Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida
Trying to be nice may cost us
Our landlord came to us and said
they had decided to sell the house we
were occupying, and were we
interested in buying it? After they
told us what they wanted for it, we
said no. We informed them that we
would vacate the residence so they
could do the renovations necessary
to sell the house. We moved out,
and heard nothing from the landlord
for 2 years or so. Today I received a
letter from a collections agency
informing us that we owed them
over $3000. Nobody has attempted
to contact us or request the money
until now - is there any time limit on
collecting this kind of money? Or is
there some sort of obligation for
them to try to contact us before they
send us to a collection agency? I
think legally we broke the lease, even
though we were trying to do the
landlord a favor.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Trying to be nice may cost us
NOTE: This communication is not intended as and should not be interpreted as legal advice. Rather, it is intended solely as a general discussion of legal principles. You should not rely on or take action based on this communication without first presenting ALL relevant details to a competent attorney in your jurisdiction and then receiving the attorney's individualized advice for you. By reading the "Response" to your question or comment, you agree that the opinion expressed is not intended to, nor does it, create any attorney-client relationship, nor does it constitute legal advice to any person reviewing such information, nor will it be considered an attorney-client privileged communication. If you do not agree, then stop right here, and do not read any further.
Yes, there is a time frame or statute of limitations but two years is well within that timeframe. You need to either check the clerk's records in the county in which you lived and see what the collection is based on. Alternatively, the collector is required to provide proof of the debt within 30 days of a written request from you. Frankly, it seems unlikely that the owner of a single family home would sue you and then assign the collection to a collection agency - or that they would even accept only one file from anyone. You may find that this collection is based on some other matter altogether.
Scott R. Jay, Esq.
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