Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida
I rented a house in Key West a few weeks ago for spring break. I paid $3,180 for a week long stay, along with an $800 security deposit. I did not receive my security deposit back andI just received a bill in the mail for $2800 from the owner fo the rental property. He charged me $100 per night for 3 extra people staying in the house, $200 in damages to the house, $200 for excessive cleaning fees, and $300 for noise complaint fees.
First of all, I left the house absolutely spotless and exactly the way it was when I arrived. As proof, I took pictures of the entire house before I checked out. So I have absolute proof that there were no damages or excessive cleaning. As for the noise complaints, at no point were we ever notified of any complaints and at no point did police ever present on the property. Although we did have extra people staying in the house in excess of the stated capacity, the only substantiation for this was a property manager who was drunk almost every night that we were there and asked for illegal drugs on several occasions. In addition, the owner was not present on the property or in Key West at any point during the week.
Are any of these charges legal?
2 Answers from Attorneys
That will be for a judge to decide, but not to me.
They may be. I would put your objections in writing to the landlord. Perhaps you can offer to send a copy of your pictures by email as proof of the condition in which you left the place (keep the originals in case landlord takes you to court over the disputed fees). As far as the fees for extra persons, you should look at the lease you signed to see if you did in fact owe additional fees for the number of people you had staying there. Regards,
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