Florida Landlord/Tenant Laws, please help!?
June 10th, 2011 | 
Author: (Florida tenant landlord law)
Hi:
Using a realtor, my ex fiance and I found a townhouse in Boca Raton, Fl. On 03-31-10 we signed a 1 year lease with our new landlord. During signing, I wrote a check out of my checking account for first month, last months rent, a security deposit, and a refundable $500 pet deposit.
We took keys and moved in on 04-01-10.
Subsequently, 8 days after moving in my EX and I split up and agreed to stay living in the house.
The next day I became very sick and was in the hospital for a week.
The day I was released from the hospital, my EX brought most of my clothes, my dog, and dropped them off at my parents house where I had gone to get taken care of after leaving the hospital. He showed me a new lease he had signed with the landlord without my name on it, and told me that I was not welcome back on the property.
Due to my illness I had to travel out of state for the last few months to get specialty help.
I am now back and healthy as ever!… And I am ready to get justice for the wrong doing that was done to me by my previous landlord.
I am uncertain of where to start: I called a local attorney and asked for help and he told me the money in question isn’t worth hiring an attorney because they would charge $2000 upfront and we would probably only recover $6000.
So my question is where do I start??
I have a copy of my lease we signed, and the check I wrote.
I only want half of the security deposit, half of the last months rent, and I want all of the pet deposit; as I took the dog a mere 15 days after moving in.
Do I contact him (the landlord) directly?
Are there any specific laws or statutes I can tell him to help get my point across?
The lawyer I talked to told me that if I did have to take him to court it wouldn’t be a bad thing, because obviously what he did was illegal, you cant just sign a lease, then rewrite it regardless of what my ex might have told him, and I would probably get a lot more money if I take him to court… But that’s not what i want to do, I want to make this as simple as possible.
Please any advice or information about the Florida landlord tenant law would be GREATLY appreciated!!!!!!!
Thanks!
Meg in Boca Raton, FL
(I am not looking to sue my ex for any possessions or my furniture in the home, just the landlord for the money I put into the house)
Posted in Landlord Tenant Law
Your best bet would be to write a letter to the landlord, keep a copy, and send it certified mail. In that letter, attach copies of your documentation – but do NOT include your healthcare information beyond a simple explanation of why you are only now handling the issue. Explain what happened, explain what you are looking for, etc. Make sure and tell him you need a response by a specified date (give him a minimum of two weeks to respond, preferably one month) or you will pursue legal action.
If you receive no response, then you would want to contact your local clerks office regarding a small claims lawsuit. If you do that, keep one thing in mind. Even if you win the case, that doesn’t mean you get any money. The courts will not force the landlord to pay you, they simply file a judgement on your behalf. And you STILL have to pay the filing fee, which can vary from county to county. Your looking at a couple hundred for the filing fee though. So legal action may end up with you LOSING money.
The easiest course of action is to send a demand letter. When the landlord fails to respond, file a small claims action. If you have a signed lease & you have not been evicted, the landlord would need something signed by you allowing modification of that lease. It is a simple breach of contract claim. As a landlord, he is probably has some assets (bank accounts & property) which could be used to enforce the judgment. Again, this is a relatively simple process.
Go to GOOGLE and type in Florida Landlord Tenant Law, before you get finished you’ll see it in the list. I just did it and there are several excellent sites I might suggest the HUD site, since their the experts in urban development and housing. In Michigan all courthouses have the booklet free.
The lawyers right it will cost you more to get “YOUR” money back, and the attorney gets it all and you get points for winning the battle. You can do this on your own and very little expense. Get the laws first (SEE ABOVE), then determine if the boyfriend gets a notice as well as the landlord.
Make sure that you read up on if it’s the boyfriend or the landlord responsible to pay you the money your owed. It could be that your taking the boyfriend to small claims court and not the landlord.
I don’t know if you have written a letter or contacted the landlord about the events leading up to the new lease. He really has no excuse for his behavior, but for all you know the boyfriend cried on his shoulder and told him you died and in the process of grieving said, oh what do I do about her name on the lease. Landlord feels for him and doesn’t want him to suffer through proving it to him and says it’s okay I’ll take care of it and draw up a new one, etc…. This is still no excuse, but if you did nothing about it all these months there could be a statue of limitations on it, but then again you’ve been very sick for months and with proof the time factor between now and then should be wiped out!
Check to see if the Hotel & Restaurant Commission still helps with rental issues. They handled apartment rentals back in 1980
Anyway, this should be an easy process and an inexpensive filing fee at the courthouse, it’s under $50 in Michigan to file evictions and appear in court. When you file your paperwork you will fill in the amount you are seeking in compensation, always include, court costs, legal fees, loss of income for court appearances, etc., get every penny the courts will allow you for reimbursement. After all, it is no longer just the deposit and rent, it’s time off work, travel expense, filing fees, court costs, legal fees, postage (possibly certified mail), etc. Also provide a copy of the lease agreement, and maybe type up your complaint and attach a copy of the letter to the complaint. I know when my husband has done evictions, he takes envelopes, stamps, additional copies of the lease agreement (depends on how many people have to be served) with him when he goes down to the courthouse. The courts give you carbon copy forms, but they do not supply the envelopes or stamps for mailing. Oh and they typically notarize the documents and charge a small fee. It actually takes longer to file the paperwork and wait for the court date than it does to do the paperwork.
I’m not trying to scare you honest! This should be an easy process and you sound like a smart woman, I’m sure you can do this yourself and leave out the middleman (attorney) you want “YOUR” money back not money to pay an attorney!
In court they call your case, if the other side doesn’t appear you get what is called a default judgment! You automatically “WIN” and get every penny your asking for! If they show up, both of you will tell the judge your stories. Judges like to hear the short and sweet versions they call it “KISS” (Keep It Simple Stupid). Don’t drag it out, use bullet points as best you can. Keep to the points – There is a contract, you paid, boyfriend paid, you split up, but agreed to continue sharing the home, you got sick, still continued to pay, boyfriend got another contract without notification to you. Remember, the landlord will use the book too, and their is a section that states if you move you must notify the landlord within so many days of your new address so that they can return your money. I’m not sure if this particular section would apply to you or not.
Make sure that you research exactly which party is responsible to refund the money to you. You need to be prepared to take both the ex and the landlord to court for reimbursement. A claim against the ex would probably be heard in small claims court, and again cheap to file and you both represent yourselves.
I’ll ask my husband if he thinks there is anything else you can do, but if you don’t want to fight the ex-boyfriend in court I understand. It sounds like you still care about him or you would be trying to get back everything he kept.
I’ve been helping my husband with rental properties for over 17 years now, and he’s been doing it over 40 years. I’ve fought on both sides of the fence, and I think you have a case, but I’m just not sure if it’s against the boyfriend, landlord or possibly both. Please be sure to read it thoroughly so you don’t miss anything. NOTE: The booklet is FREE
I hope this was of help to you, if my husband has anything to add, I’ll send you another message
Good Luck
Glad things turned out for you with your health.
Why not ask the lawyer to write a letter for you? Send it to the ex but cc the landlord. If this lawyer won’t, find another one. I use a local lawyer whenever I need a letter and he is very fair with fees.
Hope it works out for you. Stay healthy!