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My landlord died and his son wants to change the lease agreement. Is that his right? What are my rights?
Can he make changes without any legal forms or without the probate being done?
Wonder what the lease says regarding incapacity of one of the parties.
Found this when a tenant passes in California...
If the deceased tenant had a lease agreement for a specified term, the tenancy continues to the end, even though the tenant is dead. Responsibility for the lease agreement passes to the deceased tenant's executor as named by the court. If the tenant had a month-to-month lease agreement, notice of the tenant's death acts as the end of the lease, and the executor's responsibility ends 30 days after the tenant last paid rent. For example, if the tenant last paid rent on April 5, then died on April 20, the rental agreement ends on May 5. Lease agreements cannot pass onto survivors, according to California law.
Now the interesting twist is with Section 8 the lease stops on the date of death... and I had this happen twice and it was quite time consuming because the owner is left to tie up all the lose ends...
Both tenants passed away in the hospital... one was having scheduled surgery and the other called 911... both were heart related.
In simplest terms, the lease stays with the home, meaning whoever inherits the home in inherits the lease, essentially. This party may not make unilateral changes to the lease, just as your previous landlord could not.
Are you still on an annual lease, or did it already expire and now it's month-to-month lease?
If on month to month, the lease terms can change given proper notice; if still on an annual lease, he cannot change terms until it expires unless both parties agree to the change.
Now the interesting twist is with Section 8 the lease stops on the date of death... and I had this happen twice and it was quite time consuming because the owner is left to tie up all the lose ends...
Interesting, I've had a section 8 tenant die and they paid rent for 30 days past the date of death to allow removal of belongings by the emergency contact and/or cleanup by us.
Back to the OP, I agree with others. Terms of a written agreement that is still in place (ie not expired) cannot be changed without both parties approval. It's the same as if the property sold to a 3rd party. They still have to honor the remaining terms of any written lease. Now, if the lease is month to month, they can change anything they want (within the law) or just give you notice to vacate.
The probate part is interesting though. Does the son actually own the house right now? If not, he can't make any changes at all, even if you are month to month. In that case, the real question would be, who do you pay your rent to? The house could have been in a trust that passed to the son upon the father's death, in which case, there is no probate. That's how my grandma's rentals were set up.
How long ago did the landlord die? Have you received written notice of who the new owner is and where rent is to be paid to? You'll want that in writing, signed, in case the person you pay doesn't have ownership.
My landlord died, been in house for 20 years. Different family trying to collect rent. No will, nothing in writing to us. No wife or kids
Landlord had stated he would leave us house. We think family is hiding something what do we do?
You pay your rent to the named landlord at the address listed in your lease. If the payment is returned, you keep it unopened and unspent until the estate is settled and a legal right to collect rent is established. If all else fails, you may be able to deposit the rent money into a trust account with the courts. Consult some qualified legal assistance (attorney or legal aid) as to the proper and best next steps.
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