Florida law leaves little rights when it comes to a renter or tenant versus the landlord. A poor economy is not an admissible court case when it comes to not paying your rent on time. Florida law allows a landlord to evict it’s tenants for a variety of reasons and for a tenant this could be a nightmare. Tenants lose their home, their security deposits, and often times even their belongings when they are evicted from their Florida rental home. Here are some tips for avoiding eviction in the state of Florida.
Avoid Eviction In Florida: Pay Rent On Time: Now this sounds cliché but it is true! If you as a tenant pay your rent on time then there is little to worry about when it comes to eviction because the only other reason that a landlord can legally evict you in Florida besides for non-payment of rent is if you are doing something that is specifically not allowed as stated in your lease. Further, even if your lease states that you cannot do something and you get caught doing it anyway the landlord has got to give you 7 days to correct the issue before he can legally continue through the courts with an eviction.
Avoid Eviction In Florida: Remedies: If you have a problem with the home that you are in and it is legally the landlord’s responsibility to correct the problem then you have the same rights as the landlord when it comes to serving a 7 day notice to correct the issue. You must give your landlord 7 days to correct the issue, your rent must be current, and your landlord may not perform any retaliatory conduct if you send such notice to him. You may not refuse to pay your rent unless you have provided such notice to the landlord at least a week before your next rent payment would normally be do. If the landlord does not fix the problem and you do not pay rent he cannot evict you for this!
Avoid Eviction In Florida: Three Day Notice: The landlord is required to give tenants a three day notice to pay rent if it is late. To avoid eviction you must pay the rent in this amount of time in order to avoid an eviction. However, if you have a portion of the rent and the landlord accepts any portion of the rent (even if it is just $1) then he will have to serve you another 3 day notice before he can legally evict you for not paying the remainder. Many landlords are unaware of this and will accept a portion of the rent and still try to proceed with an eviction at the end of the three day notice period but they cannot legally do this and you will have a case against this in court! They must give you a new notice and three more days before they may proceed if you make a partial payment and the landlord accepts the payment!
Avoid Eviction In Florida: Fight additional problems in court: Before taking any eviction case to court you must be sure that you have a probable case as if you lose you could be held accountable for damages, attorney’s fees and other costs associated with the eviction. However, in Florida there are low cost and pro-bono attorneys that are available for residents to talk to about eviction cases for free. If you have been served a three day notice to pay or a 7 day notice to fix a problem or if you need more information about how to stop an eviction you should contact a local attorney for legal advice!
