Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida
In response to the response I received for my question below, to be clear, I am being requested to pay an ADDITIONAL $1500 besides my deposit which was also $1500 and was kept by the landlord. My main question is, what exactly are the legal repercussions if I am unable to pay it? If I don't have the money, I obviously cannot pay it. Also, I live in another state now. Can I be forced to travel back to Florida to go to court? Thank you for more insight into this as I am very upset over it.
I had to move out of my rental house before the lease ended due to no job. The property management company kept my deposit (2 months rent - $1500) but since I signed an early termination/liquidated damages addendum (I signed in haste, otherwise I would have not signed that if I really understood it; I guess I thought it meant the 2 months deposit), they said they will come after me for that amount (another $1500). If I had that amount of money, I certainly wouldn't have moved. I moved out of state to look for work and the move put me in more debt. What can the property management company legally do to me? By the way, they found another renter for the property right away, so it's not like they lost any money. Thank you.
1 Answer from Attorneys
1. The contents of the early termination /liquidated damages are important to read to answer your question.
2. You can be served with the lawsuit in your new location. You cannot be forced to come back to Florida to defent, but if you dont defend a judgment can be entered against you. The judgment can be enforced against you in the new State.
3. Practically if the landlord knew you left because of a lack of funds, it would be a waste of his money to file a case just to get a judgment you wont be able to pay anyway. You cannot however control what he does.
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