My father lived in an apartment 24 years. He died mid October. My siblings and I cleaned out his apartment by the end of the month. (The owner of the building/landlord said he was paid until the end of the month, and also demanded my fathers truck be moved by then). Everything was moved/cleaned/completed by October 31st, and we ran into the owner/landlord in the parking lot and he said to leave the keys on the counter. We then sent a letter requesting the security deposit and he sends a reply letter saying he's keeping it, that my fathers' lease didn't expire until Jan 2012. And he is charging us November and part of December for breaking the lease. So instead of $1300, he sent us a check for $155. He said there is some law in the Truth & Renting booklet that states he can do that. He never had the decency to tell us the lease expired in January, and we spoke to him about 4 times. He knew from the start that he was going to keep that security deposit. Anyway, my father died, how is that breaking the lease? PLEASE HELP! Should we take him to small claims court or is he protected by that booklet? There is nothing in the lease agreement stating a dead person can break a lease.

Hello f:

You can't hold a dead man to a lease... Whomever the executor is needs to write the landlord a certified letter, return receipt requested, DEMANDING the full deposit back or he will be sued... Give him 10 days to comply, and if he doesn't, SUE him. Small claims court is quick, cheap and easy.

excon

First, my condolences on your loss.

While a landlord can't hold a deceased person to a lease (NJ law 46:8-9-1) requires a certain process to break the lease. Here is a link to the code section:

New Jersey Statutes - Title 46 Property - 46:8-9.1 Termination on death - New Jersey Attorney Resources - New Jersey Laws

Basically, you had to give the landlord 40 days WRITTEN notice that the lease was being terminated. That's why he's saying you owe Nov and part of Dec. I suspect you didn't give him the written notice, but he's using your relinquishing the keys as the start of that 40 days.

So, I'm afraid, he's legally in the right. The fact that he returned part of the deposit means the there is no more the estate will owe.

I do have to agree, at the best, you will owe Nov rent, I am sorry for your loss but it appears that the landlord is within their rights