Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Virginia

Dissolve 3-year lease

Hi,

We live out of town and had a little time to investigate on the tenant. So we did minimal investigation on the tenant and we signed a 3-year lease without two subscribing witnesses. Now the tenant is intentionally creating problems and constantly harassing us, He threatens to withhold paying rent by sending cure notices for all sort of trivial issues. His intention is to buy him out the lease and he put it in one of the emails correspondence that he wants significant settlement $$$ to buy him out of 3-year lease. The tenant is harassing beyond control and causing mental stress.

I am trying to get him out of my property by dissolving the lease. According to FL statutes, Section 689.01, Florida�s land conveyance statute, which provides that no estate of one year or more shall be made other than in �writing, signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.� Can I use this section of the law to dissolve the lease we signed?

689.01 How real estate conveyed.�No estate or interest of freehold, or for a term of more than 1 year, or any uncertain interest of, in or out of any messuages, lands, tenements or hereditaments shall be created, made, granted, transferred or released in any other manner than by instrument in writing, signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses by the party creating, making, granting, conveying, transferring or releasing such estate, interest, or term of more than 1 year, or by the party�s lawfully authorized agent, unless by will and testament, or other testamentary appointment, duly made according to law; and no estate or interest, either of freehold, or of term of more than 1 year, or any uncertain interest of, in, to, or out of any messuages, lands, tenements or hereditaments, shall be assigned or surrendered unless it be by instrument signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses by the party so assigning or surrendering, or by the party�s lawfully authorized agent, or by the act and operation of law. No seal shall be necessary to give validity to any instrument executed in conformity with this section. Corporations may execute any and all conveyances in accordance with the provisions of this section or ss. 692.01 and 692.02.

Can I hire you as my attorney to enforce the 689.01 section of the law to evict him out of my property? Please share me about your thoughts and let me know if this is a slam dunk or more complicated. Currently the property is managed by the property management company. Thank you so much

Mike


Asked on 12/09/16, 11:19 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

My advice would be to focus on the substantive violations of this lease which may have already occurred as a basis to terminate it and to evict this tenant and in your paperwork filed to evict him you could then bring in the procedural issues involving the lack of the two subscribing witnesses and the failure of this lease to fully comply with the Florida statutes which you've referenced.

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Answered on 12/12/16, 8:24 am


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