New Landlord Tenant Statute: Seriously, do I really have to make sure screens are on all the windows?

Well, yes.

Landlords have been very chatty about an addition to Florida's landlord tenant statute that requires screens on rental units to be in good working order.  It is petty, yes. Is it typical of Florida as a tenant friendly state, yes. However, before getting too riled up, consider the other suprisingly landlord friendly revisions and additions.


Landlords May Now Accept Partial Rent: If partial rent is accepted after posting the notice for nonpayment, the landlord must post a new three day notice reflecting the new amount due or provide the tenant a receipt showing amount and date received and balance due and date is due then place the amount received in the court registry upon filing the action for possession.
 
No Automatic Dismissal For Defective Notices: FL Stat. 83.60 was specifically amended to state, “The landlord must be given an opportunity to cure a deficiency in a notice or in the pleadings before dismissal of the action”. This may not help with your timeframe for completing an eviction but it certainly keeps court costs lower in the event you make a mistake on your 3 day notice.

Tenant Must Pay Alleged Rent Into The Court Registry: Something similar has always been on the books in the landlord tenant statute but rarely enforced. It has now be expanded upon and clarified. If a tenant wishes to plead a defense of anything other than nonpayment (including defective 3 day notice), the tenant should place the amount back rent specified in the complaint into the registry or the rent as determined by the court and all rent accruing during the proceeding.

Notices Regarding Security Deposits: The required language in a lease regarding security deposits has changed and is quite extensive. The new language and can be found at FL Stat. 83.49(d). One of the other interesting changes regarding security deposits effects a landlord who fails to give the required notice regarding making a claim against the statute. A failure by landlord to give notice to stake a claim against the security deposit has always meant that the landlord forfeits all rights to that money; however, the new statute goes one step further to now clarify that the landlord may still file an action for damages after the return of the deposit. The timing for these claims could be interesting since a landlord will want that claim for damages filed as soon as the tenant has received the windfall from the returned deposit money.

7 Day Notice Procedure: Seven day notices are often used by landlords when tenants are in violation of lease provisions, other than failure to pay rent, whereby the tenant should be given an opportunity to cure (having a pet). If the tenant does not cure the noncompliance or the noncompliance reoccurs in a 12 month period of the original 7 day notice, the landlord is no longer required to deliver a subsequent notice prior to filing for eviction. This is tremendously helpful for landlords since it reduces the wait to time to get the landlord back into possession of the unit by a week or more.

Writ of Possession Timing: The Sheriff now has 24 hours to put the landlord in possession of unit once the writ of possession has been posted on the premises. The good news is that Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays count toward that 24 hour timeframe.

These are only a few of the many revisions to the statute. It would be worth any landlord’s time to quickly read through the new statute and make changes to their management accordingly.


Happy Investing!


 


 

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