Why Three Day Notice to Tenant?

Posted on by djht
Why a three day notice when tenants do not pay?

“The tenants have not paid in two months, why does the landlord now need to give the tenants a THREE DAY NOTICE?”

This is a complaint that I regularly hear from landlords that have bent over backward to work with tenants that have financial problems.

 

There are two reasons:

First, the court system wants to give tenants every chance that it can.  It does not matter it the tenant is a year behind in the payment of the rent.   If a residential landlord wants to terminate a tenancy for non-payment, the court will still require the landlord to provide a pre-suit notice, known as a THREE DAY NOTICE.

Second, the law requires it.  Florida Statute 83.56 says that before filing a suit for possession based on non-payment of rent, the landlord must first deliver a THREE DAY NOTICE to the tenant, also known as a pre-suit notice.  The law says that the landlord must always give the tenant the opportunity fix the problem that tenant has created, before the landlord files a suit for possession under Florida’s Landlord-Tenant Act.

The lesson here is to not allow your tenants to get two months behind in the payment of rent.

 

Let Pinellas County Eviction Lawyer, Daniel Kortenhaus help you with collecting unpaid rent as a Residential or Commercial Landlord – contact today!

Commercial Landlord Collecting Unpaid Rent

Posted on by djht
Commercial Landlord Unpaid Rent
Collect Unpaid Rent for Commercial Landlords

Are you a Commercial Landlord that is having trouble collecting the rent? 

Do you have a Commercial Tenant that won’t pay the rent?

 

The law is on your side.  Here is why:

 

  1. Under Florida Statute 83.232(5), a Commercial Tenant is required to deposit rent into the court registry as the rent accrues.  “The tenant is required, even without court order, to make payments into the court registry when due.  Where the court enters an order requiring payment, those payments are also to be made as they accrue… ”  Poal WK Taft, LLC v. Johnson Medical Center Corp., 45 So.3d 37, 39 (Fla. 4DCA 2010).

  2. When a Commercial Tenant fails to deposit the rent into the court registry, a Florida Commercial Landlord can ask the court to issue a judgment for possession without giving the tenant a court hearing.   “Where the tenant has not paid the rent into the registry of the court in accordance with court order and statute, the landlord is entitled to a writ of possession without further hearing.  Poal WK Taft, LLC v. Johnson Medical Center Corp., 45 So.3d 37, 39 (Fla 4DCA 2010).

  3. The trial court does not have the discretion to extend the date of the required rent deposit. “The trial court exercises no discretion, and the landlord is entitled to the issuance of a writ of possession as a matter of right.”  Poal WK Taft, LLC v. Johnson Medical Center Corp., 45 So.3d 37, 39 (Fla. 4DCA 2010).  See also, 214 Main Street Corp. v. Tanksley, 947 So.2d 490 (Fla. 2DCA 2007); Stetson Management, Inc. v. Fiddler’s Elbow, Inc., 18 So.3d 317 (Fla. 2DCA 2009);  and Kosoy Kendall Associates, LLC v. Los Latinos Restaurant, Inc.,  10 So.3d 1168 (Fla. 3 DCA 2009).

  4. The issuance of the judgment for possession in favor of the Commercial Landlord is mandatory.  Not only does the trial court have no discretion, the trial court may not even consider the Commercial Tenant’s reason for the late payment.  “…trial courts have no discretion in entering an immediate default for possession under these circumstances.  The trial court may not consider the reasons why the deposit was not timely made.”  DTRS Intercontinental Miami, LLC v. A.K. Gift Shop, Inc., 77 So.3d 785,787 (Fla. 3DCA 2012).

  5. The issuance of the judgment for possession in favor of the Commercial Landlord is a ministerial duty which can be compelled.  In Palm Beach Marketplace, LLC v. Ayeda’s Mexican Restaurant, Inc., 103 So.3d 911 (Fla. 4DCA 2012), the Commercial Landlord petitioned to compel the trial court to enter a default and issue a writ of possession after the Commercial Tenant failed to comply with the requirements of Florida Statute 83.232(5).  The Fourth District Court of Appeal granted the petition to compel and said:  “As the landlord demonstrates, the trial court has a ministerial duty to provide the remedies set forth in the statute.”

If you are a Commercial Landlord and your Commercial Tenant won’t pay the rent, the law is on your side.  Using Florida Statute 83.232(5), I can help you put the tenant out.

Let Pinellas County Eviction Lawyer, Daniel Kortenhaus help you with collecting unpaid rent as a Commercial Landlord – contact today!

Does your tenant have a lease agreement?

Posted on by djht

lease agreementIn many phone conferences with landlords, I have been told “there is no lease”  meaning there is no signed agreement.  Sometimes landlords think that the fact that there is no signed agreement will benefit them in some way or make the eviction move more quickly.  That is not the case.  Believe it or not, Florida’s landlord-tenant act does not contain the word “Lease”.  Instead, it contains the phrase “Rental Agreement”. 

A Rental Agreement means any written agreement, including amendments or addenda, or oral agreement for a duration of less than 1 year, providing for use and occupancy of premises.

Florida’s landlord-tenant act treats written rental agreements (Written Leases) and oral rental agreements (Oral Leases) the same.  There is no advantage to having an oral lease as opposed to a written lease when filing an eviction against a tenant.  And when a landlord tells me that “there is no lease”,  chances are that there actually is — an oral lease.

Let Pinellas County Eviction Lawyer, Daniel Kortenhaus help you with your Rental Agreement (Written Lease) – contact today!