Terminally ill tenant

[Peter Walker]

I have a 92 year old tenant that has cancer. He has lived at my rental townhouse for two years and has been  a great tenant, checks on time etc. his cancer is aggressive and I’m afraid his time is a matter of months. He is on a month to month lease and my fear is that if he passes away, what do I do about his belongings. He has family but they live in another state. I fear that if his estate is going on, it will tie up my rental with his belongings still there. I could end his lease with 60 days to vacate, but I feel terrible even thinking of it. Any advice is appreciated.

[Nathan Gesner]

I ask all my renters to provide an emergency contact that they authorize to remove their belongings from the rental, pay obligations, or receive refunds. I do this at the initial signing and then I ask for an update on my lease renewal form so it's kept updated.

You can tactfully contact your renter and explain that you need to know who to contact if anything ever happens to them. It could be cancer or it could be a fall down the stairs with a healthy 46-year-old.