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How long after death of tenant to remove property?
Anonymous7 views1 answers
My husband's brother died on the 15th of this month unexpectedly. He collected things and has a lot of belongings stuffed in a small area. The landlord initially said not to worry about removing his stuff, that we would have plenty of time. Now she says that she has rented out the apartment and his belongings need to be out by the first. The family is scrambling to get everything into storage by then. Is this legal? I read the statute and I think it says that they have 60 days.
There are three situations in which a tenancy can be terminated after the death of the tenant:
(1). 60 days after the landlord has been given notice that the tenant has passed away, the lease is terminated.
(2). After the tenant's death, but before the 60 day period has expired, the lease term would have ended anyways. For instance if it was a year long lease that was to end on October 1, the lease would still terminate on October 1st.
(3). You, as a representative of the estate, terminate the lease earlier than the 60 days. Under these circumstances, the landlord has a duty to mitigate losses by making a good faith effort to find a new tenant.
You should try to review the lease to determine when the lease was set to expire. Otherwise, you are correct that the lease will remain in effect for 60 days from the time the landlord was put on notice of your brother-in-law's death. It is important to remember here that, his estate will still be liable for paying rent in this period though.
