Tenant died with rent arrears

BigAunty

Comprehensive tenant screening includes a tenancy application form that includes next of kin details as standard. This incident highlights an issue in basic tenant screening.

You indicate that your parents are so in need of the income, they are prepared to sue relatives who will administer the estate of daughter or sister who killed themselves. Its your parents right as landlords to recover rent arrears. However, if your parents struggle with rental voids because of the impact on their income, perhaps they need a more reliable return on their investment.

Here are some links containing advice to landlords when their tenant dies

http://blog.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!/2012/04/your-tenant-dies-what-to-do.html

http://www.landlordzone.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?45183-What-happens-to-a-tenancy-if-the-tenant-dies

There seems to be a ground on an S8 notice that covers the death of a tenant - the legal way to regain possession through the courts. The landlordzone website has a page that deals with 'abandoned goods' which I think should also provide guidance on how to deal with her belongings, the landlord's obligations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_8_Notice

Road_Hog

Guest101 wrote: »

He can enter with the tenants, in this case the estate's, permission. Knowingly bypassing the notice would be bad.

So, if he gave say, 48 hours notice to the estate and they didn't reply, he wouldn't be able to enter the property?


What happens regarding insurance? If you have any empty property, you need unoccupied insurance, which generally requires a visit to the property every one to two weeks, otherwise it is invalid. During the winter it requires the pipes to be drained or the central heating to be on permanently.


What happens if there is a gas leak or maybe even an explosion, who will be responsible, who is responsible for the upkeep of the property? I doubt that the executor of the estate is responsible. I think it would default to the LL and he would have every right to enter the property.

silvercar

voucher wrote: »

you need to get your priorities in order

X 2.

I immediately went to the local police station - where all they did was confirm that there had been a death at the property- and that my details would be passed on to the next of kin. As of yet I have not been contacted by anybody

Understand this. Someone's child has just died. Contacting their landlord does not feature high in the list of people to contact.

Derwent

silvercar wrote: »

Understand this. Someone's child has just died. Contacting their landlord does not feature high in the list of people to contact.

Well said, if someone came hassling me for unpaid rent in this situation they'd get very short shrift and quite possibly a smack in the mouth. Some people are all heart aren't they ?

silvercar

In your shoes I would be sending an "in sympathy" card. Personally signed with (landlord) written underneath your name and your address somewhere on the card. Then leave well alone for a couple of weeks.

After a couple of weeks if you still have had no contact, then is the time to get in touch. The aim then is for the family to arrange for the place to be cleared of belongings and to formally end the tenancy and hand back the keys.

You can then re-let the place.

Then you can see about the rent arrears. Was there a deposit? you should be able to put that against the arrears. Anything above that and you may have to put a claim against the estate or right it off.

Forget about check out cleaning and inspections - the family are not going to want it.

SO in financial terms, you will have been down 3 months rent by the time the place is handed back to you. If you had half of that as a deposit then that is 6 weeks rent you have lost. Others involved in this sorry mess have lost a relative, a friend, a colleague.

As the saying goes, life is a b1tch.....but you didn't die.

jbainbridge

I think the last two comments are unfair. I get no impression the OP is unsympathetic. They just want to get things sorted. If someone dies owing the utilities money the estate need to pay it - why should this be any different.

(That would be posts 14 and 15)

Mojisola

jbainbridge wrote: »

I think the last two comments are unfair. I get no impression the OP is unsympathetic. They just want to get things sorted. If someone dies owing the utilities money the estate need to pay it - why should this be any different.

Exactly this. Anyone dealing with an estate will have letters coming about debts - overpaid pension and/or benefits, utilities, phone company, etc. Why should rent be any different? It's hard when you're grieving but it's what happens.

Guest101

Road_Hog wrote: »

So, if he gave say, 48 hours notice to the estate and they didn't reply, he wouldn't be able to enter the property?


What happens regarding insurance? If you have any empty property, you need unoccupied insurance, which generally requires a visit to the property every one to two weeks, otherwise it is invalid. During the winter it requires the pipes to be drained or the central heating to be on permanently.


What happens if there is a gas leak or maybe even an explosion, who will be responsible, who is responsible for the upkeep of the property? I doubt that the executor of the estate is responsible. I think it would default to the LL and he would have every right to enter the property.

If he gave correct notice, and then entered, there would most likely be no problem. However, the tricky bit is giving the notice correctly. Hence why he should attempt to surrender the tenancy now to avoid these complications. Liability would be with the estate, not the executor.

In case of an emergency the ll can enter with no notice.

Insurance should be notified.

Most of this is fairly basic.

SerialRenter

Road_Hog wrote: »

So, if he gave say, 48 hours notice to the estate and they didn't reply, he wouldn't be able to enter the property?

That is a discussion for another thread, or the hundreds already about that. Lets keep this one on topic as it's about a rarer situation and hence could do without being muddied.
The long and short of that argument every time is: It's for the courts to decide on a case by case basis. Not sure why anyone would try to sneak around the relatives to enter the property anyway.

Mojisola

Guest101 wrote: »

If he gave correct notice, and then entered, there would most likely be no problem.

If the relatives claimed that things were missing and the LL had been in the flat, it could get very unpleasant.