Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Florida

writtten notification of vacation rental property rent increase

to whom it may concern,

i have a question about a rental vacation home. we reserved a house for vacation back in november of 2001 and were told that the rate was more than likely to increase by $100-200. we had no problem with that. we were also told that we would be notified of the new rate at the first of the year. the only reason we knew of the rate increase was to look at it online and saw that the rent was going up $400. we still have not received any notification in writing, phone, or email. we are looking at renting another property that is bigger and in the same price range as the other one. how can we avoid losing $200 due to cancellation fees and etc...? i feel that we have a right to back out due to the large increase and the fact that we still have not been notified about it. it seems to me that to not have been notified with three months before we vacation is a bit absurd. any advice.


Asked on 2/28/02, 8:55 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Peter Gonzalez Sanchez-Medina, Gonzalez, Quesada, Lage, Crespo, Gomez & MachadoLLP

Re: writtten notification of vacation rental property rent increase

What does your agreement state? Do you have a written agreement? If not, you may have some difficulty in establishing a strong basis for the return of your complete deposit. Try to reason with the vacation home manager/owner. I don't think it's wise to spend $1,000 on a lawyer to try and get $200, without any guaranty that you will prevail. And $1,000 is what you will easily spend on a lawyer that writes demand letters and has several telephone conferences with the manager/owner. Of course, not having an agreement (if that's the case) is a double-edged sword in that the manager/owner may not be able to prove that he is entitled to keep the money as a cancellation fee. Maybe the manager/owner can rent the home to another person which would then make it easier for him to return your money since he would not be losing any revenue on the weekend in question. Good luck.

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Answered on 2/28/02, 10:23 am


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