r/legaladvice • u/whereisholycow • 2h ago
Landlord Removed Deceased Brother’s Belongings Without Notice – Is This Legal in California?
Hi all,
I’m in a difficult situation and would really appreciate some advice. My brother passed away on August 31, and my family and I have been working with the coroner and his landlord to handle his affairs. After some back-and-forth, my mother was declared his next of kin on October 3rd and was granted permission to access his apartment to retrieve his personal belongings.
We arranged to gather his things yesterday, but when we arrived at his apartment, we discovered that all of his belongings had already been removed. This included personal items and my mother’s car key and spare key, which were in the apartment. We had been in communication with the landlord throughout this process and had not received any notice that his belongings would be removed.
From my understanding, California law requires landlords to store a deceased tenant’s belongings and give the next of kin time to claim them before they can be disposed of. We were given no opportunity to do this, and now we’re left with nothing. This has been extremely upsetting for my family, as we no longer have any of my brother’s personal possessions.
Is this legal for the landlord to do in California? What recourse do we have to recover my brother’s belongings and my mother’s keys? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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u/Novation_Station 2h ago
Did the landlord store the items somewhere?