Landlords agent demanding property be returned

Out,_Vile_Jelly

I know someone who works for a council clearing properties of people who die with no family. It's possible your council might have an equivalent who can assist given you're disabled and struggling?


However, you should be able to clear the essentials in one day with a few boxes, prioritising:


-all paperwork (utilities and personal)- to be sorted later

-all pictures (framed and photo albums)- to be sorted later

-all jewellery- to be sorted later

-a selection of small items that summarise your mum ie one handbag, one hat, one scarf, the nicknacks that were always most prominent in the lounge/dressing table, a couple of books that you know were favourites
-ditto a couple of keepsakes that she might have to represent your dad
-any items you KNOW to be of specific family value (ie a clock that survived the blitz etc)



No need to keep all clothes/shoes. Or furniture. 90% of what you see in the property you will never remember or need.

googler

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

I know someone who works for a council clearing properties of people who die with no family. It's possible your council might have an equivalent who can assist given you're disabled and struggling?

>>> Or, OP, are there any charitable organisations that you have dealings with regarding your disability? Maybe they can help...

However, you should be able to clear the essentials in one day with a few boxes, prioritising:
-all paperwork (utilities and personal)- to be sorted later
-all pictures (framed and photo albums)- to be sorted later
-all jewellery- to be sorted later
-a selection of small items that summarise your mum ie one handbag, one hat, one scarf, the nicknacks that were always most prominent in the lounge/dressing table, a couple of books that you know were favourites
-ditto a couple of keepsakes that she might have to represent your dad
-any items you KNOW to be of specific family value (ie a clock that survived the blitz etc)

No need to keep all clothes/shoes. Or furniture. 90% of what you see in the property you will never remember or need.

Do this, and do it first, before any further contact with the letting agents.

If your mother had passed and you weren't here, the agents and landlord would have to clear clothes and furniture anyway, so I see little reason for you to shoulder this task.

danlewi2

Charities like British heart foundation are good and will collect some furniture that they can sell.

gingercordial

You need to be very careful here.

The estate is insolvent. The estate is also liable for the ongoing rent - that does not stop yet. It is therefore getting further into the red every day with unpaid rent. And yet you are trying to take assets (jewellery etc) out of the estate. Those are not yours to take yet as they can't be distributed before the debts of the estate (rent) are settled. The landlord would have every right to demand money from the sale of the jewellery and personal belongings as rent payment, which would mean you have no right to keep them at all.

Secondly by taking on the administration of an insolvent estate you are risking "intermeddling" which could mean that you personally become liable for debts of the estate such as the rent.

The longer you leave this the more likely the landlord is to get very annoyed and start chasing the unpaid rent in either/both of the above ways. If you can vacate quickly he might not make an issue of it.

It might be worth asking for more advice over on the Deaths & Probate board, under Marriage, Relationships & Families.

Flugelhorn

Gingercordial is quite right, if no rent being paid then the landlord could expect the money from jewellery / antiques etc to be given to him.

Need to avoid any further debt

steampowered

If the estate is insolvent, then any assets of the estate (e.g. expensive jewellery, antiques) should normally be used to pay creditors of the estate.

I agree with everyone else - I do not think it is reasonable for the landlord to be left losing money because he cannot rent out the property for > 6 weeks.

Op I do think you need to hurry up a bit.

Jumblebumble

deannatrois wrote: »

I sympathise, was in much the same situation myself when my father died. I went through items, sorted them roughly into what would be kept (not much), items for collection by charities and throw away stuff. You just have to not allow yourself to drown in the mass of possessions and concentrate on sorting them.

Although its not the best outcome, I am sure the owners would prefer to have to do some clearing rather than not be able to rent the property at all. Just take what you want to keep and leave the rest.

I was on my own too. Its not easy, and emotionally it often emphasises feelings of loss, and helplessness when you have mobility difficulties. But try and concentrate on getting what means something to you out of there and leave the rest (bag it up if you can if you don't want other people touching your mother's things). After 25 years of rental, it looks like the LL will have to take on the cost of clearance. Again, not ideal but all you can do.

Six weeks for clearance is too long I'm afraid.

I know someone who has been in this situation from a Landlords perspective
It is not pleasant as the Landlord does not want to harass the Tenants family who are greaving but on the other hand the flat needs to be rented and whilst I can understand why it really is grossly unfair for you to not be paying rent and apparently having no intention of doing so and not returning the flat so the LL can re let.
What this situation did highlight was that it is now my opinion that no LL in their right minds would hand over deposit money to either an agent or the DPS rather than paying a few pounds a year for an insured scheme as I cannot imagine the grief there would be in getting the deposit back
( in this case the tenancy predated the DPS rules and the deposit covered the rent till possession was returned although the family took the best bits and left a load of rubbish behind.)

Norman_Castle

gingercordial wrote: »

You need to be very careful here.

The estate is insolvent. The estate is also liable for the ongoing rent - that does not stop yet. It is therefore getting further into the red every day with unpaid rent. And yet you are trying to take assets (jewellery etc) out of the estate. Those are not yours to take yet as they can't be distributed before the debts of the estate (rent) are settled.

Removing items from the property is not the same as assets being taken from the estate. They still belong to the estate but are no longer in the rented property.

googler

gingercordial wrote: »

The estate is insolvent. The estate is also liable for the ongoing rent - that does not stop yet. It is therefore getting further into the red every day with unpaid rent. And yet you are trying to take assets (jewellery etc) out of the estate.

No, they're taking the valuable items out of an unoccupied home to secure them against (for instance) theft, fire or flooding, and removing them to a safe(r) place.

Moving them from one place to the other does not remove them from the estate.

Norman_Castle

Flugelhorn wrote: »

Gingercordial is quite right, if no rent being paid then the landlord could expect the money from jewellery / antiques etc to be given to him.

Need to avoid any further debt

The landlord would need to join the list of creditors.
https://www.bereavementadvice.org/topics/probate-and-legal/insolvent-estates/

If there is very little chance of payment due to the lack of assets most creditors will write the debt off as pursuing it is pointless.