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By Jeff Ostroff, founder of RealEstateHoldings.com
When a tenant and a landlord enter sign a rental lease agreement, you both are expected to to adhere to the contract, as well as Landlord Tenant Laws, and common sense ethics. This article will offers advice to tenants and landlords, giving you a glimpse of what your rights and responsibilities are under the Landlord Tenant Law, also known as the Landlord Tenant Act. Many landlords are unfamiliar with landlord tenant laws, and proceed to make many bad assumptions, that lead to illegal and unethical acts, which can land them in jail, or heavily fined, and still be stuck with the tenant which they were trying to evict for non compliance of the rental lease agreement. If you are unaware of the landlord tenant laws in your state or you could end up in legal hot water even if you are the victim. Both tenants and landlords should at least be aware of what you can and cannot do under Landlord Tenant Laws.
The landlord tenant laws covered here refer to Florida statutes, but many of these common sense statutes most likely apply to your state as well. This article is not legal advice, just a guide. You should always check with your state statutes to see what applies in your state. For example, read the Florida State Senate's Florida Landlord Tenant Laws which lists all the landlord tenant statutes for Florida. Try the State Senate site for your state too. I also recommend that you get a good landlord tenant lawyer, because Landlord Tenant Act verbiage can be confusing to the layperson. For home buying advice, read HouseBuyingTips.com, with tips on buying a New Home From a Home Builder. Eviction is bad for you, it goes on your credit report and can prevent you from getting approved by future landlords. With the exploding growth of condo conversions in 2003-2006, there are far fewer decent apartments on the market with more tenants vying for them. Most apartments these days require credit checks and criminal background checks, which will root you out.
If you are a tenant signing a lease, you have tenant rights and responsibilities. You need to bear in mind that a lease is a written contract that both you and the landlord are bound to. It's not "just some piece of paper you sign and forget." Your rental lease agreement contains clauses that spell out very bad things like eviction that will happen to you if you are late paying rent, or if you fail in your obligation under the lease. You have to keep in mind that your landlord is paying a mortgage on the property which you are renting, and they are paying steep property taxes that increase every year, homeowners association dues, assessments, and repairs. When you invent excuses why you should not pay rent, the landlord's lender could care less, and still expects your landlord to pay the mortgage on the property you are renting, and it comes out of their pocket. How can the landlord pay the mortgage on their property if the tenant does not pay the rent on time? Some tenants are very blasé about this too, but you need to see this in the proper ethical light, that if you don't pay your rent on time as you promised in writing, then you are breaking your vow, going back on your word, stealing, and violating one of God's great commandments to mankind. That's like making a marriage covenant then cheating on your spouse. You are putting the landlord's good name in jeopardy with his lenders, and his homeowners association, by putting them in danger of not be able to make their mortgage payments because of your failure to hold up your end of the contract. Supposing the landlord is using the proceeds from renting the apartment to you for her children's education funds. When you fail to pay the rent, you are stealing from your landlord's children, and robbing them of their future.
Some tenants interpret their responsibilities under this covenant too lightly, ignoring landlord rights, thinking they don't have to pay rent. Some tenants know the landlord tenant laws better than their landlord, and with their sleazy landlord tenant law lawyers, have become quite resourceful in baiting traps for their landlord, causing the landlord tenant act to be used against the landlord to stay rent free. Other tenants just plain old lie and provide totally unbelievable excuses to the landlord for why they failed to pay the rent. This is why the landlord tenant laws were written; to provide a fair, balanced, and structured way to ensure that the rights of tenants and landlords are respected, while providing a legal means to end the covenant should either party fall into noncompliance.
My favorite excuse is the tenant who claims they could not pay the rent because their brother or mother or (insert family member here) passed away. Family deaths are totally invalid excuses for not paying your bills. It's amazing how many people think one event really is a "get out of rent free" ticket, when these events in fact have nothing in common. Funeral events last days, hardly enough basis to justify being weeks behind in rent. When my grandfather passed away in 1999, we all flew out of state, we were gone a few days and came back. Guess what folks, I still had bills to pay; my phone bills, my electric bills, my mortgage, I did not insult the name and memory of my grandfather by exploiting his funeral as an excuse to hold back rent payments. My bank would never say to me "Sorry to hear your grandfather died Mr. Ostroff, go ahead take as long as you need to pay your mortgage". Yeah right! Just because someone died does not mean you don't have 5 minutes to write out a check. And besides, you are supposed to have enough cash on hand to handle emergencies. If not, you should be renting in a cheaper home. But of course twisted people with twisted logic will try to link a family death with an a reason not to pay their rent. With some tenants, it's truly amazing how all sorts of fake calamities keep striking them, like each month someone else dying, and of course providing another excuse why the rent was not paid. Sometimes you almost need an excel spreadsheet to track their dead relatives, so when they give their excuse, you can say "sorry, didn't your mom already die last April?"
There are other responsibilities of tenants which generally include:
If you fail any of these responsibilities as a tenant, then you are said to be in noncompliance and your landlord may begin eviction proceedings in court to have you evicted for noncompliance after serving you written notice. For failure to pay rent, Florida requires landlords to give you a 3 day notice to pay or vacate the rental apartment for other noncompliance issues, you get a 7 day notice. Some people don't like to submit to authority, especially Homeowners associations, and think they can get away with violating the rules. They are often surprised when they get fined for violating rules, and think they don't have to pay them. Just task any of the many thousands of violators each year who lose in court against homeowners associations.
