Sandra Bonilla, 91, died in late June. A resident of the Lodge at Shavano Park Apartments for 10 years, she was survived by children including David Naterman, her son. The landlord has billed her family $15,676 because in death Bonilla broke her lease. Texas explicitly provides for lease cancellation upon death, and Naterman says he completed the paperwork, not that the demand would pass muster elsewhere.
"I think it's pretty unusual, I've never heard of anybody trying to charge an estate or somebody who is deceased for rent before," said Bill Clanton, an attorney who specializes in consumer and debt collection law.
Clanton says a section of the Texas Property Code (sec. 92.0162) states a representative of the tenant's estate may "avoid liability for future rent" if they take two steps: Remove all property from the apartment and provide a written notice of termination. The landlord can only charge up to 30 days rent after the notice is received.
"The landlord can charge for about 30 days once the lease is terminated, you can't get blood from a turnip and you certainly can't get rent from a dead person," Clanton said.
You don't inherit debts in any case. Even absent the law cancelling her lease, the only conceivable claim would be upon the lessee's estate, not her family. How many bereaved families over the years have coughed up because they didn't know any better?
