Legal Protection – Landlord Rights and Responsibilities

Legal issues are sometimes unavoidable when it comes to dealing with rental properties. If your tenant has violated the terms of the contract in some way, or if you, as a landlord, are accused of disregarding the tenant’s rights or avoiding your responsibilities with regards to the proper care and maintenance of the property, you will need to know the law properly.

In some cases, you may have to face disagreements – and even lawsuits – that you have to carefully manage in order to protect your rights and interests.

Your Legal Rights as a Landlord According to Florida Law

A few of the most significant rights you have as a landlord are the following:

• When it comes to the lease agreement, you are allowed to present both oral and written ones, although written agreements are usually preferred, since oral ones are often subject to misunderstandings or misinterpretation.
• As a landlord, you have the option to require a down payment, as well as a part of the rent in advance.
• Except for ordinary wear and tear, you also have the right to demand that the tenant returns the property in the same condition as it was before the lease agreement.
• When you decide to move, you can end the lease, provided that the agreement allows for it, however, you have to provide your tenant with a timely, legal notice.
• If a tenant doesn’t leave the premises after the end of the lease agreement, you have the right to charge up to double the rent amount for each additional month.

Responsibilities

Just as your own rights are important, the law is also required to uphold your tenants’ rights and require you to adhere to certain responsibilities. The failure to do so may force tenants to take legal action against you.

Following are some of the most important of these responsibilities as required by Florida state law:

• You, first of all, have the responsibility to provide adequate living conditions, including water supply, electricity, heating, locks and keys, as well as proper roofing and secure walls.
• It will be your job as a landlord – through adequate maintenance and repair – to make sure all the systems, locks and furnishings stay in proper working order or free of damage.
• Keeping the premises clean is another important requirement which applies to all common areas of the property.
• You have to comply with all housing safety and health codes that apply to the area, providing services such as garbage removal, smoke detectors, as well as cleaning and extermination of rats, mice, roaches or termites – unless the lease agreement states otherwise.
• While you are still the owner of the property, you need to comply with your tenants’ privacy rights, only demanding access to their living space when absolutely necessary or for repair tasks or presenting the property to a potential buyer, inspector or authority official.
• If any other terms are included in the lease agreement, you also have the responsibility of complying with them (for example, not to ask for more rent or demand the tenant to provide you with services or documents that the law does not require).
• Finally, any notifications – such as an eviction notice – need to be made a specific number of days before the intended action is taken, depending on the type of notice.

 Rent Withholding and Evictions

Two important points to keep in mind have to do with the tenant’s right to withhold rent payments in some special cases and your right as a landlord to evict your tenant as a result of misconduct, missed rental payments or any other violation of your lease agreement.

Rent Withholding: Though Florida law does not allow a tenant to do repair work on the landlord’s property and deduct the cost from their rent, tenants do have the possibility to withhold rent payments when there are serious problems with the property that you are not dealing with.

However, tenants are only protected by law if they provide a written complaint to the local county or city’s enforcement office, outlining any major issues or violations of local code. Also, as a landlord, you have the right to be provided with a notification letter in which the tenant informs you of their action.

Lease Termination: When it comes to terminating the lease agreement and evicting your tenant, you also have to observe some strict requirements and responsibilities.

For instance, Florida law requires written notice to be presented to the tenant with no less than 15 days before the eviction date (except for weekly tenancies, where the period is 7 days).

Also, you are not allowed to force a tenant to leave by changing locks, replacing doors and other features of the property or shutting off any utilities. Any of these acts can lead to a lawsuit that may cost you a lot of money in the long run.

In order to avoid any legal issues with your tenants, it’s very important to have a properly written lease agreement signed by both parties and for both landlord and tenant to have at least a basic knowledge of their rights and responsibilities.

While, in some cases, disagreements cannot be avoided, with even a small understanding of the law associated with renting out a property in the state of Florida, you can easily come up with a solution that will be mutually beneficial for you and your tenants.