(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.

[Jay Hinrichs]

little off subject.. but we have a rehabber house in the mid west.. that we sent a wholesaler to look at.

I did not know there was a basement.. they found it and what did they find down there but a corpse.. 

long dead.. they called the cops.. cops or coroner has never contacted me so I suppose they just removed the remains.

I will send the next wholesaler who contacts me over there for a price.. they can be good bird dogs.. 

[Caleb Brown]

Just leaving a comment here, curious on peoples replies :)

[CJ M.]

@Nathan G.

Great reminde! I had my first tenant pass away in October. Are there any resources you would recommend to folks on how to plan for these unfortunate situations?

[Ian Walsh]

So you want to be a landlord...

[Nathan Gesner]

I'm not aware of any resource and haven't even built one myself. Every time a renter dies, I think about creating a written policy. Then I get busy and figure it's not that big a priority because it doesn't happen very often. Two months later, here I am.

I'll start one today and will try to share it when done.

[Brett McManus]

My father is dealing with this now on a mixed use property where he found one of his lawyer tenant's who had passed away at the desk (reinforcing why I need real-estate in my life). 

Fortunately dad was able to contact a partnering lawyer to deliver the news to the family who kicked-off proceedings which is turning out to be a 3-month long process. We are currently working through what our game plan will be going forward should this happen again. All ears to the experience you all have to share, otherwise I can circle back on what we come up with. 

[Filipe Pereira]

You should call the emergency contact that you collected as a part of your tenant application process. If it was an inherited tenant, they should have submitted this information as a part of their on boarding process, ESPECIALLY for tenants who live alone. 

Owed utilities / rent comes out of the security deposit if there is one. 

It probably comes down to situation by situation but most tenants will probably not have an estate that you can collect from. This subject sucks, but like anything else, compassionate but firm is probably the way to sort through it all. Mourning takes time so to not be abrasive is to be smart, but it's a fine line that has to be walked, no doubt. 

[Deniz Eker]

Originally posted by @Ian Walsh:

So you want to be a landlord...

 It will be fun they said...

[Jim K.]

Nothing puts the passive in "passive income" like a dead body...

[Noah Chappell]

@Nathan Gesner I just went through my first experience with this as well in October. It was a section 8 tenant who died of an overdose. Quite tragic really, kids involved, etc. I think situations such as this underline how important it is to have a good property manager on your team. With a simple "we'll handle it" my unit was turned over and is now listed again in about a month. If not for my prop manager, this would have been a really challenge, but could have left such a bad taste in my mouth that it would have been hard to continue.. things are tough enough as it is right now. 

[Scott Mac]

Originally posted by @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.

Hi Nathan,

Dropped dead mid workout--must have been his time.

Call the Sheriff and let them know the situation. They will probably send a couple of officers over.

Be ready to accept custody (vs. ownership) of any firearms (or they may do that).

Look for any pets and either adopt them yourself or call a No Kill Shelter: 

https://www.nokillnetwork.org/d/Wyoming/PCAS--Park-County-Animal-Shelter-(Cody)~9915/

Look for liter boxes, doggie doors, pet bowls, pet toys...Pets hide in closets and under beds. If they perish inside the smell is Horrific, plus it's just the right thing to do.

If the pets will be there for more than a few hours, make sure they have enough food and water to wait it out.

A box of Purina at the 7-11 is a couple of bucks, and a big bowl of water.

Call the emergency contact number on the rental agreement and let them know what's going on.

Put the food in the fridge and freezer in a garbage bag (if power goes off--it rots).

Vehicles, ask the Sheriff, and try to get the keys (unless they "Custody" them).

Will the relatives pay the rent--I doubt it.

Say a prayer for the deceased.

Good Luck!

[Colleen F.]

A good point to remember.  I have emergency contacts for my tenants but when I tried to renew them at the start of Covid I  had some push back. I specifically had the form written up to authorize entry by x person in the case of incapacitation/ death and some  mostly younger tenants didn't want to sign. My regular form just lists emergency contact without signature.  I didn't push those individuals but do wonder if other people have tenants sign or just list a contact.

