Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

Self-storage tenant suing landlord/owner

After 3 months of non-payment & bad checks and refusal of certified letters, we decided to evict a tenant owing over $2000. We had first just padlocked him and then after a while, removed his belongings to a smaller unit & rented his (large) space almost immediately. Now he is suing us.

In our lease we state ''I hereby release--_______Mini-Storage of any claims against contents contained in the above named unit, if payments should be in default over 30 days---unless previous arrangements have been made with...I have read and agreed to the terms of this agreement.''

His lawyer states we violated Fl Statute 83.801. We disagree. We have his signed rental agreement, 3 bounced checks, and the certified letter he refused. This went on from August to December. When he moved in in June, he put in shelves, etc, so we gave him until August to start paying. The 1st payment was the only good one-the rest were returned from the bank-2 NSF, 1 account closed.

Also we have one of his ''closed account'' checks (his wife works for a bank too!) with the State's Attorney (the other 2 checks he sneakily post-dated & we're told cannot be prosecuted)

Where do we stand? What should we do? Are we in the wrong?


Asked on 1/31/05, 7:44 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Slater David P. Slater, Esq.

Re: Self-storage tenant suing landlord/owner

If you want to enforce your lien on his property you must comply with the notice requirements of the statute. If not, you look ok and may counterclaim for rent due. Good luck.

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Answered on 1/31/05, 8:20 am


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