This must be my day for venting.

I just spoke to a woman who is grieving the loss of her sister, who was killed in an automobile crash last night.

The family would like access to her sister's apartment to be able to retrieve her belongings.

The landlord is currently in the process of boarding up the place, until the sister's family pays her rent, in full. Only then, will he allow them access to her sister's belongings.

I advised her to contact her local police department &/or county sheriff to go with them to her sister's residence.

You think you've heard it all, and then something like this comes along. Where's the humanity, or compassion from the landlord?

I'm glad it's Friday, and the start of a loooonng weekend.

Be safe out there: It's a jungle!

I don't know which state you are in, or the friend. However, there are certain conditions that a land lord can deny access to a residence.

If the resident had been very late on rent (more than 30 days) and notice of eviction had been served, this might apply. If the resident had just been "late" and not paid for this month yet, it does not. Any real estate attorney can help out, and shouldn't be too expensive for a letter to the land lord. But, yeah, have a sheriff accompany the family.

Thanks for sharing that.

I don't know how late the woman was on her rent. If it was only four days, and it was due on the first, then that is just lame on the part of the landlord, disgraceful, and plain petty and tacky.

I hope for the family's sake, it is going to be resolved by seeking law enforcement to accompany them to her former residence.

It's a funk to be sure.

Just to add to the legal confusion...

Siblings don't automatically have power of attorney or survivor rights. So there may be no legal obligation on the part of the landlord to let siblings into the sister's apartment even if her rent *was* paid up.

Yes, it would be the compassionate thing to do. But if there is a person with legal power of attorney over her estate, and the landlord lets siblings without that power in and they take things, he could be in legal trouble. He may be using "whomever pays the outstanding rent can get in" as a way of establishing the proper person to allow access to, not just as being nasty.

He was *boarding* the apartment up as the sister was speaking to him.

Until the rent gets paid. He is holding the apartment hostage, in other words.

There was no play on words here. His meaning was taken at face value.

He is what we call around here a bottom feeder.

A few things here:

1. I am not sure how much help law enforcement will be here. This sounds more like a civil rather than a criminal matter.

2. If the landlord is not giving access based on the rent not being paid, then the landlord is almost certainly liable for damages in an effective self eviction. However, if the landlord is denying access because the landlord is unsure who is the rightful owner of the contents, then he/she likely is on solid legal ground.

Also, I don't think this is an issue of humanity or compassion. A landlord's every action needs to be based on legal responsibilities, not on feeling sorry for a tenant.

It was strictly a matter of unpaid rent according to the woman I spoke with.

There was no suggestion it had anything to do with legality of who has access to the deceased's property. Her next of kin is her sister and others in her immediate family.

She was a 61 year old single woman, who drove into a tractor trailer when she ran a stop sign yesterday afternoon. Her car was pinned underneath, and another car ran into both vehicles. So it was a three vehicle crash. She was the only fatality. Neither of the other drivers were even injured.

Where we live, in New York state law, a landlord cannot hold a tenant's property when/if the rent is unpaid. That would be considered an illegal eviction. He cannot change the locks or otherwise bar a tenant from their home, without a lawful court order of eviction.

Now the tenant is deceased it would be expedient for her family to clean out her dwelling. In a constructive eviction, like the landlord is now demanding rent from her surviving family, he is
taking the law into his own hands by demanding rent from them and it would be the same as a constructive eviction of the tenant herself.

Here people call the sheriff or police department, and the cops will go with the family member to the home to help them recover the tenant's property. The tenant would do the same if the landlord were taking the law into his own hands were she still alive.

He can still try to collect the past due rent, but he can't hold her belongings hostage to do so or he can be sued for treble damages.

amyjo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It was strictly a matter of unpaid rent according
> to the woman I spoke with.

I would simply suggest caution reaching conclusions; your information is second-hand at best, anecdotal, and unverifiable. The woman you spoke with could herself not have all the facts.

The *woman* is the next of kin.

Why must you argue every single point on a thread, to exhaustion?

Hmm?

amyjo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The *woman* is the next of kin.
> Why must you argue every single point on a thread,
> to exhaustion?
>
> Hmm?

I didn't argue anything. I simply pointed out that you have no firsthand knowledge of *anything* in this situation -- not a single fact to go on. So I urged caution in reaching conclusions.
That's reasonable.

What a sad situation. I'm very sorry for the family.

It is very sad.

The poor woman couldn't pay her rent, and then this.

Sometimes I wonder whether some of these accidents are suicides in disguise?

Either way, it was a premature death from negligent or reckless driving.

Her poor sister was quite distraught, and then having to deal with a knee jerk landlord only makes matters worse.

The police escort I hope made the difference for her today.

When someone dies without a will its usually the offspring who

stand to recieve whatever is in the deceased estate.


Siblings will not inherit if there are offspring.

The landlady was right not to let anyone take anything

without them showing her legal papers stating that they are

the inheritors. The inheritaors also have to pay any money

owed by the deceased.


This happened to my sisters and I.
The police won't do anything, its a civil matter not a
criminal matter. The landlord is protecting his/her ass.

I don't believe the woman had any children.

The sister was going to her home to retrieve some articles, that would include items for her burial and the funeral home.

The usual stuff when someone dies unexpectedly from a car crash.

The landlord's only reason was he wasn't going to let any family members in unless they paid the woman's arrearages for her rent.

Never mind the fact she is now deceased.

It doesn't get much creepier than this IMO.

Regardless of whether her next of kin may be responsible for the woman's debt, assuming the woman left anything, which if she didn't then they are not responsible for paying out of their own pockets. He has no right to hold her belongings. That is against the law in our state. The police in New York will get involved when it comes to dispossession of one's belongings by a landlord.

It's called an unlawful eviction.

The next of kin can sue the landlord for treble damages for refusing to release the sister's belongings.

And the police can intervene in the interim to gain access to the premises.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/2015 10:54PM by amyjo.

You turned an interesting 'vent' into a teaching moment!

It sounds somewhat stupid on the landlord's part since he/she can't rent the place again (and hence make money) until the sister's belongings are out. Just MHO.

What if some characters who read the death notices decided to go say, "Hey, we're relatives of the deceased (sniff, sniff), and we are here to get her stuff." They take the TV, etc., and then the real family shows up and everything is gone and they call the police and the landlord ...