By Robert Griswold
Question: I have been renting a home for almost eight years. Five years ago, the titled owner passed away, and the property now is in probate court where the sole daughter is fighting to claim ownership. I have continued making my monthly rent payments to the daughter. I have no written agreement with her. The lines of communication between the daughter and myself have deteriorated and I am unable to address any repair issues relating to the house with her. Is it possible to set up an account of some sort where I would pay my monthly rent until the probate issue was resolved?
Tenants' attorney Kellman replies:
Whatever rental agreement you had with the owner transferred to the heirs when the owner died. That rental agreement surely has terminated by the passage of time by now and would then have reverted to a month-to-month agreement. Even if no written agreement existed or currently exists with the heirs, the law will impose a month-to-month agreement on the payment and acceptance of monthly rent.
You have the same rights to repairs regardless of the ongoing probate case. You should treat the daughter as the landlord since she has been accepting your rent without any objection from the family or court for five years. If she refuses to make repairs, you may invoke your rights under law where you make a written demand for repairs, and after a reasonable time without any response, you make the repair and deduct the cost from the rent. You may also take the more drastic action of withholding rent until repairs are made. In both cases you must be sure that the defects are significant and the repairs are really needed.
Document everything you do for your protection. You may also simply contact the attorneys representing the parties for guidance. If they do not agree on what you should do (being no surprise that attorneys disagree on something), you may contact the probate court directly for guidance. Putting the rent in a separate account will probably not help you unless that account is required or approved by the probate court.
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