Flipper/Rehabber · Lake Isabella, CA · Member since 2011 · 974 posts · 488 votes
Here is the short version...My tenant passes away, she owed a few hundred dollars but not much. The tenant was the only name on the lease.
The family notifies me and says there will be moving her stuff out. A couple days they tell me her "husband" is going to move in and take over and pay what she owes.
The husband (and his brother and elderly mother) appear to be the ones living in the unit. They are not paying rent and I need to evict.
I am not sure who to list on the three-day notice. Do I list the deceased tenant because her name was the only one on the lease? I know the name of husband but not the other two.
Honestly,, this is quite a mess,, I would let them know your planning on filing eviction action and either they agree to vacate in 3 days or you will file on Friday. Give them the opportunity to vacate and have them sign a agreement that states they will be out by noon on the XXX date and remove all personal property, In exchange for vacating you will give them $XXX bucks in cash. Have new lock ready to put on if they take the deal.. NO delaying till the weekend unless you honestly believe they will be out.. What ya got to win by doing this is you get your unit back quicker.. than the 2 to 3 weeks the court process will take.
I think you need to download the landlord tenant laws for your state,, you need to understand your obligations as landlord and pay close attention to how things are being handled.
Why would you have permitted anyone to move in that you didn't have documentation on, a new lease, let alone do in a manner such as this.. you've learned a hard lesson.
That does sound like a problem, and I'm not sure of the answer. But start by calling the local court house in which you end up file eviction paper with anyways. might as well go and see in which or who name will be going on that paper work as well. let us know what you find out, you never know? ps sorry for the landlord grief. we all have them as well, let try mine for instance. I pay gas for a two family building who utilities are not separated. so my tenant shows me their gas bill, in which by contract (lease) responsible for the gas. the bill was $680 and they said we must have a leak. I'm sure the gas company checked before the cut the meters back on. No one sick nor smell of gas especially the amount it would of had to be to accumulate, I repeat $680. may I say I paid it and convert to good old 240, 50amp, electric stove. hint, hint, lol
No problem. Been there 20 times after purchase at trustee sale.
File against (name of deceased tenant) and unknown occupants. Offer other parties to add themselves to the lawsuit. (They won't. They give up their rights that way.)
Honestly,, this is quite a mess,, I would let them know your planning on filing eviction action and either they agree to vacate in 3 days or you will file on Friday. Give them the opportunity to vacate and have them sign a agreement that states they will be out by noon on the XXX date and remove all personal property, In exchange for vacating you will give them $XXX bucks in cash. Have new lock ready to put on if they take the deal.. NO delaying till the weekend unless you honestly believe they will be out.. What ya got to win by doing this is you get your unit back quicker.. than the 2 to 3 weeks the court process will take.
I think you need to download the landlord tenant laws for your state,, you need to understand your obligations as landlord and pay close attention to how things are being handled.
Why would you have permitted anyone to move in that you didn't have documentation on, a new lease, let alone do in a manner such as this.. you've learned a hard lesson.
@Randall Brown , I usually use the Sherrif to serve the complaint and summons. Do you provide the server multiple copies of Prejudgment Claim of Possession, one for each extra person that is living there? Or is one sufficient for all the extra people that could be there? I am trying to figure out how many copies to supply the Sherrif.
If the tenant (as in the woman who passed away) is the only name on the lease...........and then the husband (who was not on the lease) decided to "move in"....it sounds like he is a squatter that had no authorization to move in at all in the first place.
I believe the "eviction" should be on the (now illegal?) squatter husband......
@Deanna McCormick , The tenant was a good lady but apparently, her family was not. I did not permit anyone to move in. They moved without my consent. It was clear that they were trying to get something for nothing from the beginning.
The post implies that the landlord has ultimate control of everything that happens to their property. I have owned rentals for 19 years and I can assure you the State of California and it's tenant friendly laws limit how much control we really have.
And I have offered cash for keys. They would rather live for free. And they know it will be much longer than the 2 or 3 weeks you stated. Again...this is California.
All in all I am not sure what "lesson" I should be learning from this mess.
@Gene Hacker the lesson here is proper procedure when tenant dies... yes there is one, and if it had been followed you could have protected your property better.
You are not required to turn over any property to anyone without confirmation of whom is the deceased estate representative, A landlord responsibility is to secure the unit, change the locks, and post on the door that keys are available from management,notify emergency contact that this has been done if there is one, and release property to representative with that has proper authority to take deceased's property,, the estate is responsible to pay you the landlord any unpaid rent, and give notice for termination of occupancy.
I've had several people die while owning and managing rental property,, each instance is unique but you always need to follow procedure to insure deceased's property is properly protected and correct person is in charge to release that property to.
"A couple days they tell me her "husband" is going to move in and take over and pay what she owes." At the point in time you received this information if you did not verbally refuse to allow them to move in and deny access you in fact gave authorisation to allow them to become tenants without a lease. This is what sounds like transpired with you hoping to receive back rent and a new tenant.
Very complicated situation. You must evict the deceased tenant et al to protect your rights.