I just had a tenant pass away. What steps do i need to take? I want to ensure i am doing everything properly. The tenant’s adult son wants to stay in the home, and I’m ok with that. How do i verify that the son has taken ownership?
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All you need to do is screen the son to insure he is a qualified applicant. Have him sign a new lease with the new rent rate. Whether he ownes the home or not is irrelevant, any family he has will straighten out the ownership. If he dosn’t own it they will boot him out and you will then need to screen a new applicant.
What you care about is who is in the home living on your property not who ownes the home.
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Yes and no.
If it was TOH and the son is staying. Yes on screening and new lease.
However, if the home is TOH that paperwork needs to be updated and provided to you as well for your on site documentation of ownership. Plus it needs to be updated to make sure all the ducks are in a row for that home owners insurance and his annual property taxes if your state carries those. Trailers can be gifted so there may just be a transfer fee or something. You have to bring the death cert and old title, a bill of sale (can be written at-home, could be a will that states ownership change), and ID and go to the county office basically, just like any other mobile home transfer. Thats local to me it might be different where you are.
Also, give the son the resource info in writing on a letter with a deadline thats reasonable for this, 2- 3 months is usually sufficient to complete the transfer, my point on the recommended time line is because other things are more important right now and my experience has shown this is timely enough so its not forgotten by the new home owner. Details like office location, what to bring, deadline, etc. Set him up for success and it makes a good form letter to add to your stack.
Have him bring you his receipt proof from the county desk for his on site file as well and then the copy when received if its mailed or whatever. so you can take a copy and follow the chain of the process. Paper holds up in court better than verbal just in case something goes sideways later he needs to be able to provide title ownership and you need that proof.
There’s a lot to deal with as a family member of a deceased party, besides mourning, and this can become an issue if you don’t have proper documentation.
Also calendar a follow up to check in on this resident if they don’t perform - I send a reminder letter 2 weeks before due date and then follow up on due date. Again, set up for success, this costs a stamp and a few minutes time vs an eviction down the road for unscreened tenants/squatters.
Also verify what you have in your rules and or lease regarding this subject. If there isn’t anything in your docs regarding how to handle this situation, its time to update the lease with a lawyer, and provide it to the tenants of the park. You need basically a next of kin clause but its called something else. And the verbiage should be covering all the aspects of transferring ownership due to something like this.
Hope this helps.
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