(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.

[Wes Anderson]

Very interesting, not something we have had to deal with yet and hopefully ever but I'm sure it will happen. If anyone has a best practices of what you could include in a lease to prevent issues, I would love to know. Thanks and good luck! 

[GANI ADEBOYE]

6 Tenants in 2 years....that's not good...I hope you are not telling prospective tenant about your record.....they might start thinking about Carbon monoxide poisoning

[Suzanne Player]

@Nathan Gesner

@Nathan Gesner Did the person who as listed as emergency contact actually refuse to take custody of the belongings?  Or did he want to see about a will?  

It’s a good idea to take photos or a video of the belongings that are in the unit to show what was there at the time of death.  You don’t want any relatives coming by asking where the Monet, priceless coin collection, & diamonds went!

[Brian Lucier]

@Nathan Gesner

Hi Nathan. Not sure if you can do this in your state but here it goes. Here in Massachusetts, it may be possible to petition the courts to move out the contents and relocate the trailer. In MA, we would need to hire a bonded move and storage facility, similar to the same process when we have a writ of execution when we can evict someone. Then, that mover comes in packs up everything and places it into storage for up to six months. After that if no one comes to claim the stuff, it goes to auction.

This is just one option. Not sure if it makes sense if you are considering lost rents? Which would cost you more? The move out or the lost rent? You may also be able to file a claim with your insurance company for a loss of rent rider. But that would have to already have been part of your policy.

Looks like you are fanning out your viable options to help the family as best you can. Honorable! This is an interesting post. I will keep an eye on this to see where it goes and chime in if anything else comes to mind. Wishing you the best on this journey.

[Brian Lucier]

@Frank Rolfe 

Spot on Frank! Similar here in Massachusetts where a court order is needed to remove the contents of the rental unit. We are required to hold in a bonded storage facility for up to 6 months. Lots of great insight in your post! Thank you.

[Brian Lucier]

BP Peeps,

Here is the clause from our lease agreement about resident death or incapacitation. There are some other really great tips in this post you may want to consider adding to it. I know that I am upgrading this clause now.

PLEASE!!! before you cut and paste this into your lease agreements, CHECK WITH YOUR LOCAL ATTORNEY IN YOUR STATE WHERE YOU ARE DOING BUSINESS to make sure you are following the law!

LANDLORD INDEMNIFICATION CLAUSE IN THE EVENT OF RESIDENT DEATH OR INCAPACITATION

In the unlikely, untimely, and unfortunate circumstances should the resident become incapacitated, suffer an unattended death, suffer a death by misadventure or other misfortune, or for any other reason be transferred to an assisted living dwelling, become incarcerated into a military, federal, or state institution, and no longer be able to physically occupy the premise or pay the agreed upon contract rent for the premises; the resident being of stable mind and sound reason at the time of the signing of the written lease contract, does hereby appoint, under the aforementioned circumstances, casualties and conditions, the undersigned executor to be authorized on the resident’s behalf to obtain access to the dwelling space from the property management for the sole purpose to declare rightful possession of the apartment’s contents and henceforth salvage and remove the entire contents the residents’ personal belongings and effects with the sole permission of the resident at the time of the signing of this written lease rental agreement. The undersigned shall also have exclusive permissions from the resident at the time of the signing of this lease to act authoritatively to remove any and all belongings of the incapacitated, deceased, or incarcerated resident as such permission has been given from the resident in writing in the signed rental agreement at hand.

It is also the position of the management, and the landlord, that the resident has previously authorized in advance, the underwritten in this contract to act upon the resident’s behalf to remove the entire contents of the rental property at their own discretion within a reasonable amount of time not to exceed ninety (90) days, or three (3) months, or less time, if agreed to in writing by the named executor. Upon completion of this task within a reasonable amount of time of granted access to the next of kin, successor(s), executor, or otherwise noted in this written document, that the named next of kin, successor, executor, or otherwise noted in this written document shall after that agreed upon period of reasonable time authorize the management, staff, contractors, and other persons involved with clean out of the property after that given grace period, shall be allowed to dispose of the remaining items left behind in the rental premises, no harms hold to the landlord management, employees, staff members or any other related or third-party workers enabled with the task to clear the premises of any remaining personal effects from the incapacitated, deceased, or incarcerated resident no harms hold.


