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!

Compulsory counterclaim rule bars retaliation lawsuit against landlord

Posted on by djht

I say hit them hard and hit them fast.   When headed into a lawsuit with tenant, you need to hit them hard and hit them fast.  Case in point.

In October of 2017, I filed an eviction lawsuit based for non-payment of rent for a property in Pinellas Park, Florida.  The story was this:  Back in 2015, two women that lived in the same neighborhood were friends.  Friend number one had financial problems and was in foreclosure.  Friend  number two was being transferred out of state by her job.  You guessed it, friend number one (the lady with financial problems) convinced friend number two to let her rent friend number two’s house.

Two years later, friend number two loses her job and wants to move back into her own house.  Unbelievably, friend number one refuses to move out and claims that she is buying the house.  Friend number two came to me in tears.  No job and no place to live.  I filed a quick eviction in the County Court.  Thankfully friend number one (the crazy tenant) filed an answer containing a rambling bunch of nonsense and the eviction lawsuit was quickly decided in favor of my client.

After the eviction, the crazy tenant convinced another lawyer to sue friend number two in the Circuit Court claiming that she was actually buying the house, not renting, and that she wanted the money refunded if friend number two wasn’t going to sell her the house.  No kidding.

The crazy tenant that lost her own house in foreclosure filed a lawsuit saying that my client had breached an agreement to sell her another house.  Because the crazy tenant’s claim for refund was not alleged as an issue in the original County Court eviction case, I raised the compulsory counterclaim rule as a defense and got the Circuit Court to dismiss the frivolous lawsuit at the first hearing.  It was a slam dunk.

The other lawyer walked out of the courthouse with her head spinning.   Also, when my client got back into her own house, it was an absolute mess.  It looked like the crazy tenant had not cleaned the house in two years.  It was filthy.

The lesson here is simple.  Never rent to friends.  When headed into a lawsuit with a tenant, hit them hard, hit them fast, and hire a lawyer that knows what he is doing.