Legal Question in Banking Law in Florida

I signed a month to month lease on a tri-plex, this lease was signed on 12/28/09. The first month was free because i agreed to get the unit "move in ready", I did and actually spent more than the cost of rent doing so. Consequently the rent was due on 1/28/10, on that very day I found out that the

property was in foreclosure via someone from Safeguard Properties knocking on my door and changing the locks on one of the vacant units. I contacted the landlord to find out what was going on, express my concern about them having me sign a lease when they knew the property was in forclosure, my unwillingness to continue to dump money in a bottomless pitt, etc....... They say the property is not being foreclosed on I should pay them and now they have put a 3 day notice on my door( that's dated 2/8/04, yes wrong date.) I have put rent aside like an escroll, what should i do?


Asked on 2/10/10, 4:35 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Sarah Grosse Sarah Grosse, Esquire

A landlord can and should seek to have the premises occupied, especially if this is a commercial rental property, such as an apartment complex. The foreclosure may never be ordered by a court, and the property owner has many options in the meantime including defending the foreclosure suit (yes, there are many valid defenses), short sale, and loan modification. You are not dumping money into a bottomless pit, but rather, as long as the property owner can deliver possession of the premises to you, you must pay the rent you agreed to pay.

You are in breach of your lease agreement for failing to pay rent. You may be held liable for the remainder of the lease term whether or not you choose to vacate the premises. The landlord must give you a legally sufficient 3 day notice that you are in breach, giving you opportunity to cure the breach. I don't know whether the notice is legally sufficient without looking at it. If you fail to pay rent in the 3 day notice period, the landlord can file an eviction action. If you wish to defend the eviction, you will need to deposit the back rent with the registry of the court.

Read more
Answered on 2/15/10, 7:34 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Banking Law questions and answers in Florida