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Does my lease terminate if the landlord dies?

Cleopatra Mukhari
September 2018

“My father recently passed away. He had rental properties in his name and
one of the tenants phoned me to hear if he has to move out now that my father
has passed away. What is the position? Has the lease come to an end?”

Lease agreements don’t generally terminate on the death of the landlord. The
appointed executor of the estate of the deceased will take over the administration
of the estate and transfer the residue of the estate, after paying out legatees, to
the heirs. The rights and obligations in terms of the lease agreement will pass to
the heirs, provided that the heir/legatee accepts the inheritance.
The terms of the lease agreement will be paramount in determining the grounds
for termination of the lease. Should the agreement specifically provide that the
lease terminates on the death of your father (the landlord) then this position
will apply when the landlord dies. A tenant will however have to be allowed a
reasonable period to vacate the premises.

Given that tenants could be affected by the death of your father, it may be
prudent to approach your executor to review the lease agreements and
determine the termination provisions thereof to avoid continuing uncertainty
in this regard and ensure proper communication with your tenants on their
Property continuing rental position.

What can estate agents expect with the new
Property Practitioners Bill

John Mpiti
August 2018

“I run a small estate agency in town. I’ve been hearing about the new Property
Practitioners Act that’s on its way and that will hold important changes for us
as estate agents. What will be the main changes that we should expect from
this new law?”
For over 40 years estate agents have been regulated by the Estate Agency
Affairs Act 112 of 1976 (“Act”). But that is set to change with the new Property
Practitioners Bill (“Bill”) which is likely to be passed into law in the near future

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