Never had this happen before. One of our tenants passed away (not in our apartment) last month. His family contacted our resident manager and worked on cleaning out the apartment, leaving it in good condition. We will be refunding the SD we have held. His daughter has Power of Attorney. How should the Security Deposit Refund Check be made out for the refund?

Power of Attorney ceases when someone dies. Is she now the executor of the his will? That is the person in charge of see that bills are paid and the rest of the money is distributed as the deceased wished.

Annie,

We've never had any remaining deposit to refund in such a situation. The deceased's deposit was always gobbled up by rent during the move out phase, cleaning, unpaid sewer bill (in Indiana it becomes a lien on your property), re-rent period...

Also, my lease is clear: rent at move out is for full months only and is not prorated.

I hate to sound like a meanie but the former res has now dumped a lot of work on ME to re-rent the property. THAT is what deposits are for - to protect my business by not letting their problem become mine, not absorbing costs out of emotion.

The funeral director gets paid for his services. LL should too.

Perhaps discount the June rent if you can get it re-rented quickly.

When my parents died we did everything we could to pay off all their bills.

Again, not to sound mean but to stay professional and not let emotions run my business.

We have leases and policies to cover such situations becasue they are part of everyday LLing and sooner or later each LL will be dealing with this.

We set the rules and procedures in print and everyone agrees before signing and keys are passed.

This is fair to everyone - the deceased, the relatives, and all our other residents. EVERYONE is treated the same with respect and dignity.

It would be disrespectful to the LL for a relative to demand special treatment.

Any funds should be provided with a written Deposit Settlement statement and a check to the resident, just like every move out.

A lease is between the owner and the person(s) LIVING there.

Lease ends at death......and a ELT doesn't apply if the Lord suddenly evicted you.

You are in a tricky situation. You will want to cooperate with the family to make sure the place is emptied out as quickly as possible. At he same time, you are opening up yourself to the possibility of getting sued by not following the state approved probate method - which is months long.

Having the deceased family member write out a short note requesting the refund and IDing themselves as the estate's representative will provide you some level of protection but any which way you slice it, you will be walking a tight wire.

In the military, you can do the right thing, the wrong thing or nothing (which is always wrong)

From the lease used in my area - approved by all the magistrates: