Q: My father passed away and his rental property is under water, what can I do?
He was supplementing the rent each month, we personally would like to short sale if possible. The current renter has a lease through December 2019.
A:
I am sorry for your loss. What other assets are in the estate? Short sales are time consuming, frustrating, and generally not worth it - I usually suggest to my clients that they let it go to foreclosure unless there's other issues.
What does your probate attorney advise? If you don't have one, get one before you do anything else. You have an estate that is complex and there are specific rules you need to follow and traps that could cost you - personally - if you don't handle them properly.
A: You should sit down with a probate attorney for a consult. If your father's only asset was the rental property that is underwater on its mortgage loan, and if the estate has no other assets that you'd like to protect, you might simply abandon the rental and let the lender foreclose. It isn't going to hurt your father's credit. But, the real facts may change your strategies, and a paid hour long consult may be more than valuable if it leads you to a means to get the property out of TOPA and rent control.
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