What are my rights if my landlord passed away and the new owners want us to move so that their daughter can move in?
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What are my rights if my landlord passed away and the new owners want us to move so that their daughter can move in?
We have a lease that’s good for another 8 months. Do they have to honor it becaue they are telling us that because our landlord died that the lease is null and void?
Asked on August 16, 2015 under Real Estate Law, Ohio
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
If the lease was with the old landlord personally (not with an LLC or corporation which owned the property), then it would terminate when the old landlord him/herself "terminated" (so to speak): that's because the lease is a contract, and a contractual obligation of person A does not pass to his/her heirs or benefiaries. So yes, unless you were contracted with some business entity, then the lease would be over and the property's new owners (the heirs, or anyone who bought the home from the estate or the heirs) does not need to honor it, but rather can remove you from the property.
Removing you will take them a few weeks or possibly a bit longer, and cost them some money. Best would be to work out some arrangment where you will voluntarily move out by some mutually-agreeable date.
On the other hand, if the lease was with an LLC or corporation which owned the property for the landlord, then it may still be in effect, if that LLC or corporation still exists, even if someone else now owns the business.
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