Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

My husband and I rented a 2 year confo in Hallandale, FL in August of 2008. One week after moving in we found out I was pregnant.. a happy time until the pregnancy was deemed high risk and I was put on bedrest. When it was safe to travel I returned to Boston, MA to be close to my long term doctor and our family. My husband stayed in FL and continued to pay rent. When it was time for him to come home, we found a tenant to continue the lease, which was very hard to due STRICT condo docs, but they permitted for our specific reason. There are 4 months left on the lease and the tenant has skipped out. The landlord is threatening to sue us if we do not pay. We did some research and found some information stating a lease in Flordia cannot exceed a 12 month term. Ours says that as well, but the landlord hand wrote a note stating the condo association requires a 2 year lease. Basically, we told him he could keep the deposit for the aggrivation and that we did all we could to meet the lease requirements. Since we now live in MA is it possible he could sue us in Florida and we would have to find a way to get there?


Asked on 5/03/10, 12:45 pm

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

A lease in Florida can last longer than one year. The terms of your lease will state how long it lasts, so I cannot say more without knowing what it states. If you and the landlord signed a lease for only one year, then he cannot hold you to two years on the basis of a handwritten note that was not part of the contract. Did the new tenant sign a new lease? If the new tenant did not sign a lease with the landlord, then you may still be liable for rent under that lease. Whenever a landlord lets you terminate a lease early, you must get that agreement in a signed writing as proof. It is possible that he could sue you in Florida, but he has a duty to mitigate damages by finding a new renter. I hope this information is helpful. There is also information available at http://www.800helpfla.com/landlord_text.html. Regards,

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Answered on 5/10/10, 8:29 am


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