LANDLORD HORROR STORY

[Carlos M.]

Hey BP hope all is well,

I went through a terrible experience this past week and wanted to share it with the BP community in the hopes that some people may learn from it.

I say this with much regret but over the weekend one of my tenants committed suicide. To add to this terrible situation and make matters worse I was the person who discovered the body. Now I won’t get into specific details into how the act was committed and what is believed to be the motive. But I do want to touch on the Landlord side of the situation and the damage control measures that should be done when something like this occurs.

Initial shock – after discovering the tenant I went into shock and had no idea what to do. I felt scared, nervous, surprised. A ton of emotions and thoughts began racing through my mind. After a few minutes I immediately called Law Enforcement who responded to the scene pretty quickly. Because I was the landlord and made the discovery I was briefly considered a suspect, wasn’t allowed to leave the scene, and had to answer questions to police officers and detectives. Eventually within a few hours I was released from the suspect list and detectives found that it was a suicide and no foul play was involved.

Now because I had other tenants in the unit and throughout the building I was unsure if I should disclose what occurred or if I was legally required to disclose. Although legally disclosure isn’t required I made a moral decision and decide to inform the other tenants within the property. I understood that with disclosure I risked losing tenants but I felt it was the right thing to do.

After informing the tenants some tenants made request to be let out their lease. Now in the situation I wasn’t sure what textbook protocol was or if legally I was required to do so. I made a few calls to other real estate professionals and was informed that legally there was no law or rule stating that the tenants had to be released, so I had a judgment call to make. Putting myself in their position I decided to release the tenants although financially it would place a burden. I knew that if I were in their shoes I wouldn’t want to stay either. So I bit the bullet and let them go.

In regards to the area where the suicide is committed I had no idea what the rules where in terms of cleaning up the space. So after more research I learned that because deceased bodies are considered bio hazardous waste I had to hire a professional bio hazardous cleaning company. They had to cut and remove any surface or areas where bodily waste was found, clean the area with special cleaning liquids, and filter the air with o-zone machines.

Some of you may be thinking what about the tenants possession? Because the tenant had no family I was informed that his possessions could be trashed. I felt very bad because I was hoping he had some family around who may want his belongings but that wasn’t the case so I had it disposed.

My plans moving forward are unclear I’m considering selling the property but in the event that I am unable to I will have to resort to finding more tenants.

This scenario is a scenario I wouldn’t wish on any landlord I would rather go through a thousand evictions before going through this process again. As members of BP we hear a lot of success stories but there are scenarios where being a landlord can be difficult. If there is anyone who has been through a similar situation I would like to hear how you responded to the matter and how you bounced back from the situation. Was the property sold? Were new tenants found or did you leave the business altogether?

Thanks,
Carlos