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early car lease termination due to death (NY State)

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leon718

Junior Member
New York State

My father passed away in July 2014. He leased a vehicle that we did an early termination on shortly after his death. Yesterday (6 months after the early lease termination) we received a letter from the bank addressed to my dad's estate, claiming that he is liable for the rest of the lease payments (roughly 5K). I am not sure how to proceed, and I am seeking an advice on what to do next. I am not sure if the bank accounts are in joint name or just my mom, and they also owned a coop, also not sure whose name it is in. Should I communicate back to the bank? It seems a little odd that it took them 6 months to send a bill, and the lease contract is hard to understand. Thanks in advance.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
New York State

My father passed away in July 2014. He leased a vehicle that we did an early termination on shortly after his death. Yesterday (6 months after the early lease termination) we received a letter from the bank addressed to my dad's estate, claiming that he is liable for the rest of the lease payments (roughly 5K). I am not sure how to proceed, and I am seeking an advice on what to do next. I am not sure if the bank accounts are in joint name or just my mom, and they also owned a coop, also not sure whose name it is in. Should I communicate back to the bank? It seems a little odd that it took them 6 months to send a bill, and the lease contract is hard to understand. Thanks in advance.
The administrator of the estate should be able to handle this. It is likely true that the estate will owe the balance of the lease payments, but the lease should be reviewed by somebody that can understand it (ie: a pro). For the record, six months isn't that long at all.
 

OHRoadwarrior

Senior Member
Generally the law requires, when an early lease termination occurs, the car be prepped and the car sold at auction with the lessor or his/her estate liable for the deficiency.
 

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