I, Johnny B. Renting, do authorize my landlord and property manager on my behalf should I become incapacitated, suffer an unattended death, suffer a death by misadventure or other misfortune, or for any other reason be transferred to an assisted living dwelling, become incarcerated into a military, federal, or state institution; to appoint the undersigned to have full-access to my apartment for the sole purposes of removing my personal belongings and effects should I no longer be able to physically occupy the residence in accord with the written rental agreement.

I appoint on my behalf,____________________________________ relationship __________________________________,

phone number:, ____________________,
email: ____________________________,
address: ___________________________________________________________________________,
as duly noted to retrieve all of my possessions from the rental unit in the event of my death or incapacitation.

[Scott Mac]

Originally posted by @Sherif Kaissi:

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

Ask the responding Police Officers, or they may ask you.

Custody is not ownership, it's just holding for the owner. 

Regarding a vehicle, you may need to move it to another place on the property for convenience.

[Nathan Gesner]

You guys won't believe this.

I started this thread when a tenant died last week. It was the second death since October. I manage 400-ish rentals so it's not terrible odds, but it's the most I've ever seen in such a short period of time.

Well, it just happened again but this time there are two deaths in one night!

I drove past the tenant's house last night and noticed a police car in the driveway. I mentioned it to my wife, who was with me. She said, "The police car lights are off, so maybe he's just visiting." This didn't make sense, but it's plausible, so we went home and forgot about it.

Three hours later I got a call from an officer stating that both tenants are dead. No signs of foul play, no drugs, nothing. They are identical twins, look exactly alike. One of them worked as a nurse at the hospital and he is the one that always came to pay the rent. The other brother was an extreme recluse that I never saw outside of the house in the 10 years I've known them. The working brother was sent home for a non-COVID illness but was supposed to report back on Wednesday. He never did. The hospital didn't do a welfare check until Saturday when they were found.

What a terrible three months.

[Steve Vaughan]

Originally posted by @Nathan Gesner:

You guys won't believe this.

I started this thread when a tenant died last week. It was the second death since October. I manage 400-ish rentals so it's not terrible odds, but it's the most I've ever seen in such a short period of time.

Well, it just happened again but this time there are two deaths in one night!

I drove past the tenant's house last night and noticed a police car in the driveway. I mentioned it to my wife, who was with me. She said, "The police car lights are off, so maybe he's just visiting." This didn't make sense, but it's plausible, so we went home and forgot about it.

Three hours later I got a call from an officer stating that both tenants are dead. No signs of foul play, no drugs, nothing. They are identical twins, look exactly alike. One of them worked as a nurse at the hospital and he is the one that always came to pay the rent. The other brother was an extreme recluse that I never saw outside of the house in the 10 years I've known them. The working brother was sent home for a non-COVID illness but was supposed to report back on Wednesday. He never did. The hospital didn't do a welfare check until Saturday when they were found.

What a terrible three months.

 Wow. Just wow. 

Good luck with this Nathan and please keep us posted.

[Judy Parker]

I had a commercial tenant die in one of my units. He was slumped over the desk - must have had a heart attack. I should have written a book about all the things that have happened over the 30+ years I've been a Landlord.

[Suzette T.]

Originally posted by @Nathan Gesner:

You guys won't believe this.

I started this thread when a tenant died last week. It was the second death since October. I manage 400-ish rentals so it's not terrible odds, but it's the most I've ever seen in such a short period of time.

Well, it just happened again but this time there are two deaths in one night!

I drove past the tenant's house last night and noticed a police car in the driveway. I mentioned it to my wife, who was with me. She said, "The police car lights are off, so maybe he's just visiting." This didn't make sense, but it's plausible, so we went home and forgot about it.

Three hours later I got a call from an officer stating that both tenants are dead. No signs of foul play, no drugs, nothing. They are identical twins, look exactly alike. One of them worked as a nurse at the hospital and he is the one that always came to pay the rent. The other brother was an extreme recluse that I never saw outside of the house in the 10 years I've known them. The working brother was sent home for a non-COVID illness but was supposed to report back on Wednesday. He never did. The hospital didn't do a welfare check until Saturday when they were found.

What a terrible three months.

 Good luck! You are definitely gaining a ton of wisdom. RIP to your tenants