Florida Eviction Process

According to the Florida Bar, as soon as a person begins paying rent they become a tenant under Florida Law. This gives the tenant certain rights and responsibilities. When a person accepts a rental payment, they also fall fall under the same act, which labels them as a Landlord.

The state of Florida tends to favor on the side of the landlord when it comes to making these rules. Florida law prohibits rent control and doesn’t have any restrictions on security deposit amounts nor late fees. The typical situations where the court tends to favor on the side of the landlord are violation of terms on a lease agreement or nonpayment of rent. The average length of time for a uncontested nonpayment of rent takes three to four weeks.

The responsibilities of landlords and tenants can be found here under the Florida Residential LandLord Tenant Act.

Step 1: Giving Proper Notice

The first step in the eviction process is giving the tenants written notice. There are three different types of notices that can be given out depending on the situation you encounter. We will outline these different notices below.

Failure To Pay Rent - 3 Day Notice

If your tenant has failed to pay rent, you can serve them a 3-day notice. This notice states that the tenant has 3 days to pay rent or move out of the rental unit, otherwise the landlord will terminate the tenancy. If the tenant does not pay the rent, or move, the landlord can file an eviction lawsuit at the end of three days. This does not include weekends, or holidays (see Fla. Stat. Ann. § 83.56(3)).

Violations - 7 Day Notice

If the tenant violates the lease or rental agreement the landlord can give the tenant a 7 day notice to cure. This notice will inform the tenant that he has 7 days to come back into compliance with the lease or rental agreements, else the landlord will terminate the tenancy. Situations such as these are commonly, letting unauthorized people live in the property, keeping the property in poor condition, or having unauthorized pets.

Under Florida Law, tenants are obligated to keep the premises compliant with local government codes, keep clean and sanitary, and remove all garbage in a proper manner. If these conditions are not met within 7 days the landlord can file an eviction lawsuit with the court (see Fla. Stat. Ann. § 83.56(2)(b)).

There is another 7 day notice which applies to an eviction in which the violations can not be cured. This would apply to a more troublesome scenario in which the tenant consistently causes damage to the property, or repeats a violation in a 12 month period. This notice informs the tenant that he must move out of the rental unit within 7 days or the landlord will proceed with an eviction lawsuit (see Fla. Stat. Ann. § 83.56(2)(a)).

Month to Month Tenant - 15 Day Notice

If the tenant has a month-to-month lease or rental agreement that the landlord wants to terminate without cause to do so, then the landlord can give the tenant a 15 day written notice. The notice will inform the tenant that the lease will lend in 15 days and the tenant must move out of the rental unit by that time (see Fla. Stat. Ann. § 83.57).

Step 2: File Action

If the tenant is still not paying after the 3-day notice, or not curing the violations after the 7-day notice, the landlord has the right to file action. Once the landlord files the action and the tenant is served, the tenant only had 5 business days to respond to the complaint.

Step 3: Wait For A Response

If the tenant does not respond, the process is very straightforward. It will show the judge and court that the tenant has no intention of resolving the situation. This will allow the landlord to take the next step and file a Motion for Final Default Judgement of Eviction.

If the tenant does respond, the process can get tricky. A tenant may choose to fight an eviction. This would increase the amount of time the eviction lawsuit takes. The tenant may have several valid defenses, such as the landlord making procedural mistakes during the eviction (for example, improperly serving a notice or not waiting long enough before filing the eviction lawsuit). Some other potential tenant defenses include the landlord’s failure to maintain the rental unit according to law or the landlord discriminating against the tenant.

With Square One Home Buyers you could avoid the additional time and potential for the judge to side with the tenant. Feel free to give us a call for our opinion on the situation.

Step 4: Final Judgement

Once the Final Judgement of Eviction is entered upon, the judge will inform the Clerk or Court to go ahead and execute the Write of Possession. A Writ of Possession is what will restore possession of the property to the landlord. On the document will be a date and time that the landlord will meet with the sheriff to remove the tenant from the premises.

A landlord must never try to force a tenant to move out of the rental unit. The tenant can only be removed from a rental unit after the landlord has successfully won an eviction lawsuit. Even then, the only person authorized to remove the tenant is a sheriff or constable. Florida law has made it illegal for a landlord to personally remove the tenant from the rental unit.

If the tenant leaves personal property at the rental unit after the tenant has moved and the tenancy has ended, the landlord must notify the tenant in writing of the abandoned personal property. The landlord must give the tenant at least 10 days to claim the property if the notice was personally delivered to the tenant, or 15 days if the notice was mailed. The landlord can also charge the tenant reasonable costs for storage of the property. If the tenant does not claim the property within the appropriate time, then the landlord can either sell the property or dispose of it

Conclusion

While the eviction process may seem straight forward on paper, the process can get much more complicated when it’s applied in the real world infant of a Judge. There are many different factors which can influence the outcome of the decision. The landlord must decide whether to handle it themselves, or let a professional handle it. However, we are always here to handle any questions, and offer our help to the best of our abilities.