Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Virginia
My dad was named administrator/executor of my great aunt's estate over 10 years ago. This included my great grandmother's home which is "heired" property to over 70 individuals. At the time an elderly woman rented the home for $350 mo. My 80 year dad collected the rent, paid the taxes and repaired the place daily with the paltry sum. In order to alleviate him of the responsibility of the place he twice hired an attorney to contact all "heirs" concerning selling the home. For some reason all were not in agreement since profit would be minimal. Things proceeded as they were until family of the elderly renter decided she could no longer live alone in the house and moved her elsewhere. Now my dad, who knows nothing of being a landlord, is in the process of cleaning the place up and letting to another tenant for $350 monthly since it's in the worse neighborhood imagineable and needs work. He doesn't know what he's getting into and I feel that he cannot legally rent the place out since he does not own it. What are your thoughts?
2 Answers from Attorneys
This property should've been disposed of years ago when your great
aunt's estate was settled and presumably closed out. Your father had best
get back to either the attorneys he previously consulted or with new counsel
who has some understanding and experience with Virginia real property
as well as probate law to determine what he should now do at this late date to disentangle himself from what appears to be a lingering physical as well as legal mess, so to speak.
I agree with Mr. Hendrickson. Real property generally does not pass through the probate estate, so he has no authority over it as administrator unless the will directed that it be sold. Basically, some of the heirs/devisees are going to have to petition the court for a sale in lieu of partition, and the proceeds will be divided among the owners in accordance with their shares. This can be complicated, particularly if you do not know who the rightful owners are or where they are. Meanwhile, any one owner can theoretically rent it out, BUT they don't have complete title, so the lease is still subject to the rights to use the property belonging to the other owners, which can create big problems. This needs to be dealt with soon, before 70 owners expands any further.
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