Tenat, the age is one of my factors.

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Brian Lucier:

WOW! Who knew? I actually wrote a blog post on this in October 2017.

Good post, Brian. I'll be filling in a lot of the details soon.

My current problem is that there is no will, no identified relative (yet), and he has some nice stuff. His Toyota Tundra and 20-foot camper are both fully paid for and only two years old. I can't just hand over the keys to the first person that shows up and says they are his rep. My tenant gave us the name of an emergency contact authorized to claim his belongings, but that person is elderly himself and doesn't seem to care about the stuff.

I've made contact with a friend listed as his Health Care Surrogate. I would probably be OK giving her the keys and letting her take everything. But if I'm wrong and someone pops up and decides to sue, then I could be in some deep legal trouble.

[Dan Beaulieu]

I wonder when this will finally happen to me? 

[Nate Sanow]

@Nathan G.

Solid advice thank you for sharing.