The Property Management Shop
by Marc Wilson
Q. One of my extremely “low rent” tenants died last week. I surmised she had died because when I drove by the building, an ambulance was leaving the property. Over a week has passed, and no family members have bothered to contact me about the death of the tenant, the apartment or the termination of the tenancy. I am concerned that a member of the tenant’s family will try to claim the apartment. Recently, I have seen people I do not know enter and exit the apartment. Should I change the locks? What should I do?
A. Nothing, and I mean nothing, terminates a tenancy like the death of the tenant. Your only obligation to the family of the deceased tenant is to allow them reasonable and necessary access to remove the personal property of the ex-tenant. The lack of communication between you and the deceased tenant’s family is troubling, especially in light of both the below-market rent and the presence of unknown people having access to the apartment. You need to find out who is dealing with the deceased tenant's burial, estate, etc. Post a letter on the tenant’s door requesting the name, address and phone number of the person dealing with the affairs of the deceased tenant. If you receive no response, post another letter indicating that the tenancy has terminated and that you are changing the locks to protect the personal property of the ex-tenant.
In most cases, you will hear from the family at this juncture. Simply arrange a mutually agreeable timetable for removal of the deceased tenant’s personal property and a specific date for you to take possession of the apartment. Be sure to put this agreement in writing and obtain signatures of the family members. If the family does not cooperate with you, you have a choice to make—either take possession of the apartment or hire an attorney to sue for possession.
Most attorneys will tell you to never, ever change the locks on an apartment if there is any question regarding who is in possession of the apartment. I think there are certain circumstances that justify changing the locks. It might be better to run the risk of a person “suing you from the sidewalk” than you suing them from the sidewalk. For example, what do you do if you have a known drug user with unsavory social contacts and a far below-market rent who overdoses and dies in the apartment? What if you can’t make contact with the next of kin, and you observe strange people are accessing the apartment? You change the locks! You can always give a key to a family member later, but for now you need to take control of the situation. Of course, your action assumes there has always been only one tenant in the apartment, and you lack information that would lead you to believe there are other people with legitimate “tenancy claims.” Don’t ever accept any rent from the family or friends of the deceased. If the timetable for the removal of the descendant’s personal property exceeds the amount of security deposit in your possession, then eat the shortfall. It is not worth taking money from a third party and risking the establishment of a new tenancy. You should not shy away from enforcing your rights in the event of the death of a tenant.
I realize the tenant has died and her family is presumably grieving, but you have a business to run. Similarly, the deceased tenant’s family has an obligation to remove the ex-tenant’s personal property from the unit in a timely manner.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reßect the viewpoint of the SFAA or the SF Apartment Magazine. Marc Wilson has been managing and selling San Francisco apartment buildings for 15 years. Please send your questions concerning property management and/or apartment building sales to Marc Wilson at 1699 Van Ness Avenue, SF, CA 94109. He can be reached at 415-229-1275. © Copyright 2002.