Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

I rented a room in a three bedroom apartment from a guy and either him or his mother are on the lease with the property management company. The property management company does not allow tenants to lease out rooms in their apartments so I had to move out. I have a written lease with the guy which we both signed, I have copies of the checks I gave him for the security deposit and first months rent. I now have to sue him for my security deposit back even though I left on the day I was paid through to and left the room clean and in good condition. I had to move out in 4 days and miss work to do so. I have read up on security deposits in Florida and from what I gather within 30 days the landlord has to supply to the tenant in writing what kind of account the deposit will be held in, he never did this. My questions are.

Do I need to prove he did not have authority to lease the room? I ask this as I am not sure the management company will give me a copy of the lease.

I took pictures of the room, do I need to make copies of them and bring them to court?

Do I sue for fraud or under landlord/tenant? Will I be able to sue for court costs? I am not greedy but I had to miss work and this has been extremely stressful so is there anything additional I can sue for? Lastly what are my chances of winning and collecting the money? I realize this is a long question, any advise at all would be greatly appreciated.


Asked on 3/05/13, 6:23 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Barry Stein De Cardenas, Freixas, Stein & Zachary

You would sue him for the security deposit if that is what your claim is about. There is an attorney's fee provision in the statute for those benefits, so you should consider hiring an attorney. You can sue for your contractual losses and that is it. NO lost time from work. You can get a copy of the underlying lease in your lawsuit. As for collectibility it depends on the people you have to sue and whether they have any assets. You should contact an attorney.

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Answered on 3/05/13, 8:29 pm


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