“Heir follows heir as wave succeeds to wave.” HoraceI

I have not personally had a tenant pass away in one of my apartments for over 25 years. It is, however, a part of life and as a housing provider, it is good to know what to do if you encounter such a situation in one of your rental units.

REVIEW YOUR LEASE You may have a provision regarding what to do with the tenants belongings. You may be able to reach the tenant’s relatives to help with removal of their items. If this is not the case, you will need to store the items and give proper notice to remove them. Check with your attorney or your Apartment Owners Association to make sure you have the most correct and up to date forms. It is very advisable to take pictures or videos of the entire unit before you move anything or before you enter the unit with family members of your former tenant.. Also advisable would be to make a list of all the items in the unit for your records. In the case of a lease which is longer than 30 days, the lease may still be viable. Be sure to check that out before you re- rent the property. This may be a good time to make sure you have wording in your current leases covering this potential issue. If not, you may want to send an amendment to your other tenants.

POSSESSION Check with your attorney to make sure of the days required to take possession of the unit after the death of the tenant. Make sure that you accompany any friends or heirs when they enter the unit. You should also ask for written proof of status if there is an executor involved before anything is taken. Having them sign a receipt would also be a good idea.

SECURITY DEPOSITS You always want to provide the tenant, at their last known address an accounting of the security deposit. This is even more important here as apposed to a tenant who moves with no forwarding address. You may need to provide this accounting to heirs or an executor as well. Be sure you send a check for any remaining amount to the executor. Make the check out to “The Estate of (the decedents name)” unless your attorney suggests a different name. Don’t forget the cleaning and moving costs you may incur.

Lastly, the best advice is to be sensitive to the heirs and family members who have lost their loved ones.

“The man on top of the mountain didn’t fall there.” Vince Lombardi

 

What we at PRS PROPERTIES CAN DO. We can give you a good idea of the current value of your building. We can suggest changes you might want to make before sale to give you an idea what type of building you would be able to exchange into. You may decide to stay in the rental business. We are always available to chat. We can give you referrals for professionals, such as lenders, contractors, and engineers, so that you can decide who you feel best with. We can supply you with rent and sale comparable in the area of your properties, so that you know what rental values are in your area. It is important that you know the true value of your rental units, so that you can get them rented right away at market value, or at least as much as possible with rent control restrictions. We can look at potential purchases that you may be interested in to make the property more desirable, and maybe look at potential issues that an insurer might require you to repair.

If you should decide to sell your building, we can help you exchange into a larger or smaller properties. We can even help you move into something with less management responsibilities. We can also help with getting the paperwork together for a refinance if that is your desire. We can also recommend experienced licensed contractors who can perform any repairs or installations you may need prior to selling. We can also look at your building for other easy and inexpensive changes that might allow you to get a higher value. We can help you to get the maximum value for your property, should you decide to sell, or the maximum return if you are planning to keep your building.

We are currently looking for “as-is” properties and are willing to purchase with low rents, deferred maintenance or even with a problem tenant in place. We can offer a 7 day escrow and all cash at closing. Give us a call. We have also put together numerous transactions over the years which involve properties that are not listed for sale. Many investors are currently in 1031 exchanges and need to identify a replacement property before their 45 day identification period runs out.

Should you decide to put your property on the market, we will put together an aggressive, targeted and professional campaign to get your property sold fast. We have been doing this for over 40 years, and we will use all the tools available to bring you the most dollars at closing. If you are thinking of selling or are just curious about the value of your property, don’t hesitate to give us a call.