Death of tenant in rental house

General Landlording & Rental Properties
9yFollow

Death of tenant in rental house

Rick BassettBusiness Member
Property Manager · Greater New Haven, CT · Member since 2010 · 377 posts · 434 votes

I've been a LL for many years and this morning I received that dreaded 4am call; "come to your property, there has been a murder" said a neighbor over the phone.

Well it turned out not to be a murder but an apparent drug overdose by the young lady of the house. Her boyfriend also appeared to be drugged up according to the police. He was taken to the hospital but he wasn't be arrested.

The young woman in her late 20's leaves behind 4 young kids, what a shame. DCF came to take the kids as the boyfriend was hospitalized and there were no in-state relatives.

I was very surprised as this is/was a very nice couple with good jobs living in one of our nicer single family homes.

What a mess.

I expect this to be a dicey situation, haven't had to deal with this before as a LL.

Any words of wisdom by those who have been there would be appreciated.

Rick

475-900-3100
Bassett Property Management5107 Reviews
WebsiteView Page
0Reply
92 views

Most Popular Reply

Bettina F.
Investor · Post Falls, ID · Member since 2016 · 606 posts · 699 votes
9y

Is BF on the lease?  If he is not on the lease you cannot legally let him return to the property.  Secure the house, notify emergency contacts and develop a plan.  We recently revised our emergency contact form so that tenants specify who has the authority to remove their belongings in the event "of an unanticiapted prolonged absence from the rental unit".  

1Reply
See this reply in the discussion

9 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Soh Tanaka
    Property Manager · Lindenhurst, IL · Member since 2016 · 854 posts · 506 votes
    9y

    I'm sorry for the situation, but really, I feel bad for the kids. 

    It was not as bad as you, but I went through a death also. I just had the remaining tenant change the lease, as now there's one less person on the lease. 

    I know this will sound rather dry, but I guess the next step is to call the emergency contact on the lease (I hope you have that), and have things taken out from the house, so that you can lease to the next tenants. 

    0Reply
  • Thomas S.
    Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    9y

    Follow up with the surviving tenant asap and make sure they remain responsible for the rent. Obviously he has other priorities at this time so it becomes your responsibly to insure he continues to pay rent. You will most likely end up allowing him out of his lease and will need to make sure he works with you to insure you do not end up with a vacancy.

    It is unfortunate when life takes a turn but you must insure their responsibilities to you are maintained. Life and business go on.

    0Reply
  • Bettina F.
    Investor · Post Falls, ID · Member since 2016 · 606 posts · 699 votes
    9y

    Is BF on the lease?  If he is not on the lease you cannot legally let him return to the property.  Secure the house, notify emergency contacts and develop a plan.  We recently revised our emergency contact form so that tenants specify who has the authority to remove their belongings in the event "of an unanticiapted prolonged absence from the rental unit".  

    1Reply
  • Rick BassettBusiness Member
    OP
    Property Manager · Greater New Haven, CT · Member since 2010 · 377 posts · 434 votes
    9y

    Yep, the BF is on the lease. He is the one with the job.

    475-900-3100
    Bassett Property Management5107 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    0Reply
  • Rick BassettBusiness Member
    OP
    Property Manager · Greater New Haven, CT · Member since 2010 · 377 posts · 434 votes
    9y

    A happy ending of sorts - I was able to convince the BF to move-out, which he did yesterday. Him and his druggie crew came with a U-Haul and cleared the place out and the house is empty.

    Minimal damage to the place after just 4 months of occupancy. The downside for us is no rent for October or November.

    An update on the kids: The grandfather came from out of state and reclaimed them from DCF and brought them back to their out-of-state home. The druggie father has lost custody for now.

    475-900-3100
    Bassett Property Management5107 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Tim Healey
    Investor · West Palm Beach, FL · Member since 2016 · 62 posts · 27 votes
    8y

    Hi Rick,

    Another question for you, did you have any issues re-letting the property after the death or di prospective tenants not seem to mind too much?

    Thanks and good luck!

    Tim.

    0Reply
  • Elaine Fawcett
    Investor · Worcester, MA · Member since 2017 · 66 posts · 36 votes
    8y

    Amen! Happy ending for the kids, and for you. I really hope he gets his act together, but at least in the meantime the kids are safe and with family where they can grieve. That's just horrible. Whenever something like this happens, try to learn lessons. Is there anything you could have done differently or better? Doesn't sound like it in your case, but still doesn't hurt to try to learn from it. For instance, did you have emergency contacts on the lease? What would you have done if both had overdosed? Obviously DCF got involved, but did any older kids know your name and number and that they could call you in said emergency? Did you post your contact information where it was easily visible in the common area of the house in case of multifamily, or make sure neighbor had number in case of single family (sounds like this neighbor did have your number) - all good stuff for us to keep in mind. 

    0Reply
  • Rick BassettBusiness Member
    OP
    Property Manager · Greater New Haven, CT · Member since 2010 · 377 posts · 434 votes
    8y

    Well yes, as we terminated the lease at the worst time of the year (Nov 1st). It's difficult to find tenants for this type of home (4 bed SFH) this time of year. So we converted the home to an AirBnB until this summer where do have a lease contract lined up for.

    475-900-3100
    Bassett Property Management5107 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
  • Rick BassettBusiness Member
    OP
    Property Manager · Greater New Haven, CT · Member since 2010 · 377 posts · 434 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Elaine Fawcett:

    Amen! Happy ending for the kids, and for you. I really hope he gets his act together, but at least in the meantime the kids are safe and with family where they can grieve. That's just horrible. Whenever something like this happens, try to learn lessons. Is there anything you could have done differently or better? Doesn't sound like it in your case, but still doesn't hurt to try to learn from it. For instance, did you have emergency contacts on the lease? What would you have done if both had overdosed? Obviously DCF got involved, but did any older kids know your name and number and that they could call you in said emergency? Did you post your contact information where it was easily visible in the common area of the house in case of multifamily, or make sure neighbor had number in case of single family (sounds like this neighbor did have your number) - all good stuff for us to keep in mind. 

     Elaine, good points. The neighbors had our contact info and called us. The kids (all under 7) were too small to know what do with it. Personally, I never saw this coming as their was no indication of drug abuse, their references, credit and criminal all checked out, they were extremely polite and were paying a high rent in a premium property.

    Rick

    475-900-3100
    Bassett Property Management5107 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    1Reply
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.
Log InJoin for Free