[Grammyh]

If a person lives in a house and pays rent but there is no rental agreement, when the owner of the home passes away, can the person paying rent claim that the home owner
Verbally told her she have the house, after the home owner dies, and there is no paper work stating this, can the person paying the rent keep the home?

************************************************** ************************************
**** Ok I renamed it when I moved it to the real estate law section. Since
1. it is real estate
2. the renter is not a squatter by any meaning of the word
3. they want to take ownership of a house away from the legal owner
Fr Chuck

[Alty]

I would think that the will would determine who the house goes to.

You don't have a legal claim to the home, you're a renter.

Are you a family member?

I'm not a legal expert, but a renter getting the house just because the home owner dies, that doesn't make any sense to me. Of course the law often doesn't make sense.

A legal expert should be a long shortly to answer your question.

[LisaB4657]

An oral agreement for the transfer of real estate is unenforceable. So a court would not give you ownership of the property based on your claim that the owner promised it to you verbally.

There is no such thing as squatter's rights anymore. It's been replaced by the law of adverse possession. One of the requirements of adverse possession is that you would have to be in possession of the house for a certain number of years without the owner's permission. Since you had the owner's permission while they were alive, the time for adverse possession wouldn't start until they passed away.

Unless you are an heir or a beneficiary under the will it appears that you don't have a claim to the house.

[Fr_Chuck]

Agreed, the house will either go to a co-owner if there is one, or it will go into Probate court in the estate of the owner.
So who ever is the legal heir of the person who died will get ownership of the property.

*** if there is never a claim in court, it will at some point go to the state for taxes and be sold at a tax sale ( no you just paying the taxes does not give you any ownership)

You as a renter need to find out who the heir is, since you owe any and all rents to them, since the death of the owner. So put that rent money into the bank, till you find out who they are.

[ScottGem]

A few other points to add. This site cannot and will not condone illegal activity. And that's what you are proposing here. You are proposing committing a fraud to steal the property.

You are a renter, not a squatter and therefore you owe the owner of the property the rental even if you have not been contacted about it.

Finally, please don't start a new thread with the same question.