Protecting Your Right to Peace and Enjoyment of Your Apartment, And Landlord and Real Estate Developer Rights
As a tenant facing eviction in Florida, often times, tragically, tenants allow landlords to employ tactics that rely on mongering fear and ruse to collect unpaid rent.
Knowing the panoply of tenant protections against landlord overreaching in restricting a tenant’s rights for being behind on their rent—forms the backbone of landlord tenant relations.
While at the state and federal level, Florida law governing the landlord-tenant relationship has not changed drastically, local ordinances have passed creating more rights for tenants to assert against their landlords.
In such large cities such as Tampa, Orlando and Florida City, being fully informed of your rights as a tenant to limit the landlords’ absolute right to manage and foreclose on the property—prevents tenant despair allowing for peace and enjoyment of the lease unit.
Spent a few moments reading about the various kinds of Florida landlord-tenant real estate disputes arising under Florida law by reading below.
What Forms the Bulk of Miami Disputes Between A Landlord and Tenant in Florida?
According to Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services office, consumers are instructed of their entitlement to basic rights:
- Peace and quiet from surprise shut offs of utilities.
- Health and safety, to be protected from personal injury; and the right for repairs made valued at under $10,000.
- Security devices to ensure against theft or burglary.
Please visit the Florida State Bar’s blog for more detailed explanations and sources of law.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Florida resources, tenants of large metropolises of Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale are owed a rental agreement, or commercial lease agreement, in writing that states:
- Your rent amount and due date.
- Lease time period and month-to-month provisions after your lease agreement expires.
- Security deposits and late fees for late return of security deposits.
- House rules (even if these are not provided as part of your rental agreement, make sure your landlord provides you with a written copy of any rules or regulations, such as pet policies, insurance requirements, visitor policies, etc.)
- The circumstances in which your landlord has the right to enter your home.
How to Present A Solid Case for Unlawful Eviction in Miami, Broward, Florida, or Removing Tenants for Non-Payment of Rent
According to the highly-publicized legal directory Nolo.com, many rules govern what a tenant is required to do during a tenancy, and landlord obligations during the eviction process.
A search through your local bar association or State Bar of Florida will produce a list of obligations of a landlord managing real property in the state of Florida:
- To disclose the terms of the rental agreement to the tenant (how much, who to pay, issues when rent is lates; holidays; late-rent consequences; check-bouncing fees.
- To disclose the name of anyone authorized to act as the landlord’s agent for failure to make needed repairs
- To return the tenant’s security deposit within “30 days” of the tenant’s moving out, and to provide an itemized written accounting of the deposit portion kept.
- To abide by restrictions on the limits on late fees (if any exist in the city the landlord owns property).
- To follow notice rules for seeking to increase rent.
According to Nolo.com, during a tenancy, tenants have the following options:
- Not paying rent for breach of the warranty of habitability; or choosing to fix the problem in their unit, then to deduct it from the monthly rent due.
- Having the right to receive a 3-day Pay-or-Quit notice before the landlord can evict the tenant.
- Being free from retaliation for complaining to government agencies, domestic violence victims.
- Having the right of return of abandoned property.
- Being free from landlord management of the premises causing personal injury.
- Being free from housing discrimination based on local and federal law.
Both sides should retain a FL landlord tenant super lawyer capable of accurately identifying legal issues and aggressively asserting legal rights to accomplish the end of either tenant or landlord.
FL landlord and tenant attorneys can ensure peace among renters of units with unhabitable or unsafe conditions. FL landlord tenant attorneys do this by employing
all possible legal resources available under Florida statutes and Supreme Court of Florida decisions. With the right legal help, landlords, too, can still maintain their right to make their investment profitable.
Getting Legal Help with South Florida Landlord-Tenant Real Estate Disputes and Legal Issues
According legal directory Nolo.com, many renters, stretching across Orlando to Fort Lauderdale, and beyond, live in a unit which the landlord who has a greater concern about maximizing his return on his investment than respecting tenant’s quality-of-life complaints concerning their unit.
