Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida
my tenant in florida broke his lease and moved out, though we found a new tenant right away, but he left the house uncleaned. due to both facts we kept his security deposit, now he's threating to hire a lawyer in order to get his security deposit back. what's the chance that we'll win this case? thanks.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Unless you complied with FS 83 regarding security,none.
Besides being able to prove that the security deposit was necessary to pay for the damages that exceed regular wear and tear, the answer to your question largely depends on whether or not you provided the statutorily required written notice to tenant putting the tenant on notice of landlord's claim to the security deposit within the time period required by Florida law. If you failed to deliver the notice timely, then you may have waived your ability to keep the deposit.