Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

Hi, I moved into a condo owned by a hoarder as a business agreement /barter arrangement. Our verbal agreement was for me to clean his filthy, roach infested place that he had never cleaned in the 7 years that he lived there and he would give me a furnished bedroom and private bathroom along with a small salary. Being new in town I didn't have any other prospects at the time and thought that this arrangement should work out for the two of us . I realized quickly that this individual has many mental illnesses and I found it was best to enable him to manage his moods. With each room/area that I cleaned his hostility grew as his alcohol consumption also grew. He persisted to harass me and he tried to get more than our agreement called for. I was/am certainly not interested in this incredibly overgrown child and I made that clear to him on several occasions. One time I was showering and felt these"evil vibes" when I opened the bathroom door my 400 lb drunk roommate was standing there in his underwear asking me if "are you ok"? I answered sternly"I am fine, you're the one standing there in your freaking underwear" ! He stomped his feet and cursed me out and I went to my bedroom and called my boyfriend who said to lick the door and to be careful. Unfortunately, he was in no position in help me. My boyfriend told me to stop babying him and to let him take care of himself. I had been enabling the roommate because it was the best way to manage his mood. I agreed with my boyfriend and I stopped babying the roommate and that's when things went from bad to worse. He reneged on our agreement and he stopped paying me for my services. He caused every kind of "hell" imaginable for me. I continued to be civil with him even when mutual friends of ours kept telling me all the awful lies he was saying about me. The latest incident is he filed for an ejection and I received the papers yesterday. He owes me a lot of money. Had he paid me the money he owes.e I would have moved out. He is a nasty individual who enjoys harassing me in a sadistic way. A friend told me that I can fight it and counter sue for money owed and for sexual harassment. Is that true? Please advice me on my rights. Thank you.


Asked on 2/15/17, 5:19 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lucreita Becude Lucreita D. Becude, P.A.

you have two issues here. One you are not paying rent, no lease or written agreement. That is why he had to file an ejectment. The rules are different in that this type of eviction you have the right to respond to the complaint and have a hearing on the matter. REad what the paper work says for you to do and THEN DO IT within the time allotted. The other issue is non payment of services rendered. I suspect you were either paid in cash or on a weekly/monthly basis. The services were considered as part of the living arrangement for not paying rent. YOu will need to have proof of payments - via a bank statement to outline the arrangement for payment. When you answer your complaint file a countercomplaint as a second cause of action and outline the issue with the amount owned and arrangements.

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Answered on 2/16/17, 7:40 am


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