However, tenants still have defenses to employ which include:
- Landlords who illegally use “self-help” eviction schemes by changing locks and cutting off utilities for non-payment of rent or to harass the tenant causing personal injury.
- Landlords use eviction notices’ that are false, incomplete or not properly served on the resident of the unit.
- Landlords retaliate against their tenants.
- Mere lateness of rent payment as a waiver of the right to evict immediately.
- The landlord has an illegal discriminatory reason under local or federal law.
- Uninhabitable dwelling space in the rental property.
When the dwelling is not habitable for any person to live in, then there is a process of notifying the landlord of the shoddy conditions and waiting the statutory 7-day period of time to be given the right to withhold rent.
Legal Advice: Why do I Need a South Florida Landlord-Tenant Lawyer’s Legal Counsel?
As many law offices in the state of Florida have valuable legal aid and legal services to offer at high prices, there are some concerns likely how much a landlord-tenant super lawyer, trained at the best law school, is worth as your personal advocate.
Based lack of information (and misinformation) about tenants’ rights in under state law, hiring an experienced FL landlord tenant attorney who neutralize landlord threats, force the landlord remedial action, recoup unjustified hikes in rent with double or triple damages, even—are undoubtedly priceless notwithstanding the incredibly high average rate of TX landlord tenant lawyers and law firms.
Law offices specializing in landlord-tenant matters who can charge between reportedly $199 to $420 per hour, per Clio.com’s 2021 statistics.
Based on the skill and years of experience of the Florida insurance lawyer responsible for handling claims against the real estate owned by the organization or other involved party, a client can recover greater amounts if the lawyer based his or her legal advice on the everchanging landscape of Florida state law, including real estate, typically the domain of real estate lawyers; estate planning, family law and local ordinances varying from city to city offering greater protection.
Why Should I Hire a Skilled Florida Landlord-Tenant Super Lawyer?
Given the booming economy in Florida and established rights of development and smaller less established owners to manage property for a profit, it is important to have a law office capable of distinguishing itself from the competition.
Whereas Florida law offices offering legal services may be somewhat knowledgeable about how to represent a tenant or landlord, a particularly skilled and incredibly talented FL landlord tenant attorney will be intimately familiar with the most recent decisions in employment law, ready and willing to use whatever tools in his or her arsenal to prosecute or defend the case.
Many top-rated law firms and super lawyers specialize in this practice area, including San Tallahassee-based landlord tenant law firm Ausley McMullen, Kissimmee-based Carol Zimmerly, Esq., among others in the Orlando, Miami and surrounding areas, offer legal aid and legal services that include an initial free consultation, and initial disclaimer, to help strategize your best course of action during a time of stress and uncertainty.
In any case, you should be prepared to create a narrative of facts detailing everything that you remembered before, during and after the rental incident leading up to the landlord-tenant dispute, including keeping meticulous records of expenses made during the litigation, or in the case of the responsible merchant, the costs to defend.
Forming an Attorney-Client Relationship: Call a Miami Landlord Tenant Law Specialist Today for a Case Evaluation to Better Prevail in Your Landlord-Tenant Dispute
Often powerless and afraid, tenants in Florida’ big cities have many times sat on their rights and submitted to power grabs by avaricious Miami landlords, making having the right attorney on your side to navigate the vast and ever-changing landscape of Florida employment law and ever evolving case precedent—important as ever. The attorney-client relationship forms upon consultation when you consider hiring the attorney. Once formed, this relationship helps prepare the client to bring a winning case to receive compensation where there is clearly established liability and avoid liability for claims that have no support in fact or law and are mere conjecture and conspiracy.
With directories spanning Orlando, Miami, or Fort Lauderdale-based landlord tenant law firms, Lawsuit.org, beyond your local bar association, or public law school library, or state bar office, offers premier tool helping you pinpoint the right firm.
Your newly-hired advocate will likely be versed with other areas of law than landlord tenant law, including probate, estate planning and business law. Don’t hesitate to ask for a free consultation and case valuations so regardless of your status as landlord or tenant, you receive the justice you need.