I have been living in a basement apt for over 10yrs and taking care of whole property including shoveling, lawn garbage replaced water heater / pest control. Now about 6yrs ago landlord died and no one has come around. Maybe 1 or 2 times in 6 years, and now I've rented apt upstairs because the repairs are too much. Now someone finally came around today with a letter for the tenants that they are tresspassing and have to move and soon I should receive a letter. I haven't paid rent since owner died, nor did anyone ever try to collect. What's next for my tennents? Me? Do I have a right to house? To live here? I'm pretty sure my apt is illegal basement dwelling

The owner can evict you at any time if you don't have a lease.

You haven't paid rent in 6 years and you're surprised that you are being evicted?

No, you have no rights to the house and/or to live there.

Doesn't matter if the basement apartment is illegal. The time to raise that issue was when you lived there.

I'm confused because you said you "rented" the upstairs... and then you say you haven't paid rent in 6 years. It's one or the other.

No, in fact you and anyone living there may be sued for back rents. You have no right to live there.
Also who sent the letter? But at his death, someone owned the property, If you were the care taker it was your duty to find out , though probate or the recorder of deed office.

It's a 2 family house. I rented one of the apartments so I can make repairs on the house. The owner knows I'm here and needs me to care for the house, however he said he would like me dto move out about 3or 4 years ago but never showed up again. Nor do I have contact info ,which is why I have to pay for things like water heaters and such. The owner also pays for the utilities that I use. The only lease I have is the one I signed before the owners death which I believe was month to month. Im not worried so much about me as I am the people I rented to. They have a baby and put a lot into the apt. would they be considered tresspassing? They have been living there since August of this year and have their own utilites in their name.im assuming that they will try to evict us both ,but that could take time correct?

First, I believe you had a right to remain in the property after the death of the owner (how did you find out about that, by the way?). But what you should have done is a) make at least a good faith effort to find out who inherited the property and b) continue to pay your rent into an escrow account until the new owner was established. You could have taken the cost of repairs out of that account, but you would have needed to keep a strict accounting.

What you had NO right to do is rent out any part of the premises and pocket that money, no matter what you used it for. Again, you may be saved if you kept very meticulous records of what you spent to maintain the property.

By saved, I mean not go to jail. Renting the property was criminal fraud since you had no right to do so.

If I were the owners, I would sue you for 6 years of back rent, and the rent you collected from the tenants. And they have a better chance of winning then you do. If you can prove what you spent to maintain the property, a court MIGHT deduct that from what you owe the owners.

As for the illegal tenants you rented to, they can prosecute you for fraud and maybe sue you for what they paid. They have no right to live on the property and the owners can evict them if they don't vacate.

I would be talking to a lawyer if I were you.

Ive tried to find the owners on many occasions, and they refused to make contact. I understand what I did was wrong and I'm not contesting that. Most of the rent was used for repairs ,no receipts though. Would I still owe back rent even though my apartment cannot be legally rented? Does it matter that I sleep next to hot water heaters and boilers? And have toxic mold due to multiple flooding ? That the current owner left the apt full of food and then was infested with mice, roaches and fleas? I mentioning all this due to fact ,I was lead to believe I wouldn't be responible for back rent

Who lead you to believe you wouldn't be responsible? I will admit its not a slam dunk, but that you chose to stay in those conditions. You lived rent free for 6 years. Even given the conditions, that is probably worth over $30K.

And without receipts to show what you purchased, you have little proof you did anything but live rent free. Now all that might not have been a big deal. The current owner would just evict you. But renting the property to someone else was a criminal act.