Termination Following Death of Tenant (s50A)

[Bulldog]

Older lady, in her late 60s, had a few minor health problems. I alerted the family previously & visits by them were rare. Sunday I asked my son to drop off a Christmas gift for her, he had no response. He left the gift at the front door & alerted the family as he felt something was amiss. Anyway he called by last night, gift still outside, rang ambulance & police. Long story short, she had passed away, unsure of specifics at this stage.

Family now want to claim her possessions. What do I do about the notice & bond refund? I assume I will have to be notified formally by the executor?

Can't rent as is, it is very smelly, will have to do a thorough clean & air for a couple of weeks including fitting new drapes so I'm not keen on being too sympathetic to the family, in fact I am a bit pi55ed off at their callousness.

[Keys]

Have a wee read.

[Glenn]

This sort of thing is becoming very common.
I started a thread on it recently.

What do I do about the notice & bond refund? I assume I will have to be notified formally by the executor?

No you do not need to be formally notified by someone. In fact it is unusual to have the other party take the first step.
You post a notice to the door if you feel they are messing you around.
Let the family take all. Give them a specified date for all the stuff going.
Be careful of multiple parties having an interest. Also be careful of disposing of stuff. It is common for people who have no interest in their living relatives suddenly being very loving when some "goods" are on offer.
Sometimes you can be lucky to get one more weeks rent but not often.
It is very unusual to get the whole three weeks rent.
When the dust has settled just send off a claim for the bond by signing your side only of the bond claim form.
It is hard work getting rid of the smell.
Worse still when the fluids spill onto the carpet.
First thing is get rid of the mattress.
Never let on to the tip when dumping. They get all concerned at the tip site about things like this.
And yes I have been abused many times by loving relatives. For some strange reason they like to vent their grief with anger against any unlucky sod they can blame.

[Bulldog]

Thanks Keys & Glenn, this is extremely useful advice.

[muppet]

50A Termination following death of sole tenant

50A Termination following death of sole tenant

• (1) On the death of a sole tenant under a tenancy agreement (whether for a fixed-term tenancy or a periodic tenancy), the tenancy agreement terminates on the earliest of the following dates:
  
  • (a) the date that is the 21st day after the date on which the personal representative of the tenant or a person who is the tenant’s next of kin gives the landlord written notice of the death of the tenant:
  
  
  • (b) the date that is the 21st day after the landlord gives the personal representative of the tenant or a person who is the tenant’s next of kin written notice to vacate the premises that are the subject of the tenancy agreement:
  
  
  • (c) the date that is agreed in writing by the landlord with the personal representative of the tenant or with a person who is the tenant’s next of kin:
  
  
  • (d) the date determined as the termination date of the tenancy agreement by the Tribunal on the application of the landlord under subsection (2).
  
  
  (2) If a landlord is unable to give notice to vacate under subsection (1)(b), the landlord may apply, without notice, to the Tribunal for an order to terminate the tenancy.
  
  Compare: Residential Tenancies Act 1997 s 228 (Vic)
  Section 50A: inserted, on 1 October 2010, by section 32 of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 95).
  

http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/DLM3280824.html

[Maccachic]

Does insurance cover this situation?

[Glenn]

Does insurance cover this situation?

Insurance? If the smell is so bad and the carpet is damaged yes I would think that they should pay.
Sometimes the junk sinks into the wood and the only way to get rid of the smell is to rip the carpet up and seal the floor.
Goodness knows why so many people want to be a landlord.

[Wayne]

This really is the hidden awkward part of being a LL.
It is a business so you have to protect yourself money wise but don't want to seem totally un-caring.

[Anthonyacat]

What if a tenant dies?

Hi Propertytalkers

I've just had a tenant go through a sudden illness and admission to hospital. To my knowledge it's not turned out to be anything serious, but it got me thinking. What happens if it was?

The tenancy is on a fixed term, and there would be large amounts of possessions on site, so it couldn't be re-let until cleared. Would the fixed term tenancy pass to the estate? Can an estate rent a residential property for 'its own' occupation?

And what happens to rent in the interim, between date of death and the estate being set up? It's not exactly a comfortable topic to broach with family members; and that's if you even have family members contact details.

It's an awful thought of course, but I wouldn't be happy to have a property unavailable and not earning any income for an extended period - I've still got debts to pay.

Has anyone experienced this?

[Keys]

All there. Written into the bible.

[grip]

I encountered this very situation (death of tenant after short illness) just over a year ago. I referred to the relevant legislation as linked by Keys.
Thankfully the kids were really good and cleared the belongings quickly. We managed to come to a quick settlement and the bond was sufficient to cover unpaid rent. Reminds me how important it is to have contact details of family members. You have to be proactive in managing this- check on the wellbeing of your tenant (as any responsible landlord would) and talk to the family now.

[BigWal]

Hmmm - question for the knowledgeable.

.... the landlord gives the personal representative of the tenant

(as stated in a few places in Section 50A of the RTA - the bit that deals with termination following death of a tenant)

Does "personal representative" = "Duly Authorised Agent"?

I would think so, but just checking if anybody has had any experiences otherwise.