I want to bring my apartments to court... (lease, tenant, eviction)
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Long Story Short I live in Florida, I bought a new house and moved out of myapartment. We gave 30 day notice, and turned in our keys. The way our leaseworks is that we have to pay rent until the next tenant moves in. Here is a timeline of events…
06/01 – Paid full months rent for June
06/17– fully moved out and turned in keys (signed paperwork & provided forwarding address) Themanager stated she will do her best to move someone in… etc. (since we movedout on the 17, we gave them enough time to move someone in by July 1 so we wouldn’t have to pay July’s rent)
07/15 – an employee called methreatening me to pay July’s rent. … I advised her I moved out did not pay rentbecause I did not receive my statement (which tells you the amount you need topay since water is included with the rent, which they failed to forward to mynew address.) She stated she had NO RECORD OF US moving out or turning in ourkeys… AND SHE ALSO STATES SHE HAD NO RECORD OF US GIVING THEM NOTICE THAT WEWERE MOVING OUT. We spoke the manager several times giving her notice and didnot understand why she would call us if they knew our situation? I kept requestingto speak to the manager and she wouldn’t pass the phone over.
I called back 10 minutes later and spoke to the manager and she apologized that heremployee called threatening us. She says she is working on getting the unitrented….and that I need to pay July’s rent.
The next day (July 18) Itold my friend who lives at the same apartment she told me there was a letteron my door. I went to go visit her and grabbed the letter and it was signed on July 9 by the manager stating that we need to pay rent of theywill start an eviction within 3 days? I don’t understand she would sign aneviction notice and post it on our door if she knew we did not live there any longer?
Bottom Line: The manager has not tried to move someone in,and is not trying to move someone in. I don’t believe I should be paying July’sfull amount of rent... since they are not doing their job and obviously don’t knowwhat’s going on. I am ok with paying a smaller amount, but not the full amount.
How do I go about taking them to court if they do not make anagreement/settlement with me??
How long will it stay on my creditfile?
Is it worth going to court?
Should I let it go tocollections since I already have my car, house, etc. or Is it worth my paying it? ($1000)
I don't know what state you're in but keep that eviction notice they put on your door. Also get copies of anything you signed saying you moved out. And if you have proof that you gave a 30 day notice, keep that too. Time to start documenting everything.
Long Story Short I live in Florida, I bought a new house and moved out of myapartment. We gave 30 day notice, and turned in our keys. The way our leaseworks is that we have to pay rent until the next tenant moves in. Here is a timeline of events…
Let's break this down...
Firstly, how did you give notice? Was it written? Did you send it via certified mail? If it was only verbal, by speaking with the manager, that might not constitute proper legal notice.
06/01 – Paid full months rent for June
06/17– fully moved out and turned in keys (signed paperwork & provided forwarding address) Themanager stated she will do her best to move someone in… etc. (since we movedout on the 17, we gave them enough time to move someone in by July 1 so we wouldn’t have to pay July’s rent)
Moving out on the 17th may not have been sufficient time to get the unit rented prior to July 1st. do you live in a heated housing market with high demand and little vacancy? As well, what was the condition of the apartment upon move-out? was there any need to re-paint? Any damages that needed to be repaired? Also, how desirable is your unit/neighborhood?
07/15 – an employee called methreatening me to pay July’s rent. … I advised her I moved out did not pay rentbecause I did not receive my statement (which tells you the amount you need topay since water is included with the rent, which they failed to forward to mynew address.) She stated she had NO RECORD OF US moving out or turning in ourkeys… AND SHE ALSO STATES SHE HAD NO RECORD OF US GIVING THEM NOTICE THAT WEWERE MOVING OUT. We spoke the manager several times giving her notice and didnot understand why she would call us if they knew our situation? I kept requestingto speak to the manager and she wouldn’t pass the phone over.
I called back 10 minutes later and spoke to the manager and she apologized that heremployee called threatening us. She says she is working on getting the unitrented….and that I need to pay July’s rent.
Having someone threaten you is never cool; again, how exactly did you provide notice? If it was just verbal, that's likely not sufficient. The manager is correct in that you still need to pay July's rent, as the unit has not yet been re-rented. You even acknowledged it was a term of your lease at the top of your post, so you certainly should have known that was coming.
