Legal Florida Lease Terms? (rental, condo, home)

[Sun95903]

After reading the landlord/tenant laws, I have a few questions about our lease. If there is a dispute, which prevails- law or lease?

In my lease, it shows the tenants are responsible for screens, but 83.51(b) states The landlord, at commencement of the tenancy, must ensure that screens are installed in a reasonable condition. Thereafter, the landlord must repair damage to screens once annually, when necessary, until termination of the rental agreement.

Early lease termination rights with minimum 90-day advance written notice, but 83.57, A tenancy without a specific duration, as defined in s. 83.46(2) or (3), may be terminated by either party giving written notice in the manner provided in s. 83.56(4), as follows (1) When the tenancy is from year to year, by giving not less than 60 days’ notice prior to the end of any annual period;

Is it legal to do a back to back year leases as long as it is written on separate paperwork?

Thanks!

[lavender]

This is not legal advice, you should seek this to be certain. My question is, who damaged the screens, if they are damaged? I think that although you are correct in your statement about 83.51 (b), if damage was caused by misuse - rather than debris (off trees etc) then as a landlord, I think I would be looking to tenant to fix the problem. If I was the tenant, I would be asking landlord if they could resolve the problem. As a landlord, I tend to fix things even if I think it was through misuse, to ensure my property is in good repair, I can always get a new tenant if they don't care for my property. Interesting about the annual repairs to screens, I have a pool screen and we are thinking of renting out our single family home and moving (downsizing) to our condo as we are just about empty nesters, and every year I am having to fix the darned things because of tree damage - yikes!

I did believe it was not possible to have a Florida lease for a tenancy on a property for more than one year at a time. But then I found this - not sure if this is legal either, http://www.justanswer.com/real-estat...a-home-no.html So my best advice is to get legal advice.

[TreeBeard]

Originally Posted by Sun95903

After reading the landlord/tenant laws, I have a few questions about our lease. If there is a dispute, which prevails- law or lease?

In my lease, it shows the tenants are responsible for screens, but 83.51(b) states The landlord, at commencement of the tenancy, must ensure that screens are installed in a reasonable condition. Thereafter, the landlord must repair damage to screens once annually, when necessary, until termination of the rental agreement.

Early lease termination rights with minimum 90-day advance written notice, but 83.57, A tenancy without a specific duration, as defined in s. 83.46(2) or (3), may be terminated by either party giving written notice in the manner provided in s. 83.56(4), as follows (1) When the tenancy is from year to year, by giving not less than 60 days’ notice prior to the end of any annual period;

Is it legal to do a back to back year leases as long as it is written on separate paperwork?

Thanks!

The general rule is that the lease controls over the statute unless the statute states otherwise. A residential lease cannot exceed one year in duration. You have no early termination rights unless specified in the lease or, I believe this is new, you are member of the armed forces and being transferred. The tenancy you refer to regarding notice has to with oral tenancies and has nothing to do with written leases unless those written leases have expired.

I don't know for certain about the screens, but if the elease says you're responsible presume you are responsible.