Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

I signed a lease for one year. In the middle of the pandemic I had an incident in the kitchen that caused superficial damages to the property (kitchen sealing got marks of smoke). The landlord had the apartment covered with an insurance that was supposed to pay for almost all the expenses. As soon as the incident occurred she mentioned by written means that I should let in the insurance people and the different contractors into the apartment to make estimates of the expenses, check the damages... 8 months later, when I was about to re-sign a lease for a second year at the same apartment, the landlord mentioned as a condition for renewing the lease that I had to reimburse her for all the expenses she had covered due to the incident. She sent me some SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS she had received from the neighbors and had payed right away without negotiating those insane estimates sent by the neighbor's insurance. Also, she sent me an quote for the repairs of the apartment that was crazy high! At the end she was charging me for around $10.000 that I was never aware of until that point. I asked 2 different contractors to evaluate the damages of the apartment and give me a quote with the real value. Both contractors came out with a price of around $570-$700 dollars (when the landlord is asking me for $10.000). As far as I see, the amount that I should have had payed for the incident i caused should have been way less than what it turned out to be, as the owner took decisions over the settlement agreements she received without conciliating those ridiculous prices. I agreed to give up on my deposit, which doubles the cost of the damages+ other expenses I own her, according to the contractors I contacted, but still she wants to sue me and I'm not sure what to do.


Asked on 1/29/21, 9:40 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

David Slater David P. Slater, Esq.

I defend these type of exorbitant claims.

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Answered on 1/29/21, 11:21 am


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