Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

renters rights upon death

My mother died last Wednesday and was renting a house. Now that the funeral is over, my sister and I have begun cleaning out her house. As she was a compulsive shopper this is going to take us quite a while and her landlord began calling us at least twice a day, starting the day after her death, demanding to be let in the house to see what repairs need to be made so she can rerent it. My mom was a month late on her rent.Also, my sister's name was also on the lease.I'm going by tomorrow to pay the back rent but What are our rights here? Does tha landlord have a right to harrass us? Thanks.


Asked on 11/07/08, 5:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Brent Rose The Orsini & Rose Law Firm

Re: renters rights upon death

The law is not clear on what happen to a landlord when a tenant dies. The tenancy ends, but the landlord is stuck with the property.

Here's why:

When a tenant skips out, a landlord can follow a procedure to sell the property for the rent. When a tenant dies, however, the property belongs to the deceased tenant's estate, not the tenant, so the landlord can't follow the usual procedure for selling the property. In fact, no one knows if the property can even be sold. There's no law on it.

If you pay the rent, I don't see how the landlord could complain. The landlord has the right to bug you, but not harass you. You'd have to be more specific about what you mean by "harass" before we could say whether what the landlord is doing is unlawful.

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Answered on 11/09/08, 11:32 am


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