Landlord & Tenant

Landlords
There is probably nothing more frustrating to Landlords than having to remove tenants from the premises for failing to pay rent or failing to take adequate care of the premises. However, in order to remove these tenants from the premises, a landlord must comply with Florida laws. As many landlords know—or as many landlords have learned—a landlord’s failure to comply with the Florida law can result in costly penalties to the landlord. Therefore, even if a landlord decides to do his or her own evictions, the landlord must first educate himself or herself to avoid costly mistakes. Therefore, the Residential Realty Law Firm provides the following services for landlords:

  1. Evicting Tenants (from start to finish)
  2. Defending landlord against tenants (if landlord has been sued or countersued by one or more tenants)
  3. Assisting Landlord with Startup/Re-Organization (providing landlords with specialized documents for landlord’s repeated use, training, and advice)
  4. Drafting of Eviction Paperwork for landlord’s signature and filing (to avoid frustrating and costly delays at the clerk’s office for those landlords who file their own evictions)
  5. Drafting leases, applications, three-day notices, and other related documents
  6. Consulting
  7. Representing Landlord in any matter relating to the tenant and/or premises

Also, see our landlord & tenant class schedule.


Tenants
The Residential Realty Law Firm only represents those tenants who have legitimate legal issues with their landlord. If a tenant is unable to pay his or her rent, it is very likely that a tenant does not have a legitimate legal issue with their landlord. Therefore, all of our tenant clients must provide us with adequate assurances that they have an ability to pay their rent to their landlord.

Florida law provides protection to tenants who have legitimate legal issues with their landlords. However, many tenants may be surprised that Florida law requires tenants to do certain things before obtaining such protection. Therefore, tenants can have legitimate legal issues with their landlords, but have no legal protection as a result of their failure to comply with Florida law. For example, Florida law may require a tenant to withhold rent if the tenant wants to preserve its claim against a landlord. However, before withholding rent, the tenant must perform certain actions. If the tenant withholds rent and the landlord files an eviction, the tenant may be evicted for failure to pay rent. Not only will it be likely that the tenant will be required to move within a few days of the eviction, but the eviction will likely damage the tenant’s credit report. Therefore, even tenants who decide to represent themselves should first educate themselves before doing so.

Another area where tenants may need representation is where the tenant believes that she or he has an option to purchase the premises. These agreements are usually called “Lease with an Option to Buy” “Lease to Own” “Option Purchase Contracts” “Option Purchase Agreements” or something similar. If a landlord represents that he is extending a tenant a right to purchase the premises, in most instances, it must be in writing to be legally enforceable. Also, it is important to negotiate the terms of the purchase of the premises before the tenant and landlord enter into the agreement. Therefore, even if tenants decide to represent themselves through this process, tenants should first educate themselves before doing so.

Therefore, The Residential Realty Law Firm provides the following services for tenants:

  1. Defending tenants in eviction actions
  2. Negotiating lease terms (with or without option to purchase)
  3. Drafting Notices on Tenant’s behalf
  4. Representing tenants against landlords for any issue
  5. Consulting

Also, see our landlord & tenant class schedule.