Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

OK, I do not own the home I am living in. I rent it. I am the only person on the lease and I live in Florida. I decided to take in a roommate. What was supposed to be one person has turned out to be a wife and husband and three kids. I do not want them in this house any longer. There is no written agreement between us, just verbal. They do not and have never received any mail here. The rent is due Friday, July 23rd and I know they are not going to pay. They left the house several days ago and moved some stuff out, but have abandoned a lot of stuff here. If they do not pay the rent on Friday I want to throw their stuff out on the lawn and rent the room out again. I believe they left their stuff here just to screw with me, as she works for a law firm as a paralegal and I'm sure she knows the law on this stuff. She had her husband call me and ask if they had received mail she was expecting. No mail has came for her, but I ran into the postman yesterday at the gas station and he asked me if there was a "Hillery so and so" living there. I said that she was there for a couple of weeks but has pretty much moved out. He went on to explain that he recognized the name because he had been working another route for a short time and had a stack of mail in her name from a previous address that she had "disappeared" from. She has had her husband text me and ask whether any mail came for them and I did not respond. The letter carrier told me that she had left no forwarding address, so he had knocked on my door to ask me if she lived here and to deliver a single piece of mail to her. When no one answered the door he just kept the letter until he had a chance to see me personally because he knew of the situation with me renting a room occasionally and he wanted to make sure they were in fact at my house. He said his plan was to just hold her mail for 10 days then have it returned to the sender and I said OK. A friend told me that if she was receiving mail here that the courts would consider this her residence. So, my question is...The "tenant" and I have nothing in writing. She agreed to pay me half the rent for August on the 23rd of July and the other half two weeks later, on August 6th. Can I throw these guys stuff out on the lawn and re-rent the room on August 1st, or do I have to go through the legal steps of a 3 day pay or quit and follow up with an eviction notice? Can I refuse the rent on July 23rd (which would be half the rent for August) and serve them with an eviction notice? I want them out, but dont want trouble with the law or the courts. What are my rights and responsibilities? Please give me a detailed answer. Thanks very much. I have learned my lesson from this and promise to never get myself into this situation again.


Asked on 7/21/10, 2:31 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lesly Longa Longa Law P.A.

A lease is not required in Florida, and the landlord cannot resort to self-help. Give them written notice that you want them to vacate. Look at the site copied below to see how long you have to give them (for tenants that pay monthly with no lease, you have to give them 15 days written notice). If they don't pay and you want to kick them out, you will have to go through the legal steps and do a formal eviction through the courts. Here is a site with detailed information and links to the Florida statutes. http://www.800helpfla.com/landlord_text.html. There are eviction notices and forms on your local court's website. Regards,

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Answered on 7/22/10, 7:26 am


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