Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida

I moved out of a rental home December 31st, 2013. I lived in this home for two years and gave proper notice to vacate. The main reason we decided to move was the landlord is incredibly mean. When we had a tornado knock down our back fence we notified the landlord so that we would not be charged for a broken fence. After months of asking him to please come and inspect the damage, he showed up unannounced and proceeded to do a complete walkthrough of the property. In my opinion and everyone that had been to my house, we kept it clean. When he came over he was practically yelling at us saying the yard was a mess etc.. The yard was mowed. There was never any nice grass or landscaping so I don't know why he expected us to install these things. All we did is mow the yard. Anyway, this happened every time we had to call about something to be repaired. One time he even gave our house keys to a repairman and did not tell us this person was coming over and entering our home. We were not home when the repairman came. The only reason I knew he was there was a note left on a paper plate that he had to pull out of my cabinet to let me know they fixed the AC. After that we noticed some belongings were missing, and we changed the locks to the home. Suffice to say, after a year of this we never called the landlord again for repairs. We personally fixed plumbing and even replaced the pool pump. When we moved we cleaned for days. Everything was scrubbed and wiped down. The landlord sent me an email about a week later claiming that we left the home in "deplorable" condition. His words. He said he had to replace the carpet pay for someone to landscape the yard and then put etc.. I sent an email back disputing these claims to which he replied "I don't need to argue with you." He did not refund any of my 1900 dollar security deposit. So, having thought this was the end of the nightmare I decided just to let it go. Fast forward 4 months later. It is April, and they have re-rented the home. After the new tenants moved in they "discovered" new damage and cleaning that needed to be done and are now trying to get me to send them additional money! I can't find anywhere how long a landlord has post-vacancy to charge for damages in excess of the security deposit. Can someone please tell me what the law is regarding this?


Asked on 4/04/14, 7:29 am

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

A claim founded upon a written contract has a statute of limitations of 5 years. He can make claims for damages during that time. The longer he takes the less likely he will succeed and the more difficult his claim becomes.

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Answered on 4/04/14, 7:44 am


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