Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

My fiancee� is renting out one of our rooms to this guy named Paul. He owes $300 a month and is supposed to cut the lawn 3 times every month which was agreed upon by both sides. In May he only paid a hundred dollars and cut the lawn. So he still owes $200 from May. Now it is June and he has been staying at a new girlfriend�s place. It is the 9th. He has not paid for the last 9 days either. He has only returned a couple times in the last 9 days to grab some of his clothes and has taken some of our food.
Yesterday he was supposed to come by and pay us rent. We knew he wouldn�t pay and this was his last shot we were giving him to make it up to us. He never showed up. We called him every few hours for the duration of the day and he never answered his phone. (Because he lived with us for over 30 days we know that he is on his cell all the time which means he was ducking our calls.) Our last message to him was that he no longer lives here and that he can call during day light hours to discuss getting his stuff back, but he no longer is a member of this house. He did not call yesterday or today as of yet, nor stopped by.
My fiancee� wants to keep Paul�s belongings until he pays rent and if he doesn�t then he will sell Paul�s stuff later to make up the lost money. I told my fiancee� that I don�t know if that is legal to keep someone�s belongings, even though the house is in my fiancee�s name and the stuff is on his property. My fiancee� called the police and asked them, but they recommended we find a legal service. We are broke because Paul didn�t pay us, so we can�t afford a lawyer. Paul has been notified several times by phone message, but he is refusing to check his phone or come see if he can get his stuff back. My fiancee� and I agree that our house is not a �storage unit� and we can�t re-rent that room if his stuff is in there. We are losing money every day he doesn�t get his stuff out.
What can we do legally? Or how many days do we have to wait for him to come get his stuff before we sell it? If you need to know what state laws apply- We live on the Florida panhandle and rent out rooms in a standard four room residence. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Asked on 6/09/10, 7:35 am

Lucreita Becude Lucreita D. Becude, P.A.

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You need to officially evict him - look up the landlord/tenant laws and comply.

Answered on 6/09/10, 11:58 am

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