What happens when a tenant dies in my building?

In terms of an owner’s responsibility, what typically happens with a rental unit when the tenant dies?

Tenants dying in their units are more common than many of us want to believe. With an aging population, owners will increasingly have to deal with this issue. State law allows a month-to-month tenancy to terminate by notice of a tenant’s death. However, local regulations also require the unit to be sealed after death when the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (Coroner) is called to complete any investigation into the cause of death or to allow the decedent’s family to inventory and distribute property. Do not disturb the unit until you have clearance from this office. According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the unit will be sealed for as long as it takes family members to inventory and pack items. For out-of-state or out-of-country survivors, this process could exceed one month; if family is local, the unit may only be sealed for several weeks. If death is not due to natural causes, the Police Department may conduct its own investigation, and clearance from this agency will also be required before the apartment can be disturbed.

Another problem may arise when the landlord finds that other people are living in the unit. Sometimes, a friend or relative of the deceased tenant will seize the opportunity to move into a rent-controlled unit. Do not accept rent from them! The owner may want to serve a thirty-day “Termination of Tenancy Notice” for an unlawful holdover if strangers are found to be in occupancy. Yet if original occupants remain, such as roommates of the deceased tenant, then the tenancy continues without interruption. If there are subsequent occupants who, prior to the tenant’s death, were either served with a 6.14 Notice or have moved into the unit after January 1, 1996, then the landlord should consider raising rent to fair market value under Costa-Hawkins.

Owners may also find that the departed tenant has no close family or friends to tend to the disposition of the body and estate property. Sometimes, the tenant did not leave a will or trust to direct administration of the estate. The landlord may then have to contact relatives or next of kin, and in some cases the landlord may have to store items for longer periods of time until the probate process is completed. In the worse case scenario, the tenant has no heirs, so the property would be transferred to the State of California. As such, it is never appropriate for the owner to take the tenant’s belongings unless the owner is named as an heir and the appropriate estate disposition proceeding has been completed. It is recommended that owners and managers have contact information for relatives and friends of tenants in the file, especially if the tenant is sick or elderly. Closely monitor the post-death activities to ensure that no one takes unlawful occupancy of the apartment, but do not be in a hurry to turn over the unit.

DW