[Dennis Wayne]

Had this happen multiple times . Kinda sucks but you get the next of kin to sign off on the lease and throw out their stuff that’s left ASAP so you can re rent as quick as possible . Seems It’s always the unit that needs a lot of work too ! I have it right in my lease .no dying permitted and if you do I keep the deposit

[Jill F.]

Oh geez, Thanks for the reminder-- that's been on my list too since we had a young man OD in our first year. We do collect emergency contact information but because we have been busy buying for the last 4 years we still have many tenants where we don't have adequate info.

[James Hamling]

Oh just wait for that 1 who had like 17 cat's, and nobody figures it out or checks for like 6 or 7 weeks.... Yeah. Oh, and what smells worse then cat urine on a hot day, I wish I never had found out........

[Denise Evans]

@Nathan Gesner, my leases have a clause that tenant completes with the names of two people who can be given the keys if the tenant dies, or is incarcerated, hospitalized and simply missing for more than 14 days. Those persons are also given authority to declare the premises abandoned on behalf of the tenant, or the tenant's estate.  Usually one of the two people cleans out the premises so they can be turned over and rented to someone else.  If that is not a possibility (because stuck with older lease forms) then legally all you can do is wait for probate to be opened or wait until the next month's rent is unpaid and proceed with eviction. That is usually a quasi in rem proceeding that does not require personal service.

[Nathan Gesner]

It's not that easy. If a Tenant dies without a will and you start letting people take things, you open yourself to a lot of liability. You have no legal authority to determine who gets what. Have you seen the way relatives fight over possessions? It's absolute insanity, even if the person doesn't have much.

i collect a name they authorize to handle their estate in the case of death, incapacitation, or incarceration. My attorney said it's good enough to protect me, but I still look for a will and try to contact relatives before doing anything.

[John Morgan]

I have a boat load of peeps jammed in almost all my properties, so I think I’m good without emergency contact numbers in case someone bites the dust. Lol

[Brett Lee]

@Nathan G.

Sixth tenant death in 2 years. Yikes I am not renting from you lol 😉

Tough subject but it is a reality. Having good emergency contacts etc just in case...

[Collin Bryston Adams]

@Nathan G. I’m alarmed how common this seems to be. I’ve started hearing a lot about this recently and it’s never even crossed my mind of a situation like this.

I’ll go a full month with out talking to my tenants except a simple “what time can I pick up rent?” text!!

[Pat L.]

"...My father is dealing with this now on a mixed use property where he found one of his lawyer tenant's who had passed away at the desk (reinforcing why I need real-estate in my life)...."

I bet that Lawyer didn't say he wished he spent more time at his desk working than living !!! We have so many friends who work way too long for so little in life. In fact my sons 61 yr old FIL is working 8+ hours a day in an unfinished basement while supposedly up here visiting (for the 2nd time in 18 months) to be with his own siblings & many grandchildren, nieces & nephews ??? Priorities !!!

We've only had a couple of tenants who died once in hospital & only one that was critical & had to be removed by EMT's. Her adult kids in the adjoining unit left her in very poor health to take care of their several large dogs etc & left with their own kids for a 2 month vacation. She was on oxygen, frail & 78, she collapsed & was found barely alive by her sister. She never recovered.

[Jaquetta T Ragland]

@Nathan G. Just want to say sorry you had to experience that and thanks for the tips.

[Nathan Gesner]

Originally posted by @Brett Lee:

@Nathan G.Sixth tenant death in 2 years. Yikes I am not renting from you lol 😉

But I manage nearly 400 so it's not bad. Three of these renters were 70+ and had lived in the same rental for nearly 20 years.

[Bill F.]

Originally posted by @Jim K.:

Nothing puts the passive in "passive income" like a dead body...

 I'm waiting for someone from that thread on charging 20+ applicants a fee to generate more revenue to start advocating, in all seriousness, for making auto pay mandatory so that if this happens they can get more income. 

[Peter Mckernan]

@Nathan Gesner Sorry to hear that. Yes, call the police, they dispatch the fire department, and then the coroner. That investigation will take about 4-6 hours as they make sure all is good on cause of death. The coroner will remove the body, and then I would work with PD to find family for information/removal of all belongings.