How the new landlord tenant statute is working in the real world
I
recently jumped back into the eviction arena after taking a break from all
litigation in order to start my family. I was very hesitant to do so because
the last time I filed an eviction in Central Florida it was a very tenant
friendly environment where landlords were villainized, tenants’ requirements
under the statute were completely ignored and judges threatened attorneys and property
managers with contempt of court. It had become an area of practice where my law
firm was losing money because tenants knew they could file any old thing and
drag out an eviction if there were willing to show up for hearings.
When
the new landlord tenant statute changed I read it over to compare the old with
the new and was totally surprised at the changes. I blogged about some of these
changes in an earlier post which you can see here http://richardslawfirm.blogspot.com/2014/09/new-landlord-tenant-statute-seriously.html.
Even with the landlord friendly changes I was still hesitant, but one of my
best and oldest clients asked me to do one for her. You can’t say no to a
client like that so I filed the eviction for her and am here to report that changes
have taken hold and evictions have gotten better.
I
was at ex parte hearings where attorneys all go into judge’s chambers like a
big cattle call and wait in line to take our case before the judge. This was awesome
for me (and now you) because I got to hear 4 other attorneys pitch their cases
and see how the judges reacted given the new statute. Here is what I
gleaned from that hour in judge’s chambers. 1. If your tenant files an answer,
regardless of what it says, you are going to have to show up at the court
house, but once you get there things are way
easier than they were in the past, 2. You are still
going to have to fight over the fact that the tenant didn't deposit any money into
the registry, but at least the tenant requirement isn't completely ignored
anymore and 3. If you do make a mistake with your initial pleadings it will no
longer cost you an arm and a leg to fix it. My tenant filed an answer, but she filed it after the answer period so I still got my default. In the past, my case would have been sent to mediation. I would say that is a definite swing in favor of landlords.
In
closing, here is my free legal advice for the day. The Orange County Clerk of
Court sells eviction packets for $8. Go get one. The only reason you need me is
because you are too busy and don’t want to be bothered with filing the
eviction, you know your tenant is going to contest the eviction or you know you
have screwed up your lease or something else during the tenancy. Otherwise, try
your luck, save some money, get the packet and start the new year with a fresh paying
tenant.
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