Sudden passing away of tenant

OolaOwl

Hi all

I need some advice please. I have a house that i rent out for the last number of yrs. I did have a young family living in it for the last 4 odd yrs. The couple separated and the wife left with their 2 children over a yr ago. The husband didn't cope with this very well and unfortunately took his own life in the property at the beginning of Sept. His father had been staying with him with the last number of months in the house which i was unaware of. When the tenant passed i was not notified and his father continued to live in the property.On the 16th November i noticed there was no rent in the bank and tried making contact with the tenant but could not get him. Anyway to cut a long story short i eventually made contact with his ex wife who told me what had happened. I eventually met and spoke to his dad and he said he was living elsewhere now .He told me he would sort out all loose ends ie utility bills etc. So i now have a new tenant that moved in yesterday but i do notice that there are letters coming in from utility companies looking for payment. The bills are in his ex wifes name. So my question is if the bills are not settled am i liable for the balance owed ?I have not rung the utility company as the dad said he was doing it. Sorry for the long post. Any help would be appreciated. TIA

Graham

I don't see any reason why you would be held responsible for the bills in the ex-tenants name.

It's an awkward situation as you obviously don't want to upset the family but as the bills are addressed to the ex-wife, I think you should be forwarding them on. If the ex-wife/father want to sort them out between them, that's really down to them.

Make sure all of the utilities are now in the name of the new tenant.

OolaOwl

Graham wrote: »

I don't see any reason why you would be held responsible for the bills in the ex-tenants name.

It's an awkward situation as you obviously don't want to upset the family but as the bills are addressed to the ex-wife, I think you should be forwarding them on. If the ex-wife/father want to sort them out between them, that's really down to them.

Make sure all of the utilities are now in the name of the new tenant.

Thanks for your reply. The ex wife has returned to Poland and i dont have any postal details for her. The only way i was able to find her was on FB ( how times have changed ! ) and i suspect if i ask her for details she wont give them to me. It seems to have been a very messy split and his father does not want any contact with her either and i really do not want to get involved in a family feud.

Gumbo

I would simply returm the letters to the post box and clearly write on the envelope "nobody here by that name"

Ms Doubtfire1

would agree, owner of the debt is the name owner, not the address. Handy if you would have an adress for the exwife.

Lux23

Ms Doubtfire1 wrote: »

would agree, owner of the debt is the name owner, not the address. Handy if you would have an adress for the exwife.

Would that be a data protection breach? And a horrible thing to do to a recently widowed woman.

looksee

Spouses have to do all sorts of convoluted sorting out after being widowed, regardless of the circumstances. If the letters are addressed to the widow then they are her letters, but if no-one has an address for her then all the op can do is return them. Would be no harm to cover himself though by saying to the service providers that the wife left twelve months ago with no forwarding address, and the husband has died.

Ms Doubtfire1

agreed. Otherwise Op will end up having his services disconnected. Communication is a must. Since everyone uses the facility the service provider shouldn't have  a big issue locating the Lady.

Hoboo

Ms Doubtfire1 wrote: »

agreed. Otherwise Op will end up having his services disconnected. Communication is a must. Since everyone uses the facility the service provider shouldn't have  a big issue locating the Lady.

In Poland?

Ms Doubtfire1

Hoboo wrote: »

Ms Doubtfire1 wrote: »

agreed. Otherwise Op will end up having his services disconnected. Communication is a must. Since everyone uses the facility the service provider shouldn't have  a big issue locating the Lady.

In Poland?

oops. Never saw that post. I would think that it has to come out of the husbands estate. everything else is still valid. Communicate.

OolaOwl

Lux23 wrote: »

Would that be a data protection breach? And a horrible thing to do to a recently widowed woman.

Data protection breach in what way ?

Graham

Lux23 wrote: »

Would that be a data protection breach? And a horrible thing to do to a recently widowed woman.

As the bills are in the ex-wifes name how is there a data protection breech?

One of the unfortunate things surrounding someones death is others are left to sort out their affairs. While it's appropriate to be sympathetic, there is no way around this.

It's certainly not a 'horrible thing to do' it's a necessary thing to do.

OolaOwl

Just spoke to supplier and they dont seem too worried. Just said to get new tenant to call and set up new account.

BrokenArrows

OolaOwl wrote: »

Just spoke to supplier and they dont seem too worried. Just said to get new tenant to call and set up new account.

Also tell the new tenant to take any bills in anyone elses names and just cross out the delivery address and write NOT AT THIS ADDRESS. RETURN TO SENDER.

BettePorter

Nothing will happen ...The utilities are owed by the person on the bill , not by the address. New tenant , new name on account , new start. The only problem that could arise for the ex wife is if she applied again for another account ...and given she's returned to Poland that's unlikely . Happens all the time ....tenants leaving balances owing.

OolaOwl

Yes it seems it will just be followed up by the utility company. Thank you for all advice and replies , i appreciate it.