A family was given just 10 days to get out of their mum's home after her sudden death. Jeanette Marie Kelly died two weeks after she was taken to hospital as her health deteriorated.
Her devastated family was then told they had just days to clear the house. And while they were going through her possessions prospective new tenants were arriving to view the house which a friend said was re-advertised just three days after her death.
Her daughter Sophie Kelly-Sullivan told how her mum's death was very quick. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo she said the 60-year-old was admitted to hospital as her health worsened.
She had discharged herself but then only managed one night at home before having to return to the Royal Liverpool Hospital where she died 10 days later. Sophie, 24 said following her mum's death she told the landlord, Regenda Homes.
But on March 18, she and her brother, Billy, were told they needed to clear the property in Bootle by March 25. Sophie said this came at was, and still is, "an extremely difficult time" and added to the family's stress.
Sophie said: "My mum passed away. She was only in hospital for two weeks and it was all very quick. It was horrific.
"As soon as we had to make everyone aware of the death, including the housing company, they basically came back to us and said we had a week to move her stuff out of the house. We asked if we could have a bit longer to move out and they said we needed to pay rent for the extra week. We had to throw away so much because we didn't have enough time to sort through her things.
"My friend told me that the house was on Property Pool three days after moving her things out. People were turning up to view the house and asking us lots of questions about it while we were moving her things out."
Since the traumatic experience, the housing company has admitted that the policy wasn't followed. As well as rushing the family to move her belongings out of the house, they called her mum by the wrong name in an email to Sophie. Sophie said her mum was referred to as Mrs Sweeney when she hasn't been Sweeney since 1990.
A spokeswoman for Regenda Homes said: "On behalf of Regenda Homes, we were deeply sorry to hear of the passing of Miss Kelly. We usually allow two weeks for a property to be emptied following the death of a family member.
"Unfortunately, our process was not followed on this occasion, and we are very sorry for any distress this understandably caused. A full review of our lettings policy is under way and will specifically look at the time we allow families to access properties and when we advertise homes after a resident has passed away.
"In relation to giving the wrong name in an email to the family, this was human error, and again we apologise for any additional upset this caused. We hope to have completed our lettings review by September 2022 and any improvement actions will be implemented immediately."
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea
