Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Re: breaking tenants lease

Did you go through probate? Who leased the homes to the people that are in there now? Did your mother lease them? If the lease period has expired, and a month to month tenancy has been created, you can have the tenants move by giving them the proper notice, assuming that you are in probate.

Very truly yours,

Re: breaking tenants lease

Death of the landlord does not terminate a lease. The leases of the homes remain in effect. The successor owner(s) (heirs) become the new landlord(s). The leases cannot lawfully be terminated unless there is another ground to do so, such as a tenant's material breach of the lease terms, or (occasionally) the lease itself will contain a provision that it terminates upon sale of the property or the landlord's death, but this is rare.

You are of course not prohibited from selling the houses to settle the estate, but you will have to sell them as tenant-occupied income property, and subject to the existing leases. This happens all the time, as witness the number of apartment buildings listed for sale by investor-owners.

Another possibility is to wait until the leases expire; then you can sell them as vacant houses suitable for occupancy by the buyer. This might be a good strategy given the current poor state of the residential housing market in much of California - you'll have income to offset expenses in the short run, and later on you can list and sell the houses in what will hopefully be a stronger market.

In any event, be sure you're following all probate laws and rules in handling the estate, and since you are also thrust into the capacity of "landlords pro tem" you might want to buy a self-help (Nolo, etc.) book on how to be a landlord.

I should perhaps add that the death of a tenant terminates a month-to-month tenancy as of the last day of the last month in which the tenant paid rent while alive, but there is no similar rule for rental termination upon the landlord's death.

Re: breaking tenants lease

There may be some practical, expedient things you can do in this situation Feel free to call or email.