Happy Finnish Independence Day! Our customer service will be closed on Independence Day, December 6th. While the customer service is closed, urgent defect notifications are called to the on-call service number 09 5767 3100.

If a tenant dies  

The death of the tenant does not automatically terminate the lease agreement; instead, the lease continues with the estate on the same terms as before. The responsibility for fulfilling the terms of the lease agreement (for example, rent payment and careful maintenance of the apartment) is immediately transferred to the tenant's estate.

The lease ends only when the estate terminates the lease agreement. If the estate does not want to continue the lease, it is advisable to terminate the lease as soon as possible. The notice period is one (1) calendar month calculated from the last day of the calendar month in which the estate terminated the lease. During the notice period, the estate is responsible for fulfilling the obligations of the lease, such as paying the rent.  

If the deceased resident is not the main tenant of the apartment, the lease agreement does not need to be terminated. In that case, please inform Heka of the tenant’s death through our Resident Portal (Service requests – Notify moving out).

Continuing the lease    

If the deceased tenant had leased the apartment together with another person, this person has the right to continue the lease instead of the estate if the lessor has no good reason to object to the continuation. The following also have the same right to continue the lease: 

  • Spouse or partner of the deceased tenant 
  • Child of the same family
  • Parent of the deceased tenant or parent of the deceased tenant’s spouse or common-law spouse

Other persons cannot continue the lease. Continuing the lease is an exception to the tenant selection of ARA apartments. 

In all cases, a prerequisite for continuing the lease is that the tenant who wants to continue the lease has lived in the apartment before the death of the deceased tenant. Heka checks the housing information from the housing register. 

The continuation of the lease must be reported within three months of the tenant’s death. The notice immediately ends the estate’s responsibility to fulfil the lease terms and transfers the responsibility to the person who submitted the continuation notice.

If you are a Heka resident and the notice concerns the apartment in which you live, notify Heka of the matter through the Resident Portal. 

If you cannot use Heka’s Resident Portal, please report the tenant’s death using the form below.