Understanding landlord law is crucial for effective property management. Discover essential guidelines and tips for landlords in our articles.
You should never have a verbal lease agreement with a tenant. It just leads to problems down the road. However, if you are in that situation, it depends on how often rent is paid. Section 83.46(2) of the Florida Statutes states: If the rental agreement contains no provision as to duration of the tenancy, the…
1. DO gather as much information about your prospective tenants as possible. As a landlord, you need to make sure you gather as much information as possible about your prospective tenants. This information can prove to be valuable both before the move in and after the move out. Before the move in you want to…
*Please note that the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 is set to expire on December 31, 2014* During the foreclosure crisis, numerous renters in good standing have been forced to relocate after a foreclosure sale with little or no notice. To address this critical problem and to stabilize neighborhoods, Congress passed the Protecting…
We get asked this question a lot. He is the answer I usually give: In order for a landlord to be entitled to make a claim on any portion of your security deposit two things need to happen: 1) your lease must provide for the security deposit being used for the purpose it is being…
Many landlords and tenants are unaware that a landlord cannot cause any utility in a rental unit to be turned off while a tenant is in possession of the unit, even if the tenant is not paying rent. Section 83.67(1) of the Florida Statutes states: A landlord of any dwelling unit governed by this…
As of July 1, 2013, Chapter 83, Part II of the Florida Statutes was substantially revised. Chapter 83 is the section that governs landlord-tenant relations. Part II deals with residential as opposed to commercial leases. As part of the revision to this law, there are certain notices and disclosures that are required to be in…
Chapter 509 of the Florida Statues deals with lodging. Generally speaking, lodging refers to hotels, motels, and inns. The term also includes other forms of lodging as well. The main types of lodging are Transient public lodging establishments and Nontransient public lodging establishments. Transient public lodging establishments are defined by Chapter 509 as being rented…
This question used to come up quite often in the early days of the foreclosure boom; however, the courts put this question to bed a long time ago. If the only issue is the pending foreclosure, the tenant does not have the right to unilaterally terminate the lease agreement. Additionally, the tenant is required to…
Landlords often make the mistake of not considering whether they need to provide their former tenants the security deposit notice required under Florida law after the tenants are evicted. It is rare that anything happens to the Landlord as a result. The reason seems to be that once a tenant is evicted, they may think…
Generally speaking, the lease terms cannot be unilaterally changed before the lease expires. However, when the lease is up for renewal, either of the parties may choose not to renew, or to change the terms. If the lease is month to month, each month is a new lease. Therefore the landlord may change the terms…