[tnally]

I need some help. We moved to FL from TN 5 months ago. I got a call from my landlord in August that he didn't know how long he could afford the house we are renting. He said he was putting the house on the market and would try to hold out as long as he could. I asked him if we started looking for houses would he let us out of the lease without legal action. He said no problem that he was probably going to forclose on it anyways. It has been a month and we found a house and put a contract on it. I called the landlord and he says he has changed his mind that he won't let us out of the lease, but he still says he doesn't know how long he can afford the house. Does anyone know if I have any legal rights. I don't know how long he will continue to pay his mortgage and I need stability. PLEASE: ANY COMMENTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED

[Lilybeans]

Originally Posted by tnally

I need some help. We moved to FL from TN 5 months ago. I got a call from my landlord in August that he didn't know how long he could afford the house we are renting. He said he was putting the house on the market and would try to hold out as long as he could. I asked him if we started looking for houses would he let us out of the lease without legal action. He said no problem that he was probably going to forclose on it anyways. It has been a month and we found a house and put a contract on it. I called the landlord and he says he has changed his mind that he won't let us out of the lease, but he still says he doesn't know how long he can afford the house. Does anyone know if I have any legal rights. I don't know how long he will continue to pay his mortgage and I need stability. PLEASE: ANY COMMENTS WOULD BE APPRECIATED

You should talk to a real estate lawyer in your area. Next time he says he'll let you out, get it in writing.

Nevertheless, you may have some ways out, especially if he has not been making the mortgage payments.

[Katie1]

I would buy while you have a chance then IF he comes after you go to court. Do you have witness to him saying he was letting it go? Get noterized statements for possible future legal problems with this guy. AFTER you move mail him copies, chances are he will not follow up.

[Retiredcoach]

As long as your landlord retains title to your home, you will be bound to your lease. There is a reason why landlords provide the prospective tenants with the lease themselves...for personal protection. You may want to have a real estate attorney peruse your lease for a possible "out", but that may cost more to challenge the lease than to fulfill your obligations, and you may still be unsuccessful. As much as it probably hurts, you are stuck and obligated to that lease. I believe that if I were in your circumstances, I would create a paper trail with your landlord, requesting the mutual lease termination. Who knows, you might luck out. Good luck!!

[mustgetoutofflorida]

I would stay, stop paying him and put it into escrow. Try to pay the lender directly, don't trust him to pay it. A lot of landlords are using rent from one tenant to pay on a house another tenant is in or whatever they want to use YOUR rent money for. Some greedy investors bought more than one house to flip, seriously.

Reality, the laws in Florida do not protect the tenant. What I would do is save my rent in an account and get the heck out of Florida instead of getting stuck in the quicksand called Florida.

[Sunandsand]

Nonsense, Florida is actually pretty fair with tenants. Go to this website and get the information you need.

Florida Landlord/Tenant Law Division of Consumer Services, DOACS

You can request to pay your rent to the court if the landlord is late on his mortgage payments.

[tnally]

All conversations have been over the phone and not recorded. My husband has spoken with him several times and he changes 3-4 times in one conversation. He goes from he expects us to finish lease(April), to he is going to try to keep the house till January, to we can try to work something out for us to leave now. My husband told him we can not live like this not knowing how much longer we have to stay in his house, so we offered to pay 2 months rent and to keep security deposit(= to 1 month) if he would let us out of lease. Problem is we can't get him to write out anything and sign it. Real estate agent says send him a certified letter and check for 2 months and if he cashes check then he aggrees to those terms, but I don't have any idea. Guess best thing to do is hire an attorney, but then we may still have to pay for each month we aren't here. Very fustrating. Lesson learned: sign month to month lease!!!!

[Lilybeans]

Get an attorney. That is your best answer.

[Lilybeans]

BTW, where are you?

[Retiredcoach]

It used to be (on a standard lease form) that the lease would state the 12 month cost. The prospective tenant would be given the sum total, then broken down into the 12 monthly payments. That sum total would be the debt incurred by the tenant. As a landlord, I would be able to take my tenant to court for any unpaid amounts, plus any late payments, if he/she opted to break the lease. My lease was so ironclad legally, that if the tenant opted to "skip out", they would be learning a very expensive (and credit threatening) lesson.

Those who are offering you the advice to place the money in escrow, or even to threaten to force him/her to honor an oral statement through litigation, have little understanding of the strength of a lease contract. If you signed a lease, you have signed a contract that obligates you to pay your landlord for the length. You have to ask yourself, why would your landlord want to release you from this obligation? Renting is a business, and your monthly check is the cost of doing business. From a landlord's point of view, I would release you from your lease only if you paid for the full term of the lease... anything less, and I am taking money from my pocket. If you opt to stop paying or hold the money in escrow, I would assess any/all late fees available through the lease that you have signed. If it got ugly, I could take you to court and have minimally a 90% chance of winning the cost of the rent, late fees, and any associated legal costs (generally outlined in the lease). Unless your landlord is either a really nice guy or a limited knowledge individual, you will probably have just 2 choices.... either pay the full amount and stay, or pay the full amount and leave. Sorry to be so blunt, but I have been a landlord for 30 years and have a pretty solid basis of lease experience.