Gypsy Rose’s Baby Dad’s Landlord Asked for Rent After His Death

Branson Quirk (0:07)

Hello, welcome to The TMZ Podcast Afternoon Edition. I'm Branson Quirk.

Netta Anvar (0:13)

I'm Netta Anvar.

Branson Quirk (0:14)

How are you doing, Netta?

Netta Anvar (0:15)

I'm happy to be here.

Branson Quirk (0:16)

Yeah? You got any plans this weekend?

Netta Anvar (0:18)

I'm, yeah, I'm going to this, I'm going to a party tonight.

Branson Quirk (0:22)

I don't party.

Netta Anvar (0:23)

I, I can tell.

Branson Quirk (0:26)

I, I am driving to Northern California, where I'm from, to watch wrestling with my friends on the couch, and I'm so excited about it with, like, Mountain Mike's pizza. And if you don't know Mountain Mike's, it's good.

Netta Anvar (0:36)

Garlic Town?

Branson Quirk (0:37)

Yeah.

Netta Anvar (0:38)

You're going to Garlic City?

Branson Quirk (0:39)

Garlic City, yep.

Netta Anvar (0:40)

You like garlic ice cream?

Branson Quirk (0:41)

No. I never tried it.

Netta Anvar (0:43)

Okay. I want you to try it. Branson is from Gilroy, which is the wonderland of garlic or something.

Branson Quirk (0:48)

Yep. It's very good.

Netta Anvar (0:49)

Very tasty. And they eat garlic ice cream there, which just sounds very disgusting.

Branson Quirk (0:52)

Yeah. It's been a busy week here at TMZ. A lot of stories have come out. But today, we're actually going to give you an update on Ken Urker's death, which is Gypsy Rose's husband who died, or fiance. I'm sorry. They were estranged. Estranged, right.

But this is kind of a shocking one. Ken Urker's landlord, not even a week after he passed away, is now asking his family for his rent.

Netta Anvar (1:20)

So this is very controversial.

Branson Quirk (1:22)

Yeah. A lot of people have opinions on this online. Yes.

Netta Anvar (1:25)

I would say it's like divided, because some people are like, he's a landlord. He still needs to pay the mortgage.

Branson Quirk (1:32)

Right.

Netta Anvar (1:34)

Of course, he's going to need the money.

But then other people are like, it's been seven days. And why are you reaching out to the family? Because I chatted it, and according to chat, when a tenant dies, the deceased tenant's estate is responsible for paying the rent and fulfilling the remaining financial obligations of the lease. So not the family members. Like, you're not really supposed to reach out to the family members. So not only was it insensitive, it was also like, why are you doing that? But then you had a good point.

Branson Quirk (2:04)

Well, before we get into that, let's give them some of the details surrounding this. So Ken's relatives cleaned out the unit where he had died on October 1st, left it spotless, and the landlord inspected the home, thanked the family, and then contacted Ken Urker's mother on Wednesday about the missing October rent. Family sources said the timing felt inappropriate because Ken had died exactly one week earlier. The family believe that Ken's security deposit should have covered the $1,400 October rent. He had signed a three-month lease, we're told, here at TMZ, extension before his previous lease expired on October 1st.

The extension kept Ken in the rental unit until the end of December. The landlord confirmed contacting Ken's family about the rent. The landlord now says the remaining balance will be waived because Ken is dead.

Netta Anvar (2:53)

So he ended up waiving it at the end of the day.

Branson Quirk (2:55)

Things are changed. I mean, it almost sounds like he was kind of like, I can waive this, I can let it go, but let me just try and say, hey, by the way, he owes rent.

Netta Anvar (3:06)

Do you think he waived it because of public scrutiny?

SPEAKER_3 (3:11)

100%.

Branson Quirk (3:11)

Yeah, 100%.

Netta Anvar (3:11)

He changed his mind. He's like, JK, we're good.

Branson Quirk (3:14)

Yeah. And I mean, by the way, again, like I said, security deposit of $1,400.

Usually when you move in a place, you've done this, you pay first and last. So why couldn't he have taken that last that Ken gave unless the deposit wasn't enough?

Netta Anvar (3:31)

Probably.

Branson Quirk (3:32)

All I know is some places are different. My place, there is no first and last. Like some places have like a $500 deposit.

Netta Anvar (3:40)

Yeah.

Branson Quirk (3:40)

But then like mine, I got very lucky.

Netta Anvar (3:43)

One month's rent.

Branson Quirk (3:44)

Exactly. Which should have covered this from what it sounded like, unless it was different. But at the end of the day, he waived it.

Netta Anvar (3:53)

What are your personal opinions on this?

Branson Quirk (3:55)

My personal opinions? Um, I mean, I understand.