Guardianship and exposure to debt collections.

[ajinaz]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I am legal guardian of adult mentally disabled person. He receives only SSI that pays for his rent. He lives in apartment with caregiver. Lease is no longer valid as it was executed by deceased mother. Can landlord do anything to me or anyone else for that matter if he and caregiver move out and don't pay last months rent?

 

[Zigner]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Arizona

I am legal guardian of adult mentally disabled person. He receives only SSI that pays for his rent. He lives in apartment with caregiver. Lease is no longer valid as it was executed by deceased mother. Can landlord do anything to me or anyone else for that matter if he and caregiver move out and don't pay last months rent?

LL can sue the estate of the deceased mother. LL can also sue your ward (and you, if you live there)

 

[ajinaz]

LL can sue the estate of the deceased mother. LL can also sue your ward (and you, if you live there)

That is what I thought. The estate is insolvent and only the ward and caregiver have lived there since passing.
That's all I need to know is that in Arizona the landlord can't come after the guardian. I am also the executor so I have a complete accounting of the estate. Medical bills wiped it out.
The ward is fully mentally disabled and only has SSI as income. Caregiver also only receives SSI. Neither will ever have need of credit and ward is not legally able to enter into any legal agreement.

I'll post another question about this mess in another thread.

 

[FarmerJ]

To say they wont need credit is not exactly a good choice, LLs all over frequently do check for court histories of prospective tenants when reviewing applications , Most LLs wont care what the details were as to why a tenant had to be taken to court for nonpayment , they automatically reject the application , same goes with many housing programs too. Since the lease was in the parents name and parent is dead the best thing to do likely is to plan on finding a new place via a housing program that can house the DD adult , your states services for VAs & ARC are good places to start to find out whats available. The LL needs to be informed via certified mail what is going on and if the current residents are going to be in the unit in oct the rent should be paid to protect their ability to be able to rent other units even if in a housing prog. NO the LL cannot win if they go after you as gaurdian BUT that doesnt mean the LL wont be angelic about it if they attempt to self help evict the tenants. What you would want to do is keep in mind your supposed to protect the clients best interest and even if some one like CC, LSS, Salv A can assist paying one more months rent while you transition them to new housing then no one can claim your not doing all you can to meet your clients need. ( VA- client - consumer- family member) BTW new housing might be a better choice for the safety of the VA.

 

[ajinaz]

To say they wont need credit is not exactly a good choice, LLs all over frequently do check for court histories of prospective tenants when reviewing applications , Most LLs wont care what the details were as to why a tenant had to be taken to court for nonpayment , they automatically reject the application , same goes with many housing programs too. Since the lease was in the parents name and parent is dead the best thing to do likely is to plan on finding a new place via a housing program that can house the DD adult , your states services for VAs & ARC are good places to start to find out whats available. The LL needs to be informed via certified mail what is going on and if the current residents are going to be in the unit in oct the rent should be paid to protect their ability to be able to rent other units even if in a housing prog. NO the LL cannot win if they go after you as gaurdian BUT that doesnt mean the LL wont be angelic about it if they attempt to self help evict the tenants. What you would want to do is keep in mind your supposed to protect the clients best interest and even if some one like CC, LSS, Salv A can assist paying one more months rent while you transition them to new housing then no one can claim your not doing all you can to meet your clients need. ( VA- client - consumer- family member) BTW new housing might be a better choice for the safety of the VA.

Thanks so much for your reply. Let me see if I can clarify this further. We are in the process of buying a new house for the disabled brother. We are scheduled to close on the home in two weeks. We were able to do this because of a life insurance policy left to me with an informal understanding that I would purchase a home for him to live in.
The problem is I believe that the landlord (who is aware of the situation) is trying to rip him off on water charges (see other thread by me). Meanwhile, the caregiver still owes this LL money from a rental several years ago. The landlord has also told other tenants that she will never return the security deposit because the caregiver owes her money. She said that we can't prove what the place looked like years ago when mother moved in (we can't) so she will just keep the money.
I just think it would be easier to avoid the whole thing and just get the deposit back by not paying the rent for October.
I know it sounds silly but I have a strong suspicion that she has been ripping off my elderly mother for years.

 

[Zigner]

Thanks so much for your reply. Let me see if I can clarify this further. We are in the process of buying a new house for the disabled brother. We are scheduled to close on the home in two weeks. We were able to do this because of a life insurance policy left to me with an informal understanding that I would purchase a home for him to live in.
The problem is I believe that the landlord (who is aware of the situation) is trying to rip him off on water charges (see other thread by me). Meanwhile, the caregiver still owes this LL money from a rental several years ago. The landlord has also told other tenants that she will never return the security deposit because the caregiver owes her money. She said that we can't prove what the place looked like years ago when mother moved in (we can't) so she will just keep the money.
I just think it would be easier to avoid the whole thing and just get the deposit back by not paying the rent for October.
I know it sounds silly but I have a strong suspicion that she has been ripping off my elderly mother for years.

Really? Seems to me that the EASIEST way to avoid any problems would be to pay for October and not even expect the deposit back.
Think about it as the EXECUTOR...any deposit that comes back would need to be used towards the creditors of the estate anyway...

I mean - that's what an ethical administrator of an estate would do, so I'm SURE you would do that, right?

 

[ajinaz]

Really? Seems to me that the EASIEST way to avoid any problems would be to pay for October and not even expect the deposit back.
Think about it as the EXECUTOR...any deposit that comes back would need to be used towards the creditors of the estate anyway...

I mean - that's what an ethical administrator of an estate would do, so I'm SURE you would do that, right?

That's exactly the point. The estate is closed (zero owed, zero balance) so the deposit would be put into ward's account. I hate thinking that someone has money that could be his. Taking money from a disabled person is morally and ethically reprehensible to me.

 

[Zigner]

That's exactly the point. The estate is closed (zero owed, zero balance) so the deposit would be put into ward's account. I hate thinking that someone has money that could be his. Taking money from a disabled person is morally and ethically reprehensible to me.

This is NOT the ward's money.

 

[FarmerJ]

?? how many years did your mom live there ?

 

[ajinaz]

?? how many years did your mom live there ?

At least 8

 

[ajinaz]

This is NOT the ward's money.

Whose money is it? I guess I'm confused. The will states that after all obligations are paid, the remaining money goes to the ward.

 

[Who's Liable?]

Meanwhile, the caregiver still owes this LL money from a rental several years ago. The landlord has also told other tenants that she will never return the security deposit because the caregiver owes her money. She said that we can't prove what the place looked like years ago when mother moved in (we can't) so she will just keep the money.
I know it sounds silly but I have a strong suspicion that she has been ripping off my elderly mother for years.

Your LL won't be able to keep all the security deposit given the length of tenancy. Most if not all the items your LL would bring up could be countered with normal wear and tear.

Send a forwarding address as well as a demand for the security deposit via CRR to your LL. This will put the LL on notice as well as a time frame from when they MUST give you an itemized list of items.

Once you get the list, you will have a good idea as to what might be bogus and what is legit.

Make sure to document the cleaning and move-out, take pictures or better yet film it!