Tenant Right: Withholding rent from your landlord is allowed if you follow the law; always serve written notice offering a cure period
Your landlord has responsibilities also, and if she falls into material non-compliance of your lease agreement, you MAY, let me repeat this, you MAY have rights to withhold payment of rent until the landlord corrects the issue and comes back into compliance if you handle it by the law, with the proper written notices. You'll still owe that withheld rent once the landlord corrects the issues. This is where 100% of the tenants get it wrong and abuse this right, thinking they can automatically hold back paying rent. That's when everyone ends up in court for evictions. Many tenants have abused rent provisions for example, by breaking a window or some other form of sabotage on the property, or not allowing the landlord or contractors to enter the property for emergency repairs, then trying to get out of paying rent for "landlord noncompliance". Any type of unethical activity performed by a tenant to force their landlord into a noncompliance situation is also the same as stealing, and bearing false witness, both very harsh crimes committed against man and God. But for legitimate noncompliance by your landlord, there is salvation for you as a tenant. This is where the landlord tenant laws provide excellent coverage to protect both parties.
The Landlord Tenant Acts usually require that BEFORE you can hold back rent from the landlord, you are REQUIRED to send them written notice via certified mail, return receipt requested, at least 7 days before the rent is due, clearly itemizing the part of the lease contract which you claim the landlord is in non-compliance. This 7 day requirement keeps sneaky tenants from waiting until the rent is due and then stating "I'm not paying the rent." In review, if something is wrong with the property, the law requires you to notify the landlord in writing, before the rent is due, and give them a cure period to fix the problem. Surprising to most people, a phone call to your landlord does not constitute legally notifying your landlord under the Landlord Tenant Act. Even though you spoke to them on the phone, you must send written notice to them if you want protection under the law. Keep written documentation, so when you are dragged into eviction court for non payment of rent, you can show the judge that you informed the landlord in writing of their noncompliance according to the state statutes. This will most likely keep you from getting evicted.
The eviction court may also require to you to place the withheld rent money into the court register in case the judge rules in favor of the landlord and orders the rent to be paid. Then the landlord can get his overdue rent money from the court immediately, and still petition the court for your eviction. Keep in mind when you withhold rent form your landlord legally under the Landlord tenant law, you are not off the hook for the rent, you are just given a stay of execution, so to speak. You WILL be required to eventually pay it to the landlord once they are back in compliance, so don't go spending that money on beer, it's not yours to spend, it's not a free month, it's a delayed payment month. Once your landlord is back into compliance, there is no excuse for holding back that rent which you are in arrears, and you face eviction. It's pretty hard to convince the judge about your phone call to the landlord, and since everybody lies, the judge wants to see your written notice of landlord noncompliance. Here at RealEstateHoldings.com, our lease contracts require tenants to notify the landlord in writing. Also, if your notice of noncompliance does not provide the landlord with a 7 day cure period, then your notice is considered invalid by the eviction court, and is voided, and the judge will surely evict you. Now you have to start all over again. Here's where most tenants drop the ball. You must give the landlord a 7 day CURE PERIOD to fix any alleged noncompliance issues. So you see, you cannot just stop paying rent, you are required by law to give the landlord a cure period to fix all issues. Only after the cure period expires and the if then landlord fails to comply with a legitimate non-compliance claim, then you can withhold payment of rent, with the understanding that you will be paying it eventually
If your landlord does not properly serve you with 3 day or 7 day notices, or attempts any non approved methods to evict you, then you should get an aggressive landlord tenant lawyer to sue the landlord in court. It's usually a slam dunk and the landlord will have to pay all your court costs, lawyer fees, and usually 3 months rent as a penalty for violating the Landlord Tenant laws. If you can find a lawyer who charges no up front fees to you, then suing your landlord costs nothing. But he will have to pay for his defense attorney!
There are responsibilities of landlords which generally mean you must:
You should video your entire rental apartment, showing all windows in good shape, clean carpets, with electricity and AC running before you rent it out, to prove it was in working order when you rented it to the tenant.
What landlords should do when tenants don't pay rent or fall into
noncompliance of the lease contract
This is where the landlord tenant Acts can get tricky and you need to know
how your state's Landlord Tenant Laws require you to act. The biggest mistake landlords make is
arrogantly thinking that they can just kick the tenant out or cut off
utilities to force them out. Both methods are unethical. You are not
allowed to “self
help” when you need to evict tenants, that is the job of the courts and the
Sheriff. If you play by the rules, you can have your tenant evicted by the
court in under a month. We here at RealEstateHoldings.com suggest you
consult with an attorney prior to trying to evict a ban tenant, otherwise
you could overlook legal requirements, and end up back at square one with
fines and penalties.
Landlords May Not:
Here in Florida, if you violate any of the above, the tenant can sue you in court, and at the eviction hearing, the judge can fine you 3 months rent AND rule against you for not properly executing an eviction process, even though you are the victim! Then you are back to square one, with your non-paying tenant still in your apartment, no eviction, and you now owe them 3 months rent, and you have to start eviction proceedings all over again. There's another month wasted.
Landlord Rights Under Landlord Tenant Laws
How to evict a bad tenant
Tenant eviction is simple if landlords can get it right the first time. First of all you should have a good landlord tenant lawyer to consult before you do anything, to make sure you are performing to the letter of the law. You want a tenant eviction that sticks the first time, don't be sloppy. In general the steps are as follows
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