My tennant died.. 2 months behind on rent

getmore4less

Start the legal process and find out ASAP if anyone will pick up the estate.

Go round when there is someone there from the family and asses how seriously they are taking the clearance/repair procees and dealing with the estate, if there is a will and any solicitors involved.

(not unusual for the apparant destitute to have loads of money)

Have you checked the place yet?

If just debts then anyone would be mad to bother picking up, best to clear the assets before anyone can make a record and have them disapear.

If it is likley no one will pick it up get round and change the locks when the dog is out. but be prepared to help with the clearance.

There are number of approaches not al strictly legal but you need to asses the people involved on which will be the best to get the property back on the market.

It is likley they want this closed ASAP as you do.

If any administrator was negligent in mitiaging the acrual of more debts by failing to accept the proposal to terminate the tenancy immediately ther is a good chance they could be liable for the new debt.

zaksmum

blossomhill wrote: »

That poor dog ... must be so confused without his master

About time someone showed a bit of concern for the dog!

missile

I wonder what the LL is supposed to do when the deceased tenant has no will or next of kin?

teeni

missile wrote: »

I wonder what the LL is supposed to do when the deceased tenant has no will or next of kin?

The reality is for most landlords it is not an issue the administrators of the estate want to reduce/minimise their costs and make arrangements to clear the property as soon as possible.

DVardysShadow is right that an administrator has to mitigate the costs to the best of his ability and usually want to sort things out quickly.

However in every case i have ever dealt with the costs have been graqnted against the estate and never the executors them selves.

The issue usually arises where there is a resident at the property who was living with the deceased but has no right to succeed and risks being homeless, in these cases they tend to stay until the last minute knowing they do not have to cover any costs for doing so. They live rent free for several months whilst looking for alternative accommodation.

As i said earlier the purpose of my post was to ensure the op mitigated his loses by issuing the correct notice asap, addressed to the executors of the estate and posted to the property so that if there are any issues he doesn't have to start the process at that point therefore delaying his repossession of the property even further.

And to DVardysShadow sorry didnt meant to be argumentative last night, end of a difficult day and probably should have been fast asleep instead of posting on here.

I understand your point about the administrators, and it is an interesting point when the legislation from 2 different areas of law overlap. Which one wins out in the end is a debate for another day.

pmlindyloo

I am sure you have checked but just in case.................

Most tenancy agreements have a clause inserted about this situation.

I'll see if I can find one.

pmlindyloo

Here we go:



9.5 If the Tenant is the sole Agreement holder and they die, this Agreement ends one month after his death

or, if earlier, when the Landlord is given notice of the Tenant’s death by authorized persons. Only the Tenant, a person authorized by the Tenant in writing or, if he is dead, his personal representative can give notice to end this Agreement.

teeni

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Here we go:



9.5 If the Tenant is the sole Agreement holder and they die, this Agreement ends one month after his death

or, if earlier, when the Landlord is given notice of the Tenant’s death by authorized persons. Only the Tenant, a person authorized by the Tenant in writing or, if he is dead, his personal representative can give notice to end this Agreement.

I know that many contracts say this in the same way some say a tenant has to give 2 months notice to teminate and such like BUT a contract can not over ride statute.

pmlindyloo

teeni wrote: »

I know that many contracts say this in the same way some say a tenant has to give 2 months notice to teminate and such like BUT a contract can not over ride statute.

I understand what you are saying but in this situation where the OP is not likely to get any of his money back then surely it is in both the deceased tenant's realtives' inteerst and the OP's to get this sorted as soon as possible.

If the tenancy continues and the estate is liable for the rent of the remaining period how will that help the OP? He can't get the rent or relet the property.

Would it be possible for the representative of the estate and the OP to agree a surrender?

That way the estate would not be liable for more rent and the OP could start the process of clearing the property and reletting.

The OP could give a statement of the rent arrears and damage (though without an inventory may be very difficult) and send it/give it to whoever is dealing with the estate.

I agree that the OP needs to find out who is legally responsible for the dealings of the estate but issuing a Section 21 will take time and will not be to the OP's advantage.

lighting_up_the_chalice

missile wrote: »

What a nightmare.

I find it ridiculous that LL must go to court to evict a deceased tennat. I hope OP will post to tell us how this one pans out.

All those who think being a LL is easy money, should read posts like this one.

After the death of a tenant, there may be another party with an interest in the tenancy. It is for that reason that the legal process should be followed, so that the courts can examine, and adjudicate, on any such claim.

hcb42

Just a note on the pets etc, my sister died just over one week ago, in a similar situation, some debt (7K), no assets and two cats, one of which had been in the house for a week....without food or water

I phoned every cat sanctuary place within a huge radius and drove around for several hours with said cat. Not one charity would take him in. One told me I would have to take him with me, when I had already told her I was in a hotel for next seven nights. I couldnt believe how unhelpful they were, although I can believe they were all full. In the end, I had to take cat back to flat, and call around and feed him daily etc, before finally having to take him home with me.

It is also very traumatic to be turning over one's relatives personal possessions etc, we havent even buried her yet. So I doubt the family are stalling things, they wont know what to do. Although I sympathise with the Op of course. (And I have told my sister's landlord, who is the council so we can relinquish the keys)