Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

I live in Fl. I moved out of a house I was renting on Sept. 1st. When we moved out, we repainted the entire interior, leaving the remaining paint with the landlord. He wanted it. We cleaned the carpets and the rest of the house. When we moved in, he had owned the house for about 6 months and never did anything to it. There was dust on everything, that we had to clean. The walls were dirty and we painted. The carpets were disgusting and we cleaned them but some stains didn't come out. I have this in writing that he signed. I don't have a copy of my lease, it's still packed somewhere. He had his handyman in the house on our last day doing some work that he'd waited on, like leaky roofs. The landlord was in and out all day. He thanked us for cleaning as he saw us doing it and said we'd done a good job and he didn't require any more. Everytime we cleaned the kitchen, they messed it up and told us not to worry about anymore since they would be messing it up more. I left after he did that day and left the keys in a drawer where he wanted them.

My security deposit was $500. In my original lease, my rent was $795 if postdated by the 1st, $1000 if after that. After a yr., he kept saying he was going to send a new lease to be signed, but never did. He sent a letter, which is packed somewhere, saying my new rent was $875 and nothing else. I started paying him the new amount on a month to month basis. We stayed for 2 more yrs at this amount. There was no mention of a rent discount in this letter. He sent me a letter stating that he was keeping my deposit and that I owe him an additional $5922.00 for a total of $6,422.00. First, he's charging me $205 for every month I was late. After the 1st yr, which I was late twice the 1st yr and he never asked for the money, we had a conversation about how it was easier for me to pay after I got a SS check on the 3rd. He said he knew I always pd, unlike some of his tenants and not to worry about it. And again, there was no mention of it in the renewal letter. He also charged me $7 a day late fees. I don't even remember mention of this in the lease. One of the days in the beginning, he also charged me a NSF fee for. The problem was with the bank, I got a letter from them stating this when it happened. I talked to him and he said to send it, along with a money order for the rent to him and I wouldn't be responsible for it. All in all, he charged me late fees and the rent discount for 23 months out of the 3 yrs we lived there, going back to 2008. Can he go back for unpaid late fees this long? And since there was no written lease after the 1st yr and it wasn't in the letter, can he charge at all for the last 2 yrs?

The house had also been broken into twice in the last year and a half. The first time, they broke a window, the second time we were on vacation and my kids were scared to stay in the house. We stayed with my sister and went to the house every day to pack and clean and notified him we were moving. They kept vandalizing the house and broke 2 windows, a big mirror in the house, along with trashing the yard. I have police reports for everything. He is charging me for a broken window $75, the broken mirrors $150 (one was our fault, the other the break-in. He wasn't going to replace it, just take it down), and a gazebo picnic table $200. It was burned down when ashes from the grill landed on it. I talked to him about my replacing it when it happened and he told me not to worry about it. And he charged me $250 for a moderate clean out. Can he do this?

He sent his letter postmarked 9/29 and I didn't pick it up from the post office until 10/14 since I was out of town for a wedding. He says I have 15 days from that date to object. How do I do this and what can he legally claim? Thanks for your help.

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