My tenant has died and any advice would be greatly appreciated?

Dear Helen,

I am very sorry you had to go through this and it is obvious that it is upsetting for you.

I know some readers have been through the death of a tenant before and hopefully we can get some assistance for you.

We have missed Fridays e-news so please don’t be despondent if people don’t reply straight away.

The Grandma's estate is responsible for the tenancy and bills after the date of death. If she did not leave a will I believe her children - is it only the daughter? automatically inherit and are responsible for sorting out the estate (if I've not got that quite right I hope the experts here will correct me).
However if there is no money and it was a shorthold tenancy in Grandma's name only, in practical terms you are best off being sympathetic giving them say 2 weeks rent free to clear Grandma's possessions and return the keys plus get the executor (probably the daughter) to sign a deed of surrender and give you a copy of the death certificate. You should point out they may be liable for the council tax and other bills untill this is done.
Unless it was a secure tenancy and the mention of a section 21 seems to imply a shorthold the granddaughter has no sucession rights. I assume she was not on the original tenancy agreement?
You may find it helpful to check what the Local Housing Allowence(LHA) is in your area at the level the granddaughter would qualify for. If she can't get a deposit (the local authority may be able to give her one) and you can easily let to a working tenant for a higher rent once the house is refurbished, why let to her?
In fact if she is helping her mother qualify for a higher LHA by being there it could lead to the mother having problems paying - The amount of LHA paid depends on the number of qualifying people living in the property. It would be a good idea to find out as much as you can about their circumstances and claims.
As Mum has been there 7 years you would probably have a fair amount of work to do before reletting so I would suggest only increasing the rent if she's on LHA and the rent is lower than what she is entitled to. As she's already a poor payer increasing it beyond that would probably only lead to higher arrears and much more chasing for you.
If she is 2 months in arrears you can ask for the LHA to be paid direct to you.

Helen,

You say that the tenancy is in both the Grandma and Daughter's name. Therefore the daughter is still a tenant and, I believe, the sole tenant now that the Grandma has passed away.

If so, she is directly liable for all of the rent and is able to end the tenancy by notice or by agreeing to a surrender without having to wait for probate.

Reply to the comment left by "Darlington Landlord" at "23/10/2015 - 19:57":

The Daughter is the only next of kin. Yes the Grandma is on a shorthold tenancy agreement in her name only for her property. Likewise the Daughter has a shorthold tenancy agreement in her name only for the property next door. The Daughter has been in the house 14 years and the Grandma followed and has been in 11 years, so you are right there is a huge amount of work to do in both properties before I could re-let. I obviously need to learn how the benefits system works. You have made a very interesting point regarding the possibility of the LA paying the deposit. I will try to find out more about their claims and circumstances. Thanks for your response.

Reply to the comment left by "Romain Garcin" at "23/10/2015 - 21:18":

The Grandma and Daughter both have a separate tenancy agreement for each property.

I forgot to say Mark unfortunately had a tenant die and wrote an article as well >> http://www.property118.com/my-tenant-has-died-update/33975/

Dear Helen

I am sorry to hear about the death of your tenant. I think you need to have a dialogue with the family to find out their intentions. We recently had a tenant die just three weeks after getting married (her husband only moved into the house when they got married). Luckily we have been able to deal with the late tenant's sister and husband to agree what will happen and realistic timescales for action. We have had many others over the years.

I think you need to check what basis of tenancy your tenants have as you said you bought the houses at auction 7 years ago with "sitting tenants"; it strikes we as being likely that they are not AST tenants but probably Rent Act 1977. The main issue here is one of succession rights.

In terms of contact this is difficult but most people accept that a sensitive contact after a week or so is okay.

Strictly speaking rent is due up until the date the property is satisfactorily vacated - this is often enforced by housing associations when tenants die - but in practice you may need to cut your losses to get the house back quicker.

You have raised a number of very valid questions about the process and legal issues. Without dodging the issue it sounds to me like you could do with a good local agent to assist you. There are several advantages to this approach, not least the lack of emotional attachment to the matter and the ability to provide decent professional advice. Irrespective of the quality of the relationship you may have had with the tenant and their family you may find that they have their own agenda, particularly if succession is an issue or you are seeking (entitled?) to costs or losses.

Graham Bowcock

I have checked and the tenants were on ASTs when the properties were bought. A local agent did look after quite a few off our properties for several years but they let the properties get into a terrible state and didn't do anything to earn their fee. It left a very bitter taste in my mouth.. hence I gave a well paid job to do it myself! You are right I need to have a dialogue with the family I just wasn't sure whether or not it was acceptable to make contact before the funeral. Many thanks Helen

Reply to the comment left by "Helen " at "26/10/2015 - 21:49":

I was in a similar situation recently and kept up sympathetic communication with the tenants throughout. I did forego some rent and costs I could have claimed but morally felt it was the right thing to do.
Understandably they have a lot on their minds so its fine to explain the situation with the tenancy and probate as otherwise they wouldn't have a clue what needed to be done and would end up owing more to the utilities and council tax.
If you will be organising a refurbishment you will need a definate date when tradesmen can start.

If you have a local landlords association its worth joining when you are doing your own management - in almost any situation someone else will have "been there done that".
If you are in the North East I could make some suggestions

Luckily my husband does the refurbs so that makes life easier! Thanks for the offer, but I am based in West Yorks. I have joined the NLA but never considered a local association, I didn't even know they existed. I will make enquiries - great advice thanks.

Helen