Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida
I rent a store front in Fl. Our lease is up at the end of this month, however I did not notify the landlords agent in 60 days that I would not renew. According to the agent I would forefeit my deposit, and would owe an additional 60 days rent because this is in the contract( which I was not aware of).
In signing the leases for this building I noted to the agent that there were old chemicals left in an upstairs area and the condition of that area (I took pictures of the area and gave them to the agent when moving in). This is an old building where there have been no repairs done in the past two years
that we have occupied it, we did not have heat for the first year, and the owner put a heater in last
November. Do I have any recourse.
1 Answer from Attorneys
The renewal notice provision you describe is a contractual situation and really has nothing to do with the conditions of the property at the beginning of the lease term (which you obviously accepted). If the lease calls for notice to be given, then in order to be in compliance with that provision you should give notice accordingly. As for the penalties you should review the lease and see if those penalties are mentioned. Just because you are not aware of a term contained in the lease is not a defense. You should have a copy of the lease you signed and the notice provision and penalties should be there.
As for recourse, it is not clear what recourse you would be entitled to at this point. You may be able to negotiate with the landlord on the amount of the penalty, but if it's in the lease contract that you signed, then there is a good chance that it is enforceable. The penalty you describe is not llikely to be viewed as unreasonable in a commercial setting.
As for the conditions that you complain of, your proper recourse would have been to address them during the lease term, and it sounds like the landlord curred any perceived defects.
Good luck.
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