In the past few years, many residents of our community have
purchased an additional house or condominium with the intent of
selling it quickly for a profit, and many homeowners find they are
now stuck holding it until the market improves. To keep up with the
mortgage payments, it is absolutely essential to keep the property
occupied and keep the rent coming in for as long as possible. One of
the largest fears of a landlord is a tenant who does not pay rent
and having to go through the eviction process to get possession of
the premises. The following is an example of a typical residential
eviction. If the tenant fails to make his/her monthly rental
payment, you need to send out a three day demand letter pursuant to
Florida Statute §83.56(3). This needs to be mailed via certified
mail, delivered in person, or left on the subject premises. If after
three days the tenant has failed to vacate the premises, or tendered
the amount of the payment, you may file a lawsuit for eviction.
Pursuant to Florida Statutes, weekends and national holidays, do
not count as days for the calculation of any of the dates listed
herein. A lawsuit needs to be filed with the Clerk of Court, which
needs to be served upon the tenant or left at the premises. It is
advisable to hire a process server for the service of a lawsuit and
the three day notice letter (this stops arguments by the tenant that
he/she never received a copy of the documents).
The tenant has five days from when the complaint was served upon
them to file their answer with the Clerk of Court. The tenant will
have to file the answer within the five day period and additionally
tender the full amount of the rent owed into the court registry. If
the tenant fails to do either of these actions, the landlord would
be entitled to a default judgment by the court.
If the tenant does file an answer or pay money into the court
registry (or file a motion to dispute the amount of the rent owed),
the case will be set for trial. Eviction cases are accelerated on
the docket and your trial date will come very quickly. Though this
is a simple proceeding, all the rules of evidence apply. After the
tenant has vacated the premises, if you are intending to impose a
claim for damages for the security deposit, notice needs to be
provided pursuant to Florida Statute §83.49. The language of the
notice is provided in the Statute. If the landlord fails to provide
this notice, he/she forfeits the right to impose a claim on the
security deposit.
The normal procedure for an eviction takes approximately thirty
days if you are diligently filing the appropriate documents with the
court. Before considering a residential eviction, it is advisable to
consult with an attorney to expedite the process and assist you
appropriately in removing the tenant.
Our
e-newsletters are on a wide range of informative legal topics. If
you have received this e-mail by accident, please e-mail us at
mailto:info@farr.com?subject=REMOVE
and we will take you off our confidential e-mail list.
Statement required by U.S. Treasury Department: To the
extent this message contains tax advice, the U.S. Treasury
Department requires us to inform you that any advice in this letter
is not intended or written by our firm to be used, and cannot be
used by any taxpayer, for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that
may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code. Advice from our firm
relating to Federal tax matters may not be used in promoting,
marketing or recommending any entity, investment plan or arrangement
to any taxpayer.
