When a renter dies

The belongings

In Victoria, Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) says that most often the other side will be dealing with the person’s legal representative (an executor or an administrator, for example) or with their next of kin, a family member. Its advice to whoever is now responsible is to contact the rental provider or real estate agent to make arrangements for the belongings. It adds that the rental provider may also follow the procedures for uncollected goods. Room 2 covers goods left behind by renters in Victoria.

In Queensland, the Residential Tenancies Authority (RTA) says the legal representative or administrator is responsible for removing any of the belongings left at the rental.

When the rental agreement ends

Victoria, when the renter was the only renter

The agreement ends on the earliest of these dates:

• a date the rental provider gives in a notice to vacate to the renter’s representative
• a date the representative gives in a notice of intention to vacate to the rental provider
• a date the two agree on and record in writing
• a date VCAT decides, if the rental provider applies because they can’t contact the representative.

For a fixed-term agreement, either notice can give a date before the term was due to end. If the representative arranges for the home to be vacated before any of those dates, no rent is owed once it has been vacated.

Queensland, when the person was the only tenant

For a general tenancy or a moveable dwelling, the tenancy ends on whichever of these happens:

• 14 days after the representative or administrator gives the property manager or owner written notice that the agreement is ending because of the death
• 14 days after the property manager or owner gives the representative or administrator that written notice
• a day the two agree on
• a day QCAT decides, after the property manager or owner applies.

If none of these happens, it ends one month after the death, for fixed-term and periodic agreements alike. A short-term agreement for a moveable dwelling ends two days after the death. In rooming accommodation the same four apply with 7 days in place of 14, and if none happens, the agreement ends 14 days after the death.

If the renter shared the home

In Victoria, a co-renter’s death does not end the rental agreement automatically, and the other renters’ rights and responsibilities carry on. If the person who died was a joint bond-holder, their share of the bond passes to the surviving co-renters.

In Queensland, the remaining tenants can carry on the tenancy, give notice to end it if carrying on would be impractical or cause excessive hardship, or work out with the property manager or owner for a new tenant to move in on a new agreement. The co-tenants cannot claim the share of the bond paid by the person who died; only that person’s estate can. Any debts the person who died ran up may be negotiated between the property manager or owner, the remaining tenants and the representative, though in the end the property manager or owner follows the ordinary process to recover a debt from the estate.

The bond and the paperwork

Victoria

Where the renter was the only name on the bond, the Residential Tenancies Bond Authority needs three things: a bond claim or renter transfer form signed by both the rental provider and the representative; proof of death; and a statutory declaration from the representative who signed the form. Proof of death can be a full death certificate, an interim death certificate issued by the coroner, a funeral director’s invoice, or probate or letters of administration. Attaching paper documents means using a paper form rather than an online bond transaction. If the representative and the rental provider can’t agree on how to divide the bond, either can apply to VCAT.

Queensland

The first time a representative or administrator deals with the RTA, they need documents showing their authority to act: a death certificate or interim death certificate, and a grant of probate, letters of administration or, where there is neither, a statutory declaration. The RTA cannot accept a copy of a will or an enduring power of attorney as that proof. A bond refund for the person who died uses the Refund of rental bond form (Form 4), signed by the representative or administrator.