Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida
My husband and I have leased a condo in SW Florida for 3 years. The current lease is valid from June 1, 2008 thru June 1, 2009. We just received this email today from our Landlord:
I regret to tell you that I am having to let the condo go. It is on the market for $165,000.00 - see the attachment for details including the contact info for the agent with whom I have it listed in case you are interested in buying it. If not, my agent would like to hold open house Sat & Sun Oct 17 & 18for about 3 to 4 hours. I've heard that if the bank ends up with it, they let tenants stay at reduced rents. Pls call me. You've been wonderful tenants!
We were "shocked" to say the least and we do not want to buy at this time, but what are our rights as far as tenants? Do we continue to pay rent even though the owner is not making the payment to the bank? Do we have to let the agent show the property even though our lease is not up until June? How do we protect our furnishings and personal property if the bank "ends up with it" as stated in this email? Thank you for any advice you can give us.
2 Answers from Attorneys
Yes you must continue to pay rent. Whether you must allow the place to be shown depends on the terms of your contract, but probably not. You could negotiate some rent reduction to allow the condo to be shown.
You are still required to pay rent. If you stop paying rent, the landlord can have you evicted and get a judgment for the past due rent. Your lease agreement ended in June, and you did not mention signing a new agreement. So, if you pay rent monthly, now you are a month to month tenant. With a month to month tenancy, the landlord can legally give you just 15 days notice to move out. A helpful resource on FL landlord-tenant law is: http://www.800helpfla.com/landlord_text.html
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