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Is unpaid rent useless if the tenant is (literally) gone forever? (piefed.social)

submitted 2 days ago by SilentStriker@piefed.social to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

8 comments fedilink hide all child comments

The scenario is: landlord or lady intends to ask the tenant about the rent (because money from their account is not there to be withdrawn from) only finding the tenant's corpse, meaning they are not alive. Whether there is foul play involved or it's self inflicted (suicide): does that circumstance alone just "erase" the tenant's due rent?

It may be shifted onto the roommates (if he has one, but in this case there're none) and even they had company: it's not their problem as the landlord or lady only speaks to the tenant who signed the lease but that's not possible since the tenant passed. Would the landlord or lady just ask for the tenant's last will & testament instead?

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[–] originalucifer@moist.catsweat.com 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

i would expect there is a thing they would call the persons 'effects' or 'estate' which can have a negative valuation. the landlord could file a claim against the dead persons effects, and receive compensation from that.... maybe

[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 10 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

To add to that, though, if the dead person's estate isn't enough to cover the back rent, the landlord has no recourse. They can't go after (for example) the deceased person's family for the money, unless those family members were specifically cosigners on the lease. (At least in the US; this could vary in other countries, but that's not an area I'm knowledgeable about.)

[–] evasive_chimpanzee@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

They can't go after (for example) the deceased person's family for the money, unless those family members were specifically cosigners on the lease.

This is "cant" as in "they dont have standing to", not "cant" as in "they are legally prohibited from".

Debt collectors can, and often do try to collect from heirs. The heirs dont have to pay, but they often dont know that, and the debt collectors obviously wouldn't tell them.