Niece not paying rent

[kenwill]

My mother passed away back in January of 2008. After she passed I was granted executor of her estate. My sister and I are part owners of the house.

My sisters daughter is living at the house and has been for at least the past 5years. She has never paid rent and has no intentions to. My sister does not want her to pay rent. She has replaced the carpet in the living room since my mother passed away without authorization from me. I am not sure if she was authorized by my sister. My sister and I do not meet eye to eye on this matter.

I received a phone call last week on a bill that she made about 2 months ago. My niece called a electrician about a problem that I was never told about and told the repairman to bill it to me. Now I am getting harassed by this electrician that I had no idea about. Later after the phone call I did find out that my sister authorized the repair and told the electrician to bill it to me.

My question to you is what am I able to do to get my niece out without going through my sister? Do I have to consult with her if I am the executor of the estate? I want to sell the place but my niece is in it.

Please help!

Ken

[cjh]

This really isn't a LL-Tenant question, but one about estates and executors. I suggest you consult an estate attorney and explain the situation to him. Ask him if the house can be vacated for sale to put a close to the estate. You and your sister are never going to see eye to eye. The only way out is to sell the house or buy out any share she may have in it. Also, you should contact the electrician and explain that while you are the executor, you never authorized (or were informed of) any work. The estate will eventually have to pay the bill (or the contractor will lien the house). But you should try to put it back on your sister first since she authorized it.