Need Help....Florida

[fronty]

What is the name of your state? Florida

In August 2003, my landlord wouldn't let me out of an auto-renewal clause. The terms of the lease stated that I need to give 120 days written notice of my intent to not renew or my lease would be automatically renewed for one year. Well, I gave oral notification at 120 days and written 118 days before the end of the lease. I didn't receive a rebuttal letter regarding my written notice, so I thought they accepted it. A week before the end of my lease they left a note on my door saying my lease was renewed for one year. I tried talking to the property owners and they said my only option was to relet the apartment or pay one months rent and forfeit my security deposit. They threatened me with a civil suit and a negative report to a credit reporting agency, so I gave in. Well, now I see Florida has a statute 83.575 that states a landlord can't ask for more that 60 days notice if penalties are assessed for noncompliance. The statute states:

83.575 Termination of tenancy with specific duration.--

(1) A rental agreement with a specific duration may contain a provision requiring the tenant to notify the landlord before vacating the premises at the end of the rental agreement; however, a rental agreement may not require more than 60 days' notice before vacating the premises.

(2) A rental agreement with a specific duration may provide that if a tenant fails to give the required notice before vacating the premises at the end of the rental agreement, the tenant may be liable for liquidated damages as specified in the rental agreement if the landlord provides written notice to the tenant specifying the tenant's obligations under the notification provision contained in the lease and the date the rental agreement is terminated. The landlord must provide such written notice to the tenant within 15 days before the start of the notification period contained in the lease. The written notice shall list all fees, penalties, and other charges applicable to the tenant under this subsection.

(3) If the tenant remains on the premises with the permission of the landlord after the rental agreement has terminated and fails to give notice required under s. 83.57(3), the tenant is liable to the landlord for an additional 1 month's rent.

History.--s. 3, ch. 2003-30; s. 1, ch. 2004-375.

If I'm reading the history line correctly, this is an amendment to chapter 83 that became law in 2004. Is this correct? Does this law only apply to leases after the statute was amended? What recourse can I take?

 

[longneck]

wow... this is the first truly legal question i have seen in this forum for a really long time. congrats to fronty!

my gut reaction is that the clause in your lease is no longer enforcable. you gave sufficient notice. print a copy of that, a copy of your original notice to terminate and write a letter to the LL showing them the error of their ways.

 

[fronty]

Thanks for the reply. I will take your advice. One of the property owners is a lawyer and through checking the clerks office have found that they take a lot of people to small claims court. The apartment was relet 20 days after the termination of the lease, and I believe under Florida's landlord-tenant law they are only allowed to collect for actual losses. Nevertheless, he will probably say that damages include a $300 dollar reletting fee (in one of the lease clauses) and cleaning, repairs, etc... I was going to take my chances in small claims court when all of this happened, but I was worried about the negative collection account, and I wasn't sure how the judge would handle the case. My major concern was that he/she would say that 120 days notice means 120 days notice, and I would be subject to attorney fees and damages from the judgment. I'm thinking the judge would have deemed the 120 days notice unconscionable because of the excessive time period before the end of the lease and the hefty penalty associated with it. I would think he would have said I substantially performed and made a judgment in my favor, but I wasn't certain on which way he would see it. The thing that is really aggravating is they still reported me to a CRA and sent a demand letter with a copy of the small claims paperwork he was going to file. This was two months after I complied with his terms to get out of the auto-renewal. I called him and he said they thought the check I wrote didn't go through and to disregard the letter. I still had to dispute the collection account through the CRA though. I read an article where Ted Babbitt filed a class action suit pertaining to auto-renewal fees and excessive penalties being charged to tenants who terminated their leases. He won a large judgment, but I think there was over 6000 former tenants involved in the suit. The judge also made the property management company to remove 15 miillion dollars worth of derogatory credit information reported to CRAs. Well, I'm probably rambling on too much. If anybody has any additional information, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

wow... this is the first truly legal question i have seen in this forum for a really long time. congrats to fronty!

my gut reaction is that the clause in your lease is no longer enforcable. you gave sufficient notice. print a copy of that, a copy of your original notice to terminate and write a letter to the LL showing them the error of their ways.

 

[ENASNI]

they were going to take you to small claims court? But they did not and you paid them? I am a little confused?
I believe you can find out the rulings of the other court cases, either on-line or at the court house. If you find that they win a lot you might get cold feet, but it might give you some information on how the courts rule.
In FL.. Lawyers are allowed in small claims court.

 

[fronty]

Sorry for the confusion. This is what happened. In order to get out of the auto-renewal without civil action and being reported to a CRA, I had to agree to pay one months rent and forfeit my security deposit. I wrote them a check for what was equivalent to one months rent and they thought it didn't go through. Thus, two months later he said I was in breach of our amended agreement to pay penalties instead of a renewed lease. I then called him stating I had proof the check had cleared, and he told me to disregard the demand letter.

they were going to take you to small claims court? But they did not and you paid them? I am a little confused?
I believe you can find out the rulings of the other court cases, either on-line or at the court house. If you find that they win a lot you might get cold feet, but it might give you some information on how the courts rule.
In FL.. Lawyers are allowed in small claims court.

 

[ENASNI]

Sorry for the confusion. This is what happened. In order to get out of the auto-renewal without civil action and being reported to a CRA, I had to agree to pay one months rent and forfeit my security deposit. I wrote them a check for what was equivalent to one months rent and they thought it didn't go through. Thus, two months later he said I was in breach of our amended agreement to pay penalties instead of a renewed lease. I then called him stating I had proof the check had cleared, and he told me to disregard the demand letter.

Nah, fronty... it was pretty clear, It was my head that was foggy. That happens sometimes to me on Fridays...
Too bad you could not have found that statute and sent that to them before you sent the check.

 

[longneck]

Too bad you could not have found that statute and sent that to them before you sent the check.

ok, so you've already paid the money. i would take this to a real estate attorney for a consult. those are usually free or cheap (especially in florida). they can probably tell you if you can take the LL to court to get all of those fees and early termination penalties returned to you.