The next day (July 18) Itold my friend who lives at the same apartment she told me there was a letteron my door. I went to go visit her and grabbed the letter and it was signed on July 9 by the manager stating that we need to pay rent of theywill start an eviction within 3 days? I don’t understand she would sign aneviction notice and post it on our door if she knew we did not live there any longer?
The manager has to follow a certain legal process to evict you for non-payment; the posting on the door is just part of the steps they must take, by law.
Bottom Line: The manager has not tried to move someone in,and is not trying to move someone in. I don’t believe I should be paying July’sfull amount of rent... since they are not doing their job and obviously don’t knowwhat’s going on. I am ok with paying a smaller amount, but not the full amount.
How do I go about taking them to court if they do not make anagreement/settlement with me??
How long will it stay on my creditfile?
Is it worth going to court?
Should I let it go tocollections since I already have my car, house, etc. or Is it worth my paying it? ($1000)
You're in Florida, which is a state that does not require a LL to mitigate your damages if you break your lease early. Simply said, you're still responsible for the terms of your lease until the unit is re-rented but the LL has no legal obligation to re-rent until the terms of your lease are done. You have to pay rent every month until your lease is over; failing to do so will lead to their being an eviction on your record.
You're in Florida, which is a state that does not require a LL to mitigate your damages if you break your lease early. Simply said, you're still responsible for the terms of your lease until the unit is re-rented but the LL has no legal obligation to re-rent until the terms of your lease are done. You have to pay rent every month until your lease is over; failing to do so will lead to their being an eviction on your record.
That's discussed on a current thread here and isn't strictly true, particularly since the landlord has accepted possession of the unit.
I'll take a look at that thread. I was going by FL statute 83.595, which states:
"Choice of remedies upon breach or early termination by tenant.—If the tenant breaches the rental agreement for the dwelling unit and the landlord has obtained a writ of possession, or the tenant has surrendered possession of the dwelling unit to the landlord, or the tenant has abandoned the dwelling unit, the landlord may:
(1) Treat the rental agreement as terminated and retake possession for his or her own account, thereby terminating any further liability of the tenant;
(2) Retake possession of the dwelling unit for the account of the tenant, holding the tenant liable for the difference between the rent stipulated to be paid under the rental agreement and what the landlord is able to recover from a reletting. If the landlord retakes possession, the landlord has a duty to exercise good faith in attempting to relet the premises, and any rent received by the landlord as a result of the reletting must be deducted from the balance of rent due from the tenant. For purposes of this subsection, the term “good faith in attempting to relet the premises” means that the landlord uses at least the same efforts to relet the premises as were used in the initial rental or at least the same efforts as the landlord uses in attempting to rent other similar rental units but does not require the landlord to give a preference in renting the premises over other vacant dwelling units that the landlord owns or has the responsibility to rent;
(3) Stand by and do nothing, holding the lessee liable for the rent as it comes due; or
(4) Charge liquidated damages, as provided in the rental agreement, or an early termination fee to the tenant if the landlord and tenant have agreed to liquidated damages or an early termination fee, if the amount does not exceed 2 months’ rent, and if, in the case of an early termination fee, the tenant is required to give no more than 60 days’ notice, as provided in the rental agreement, prior to the proposed date of early termination. This remedy is available only if the tenant and the landlord, at the time the rental agreement was made, indicated acceptance of liquidated damages or an early termination fee."
I am assuming that section 2 is in play here, and unless the OP can prove that LL is making no effort to re-rent the premises, it's kind of hard to claim they don't still owe the rent due for July.
I am assuming that section 2 is in play here, and unless the OP can prove that LL is making no effort to re-rent the premises, it's kind of hard to claim they don't still owe the rent due for July.
I absolutely agree that the OP is responsible for July's rent. It's not at all reasonable to expect the landlord to re-rent the unit for the 1st of July when the tenant only handed over possession of the property on June 17th. FL laws are a little quirky compared to others when it comes to mitigation of damages but when one breaks a lease in a state where the LL can opt NOT to repossess the unit but hold the tenant to the full lease term, one should tread very carefully and fully understand the law before thinking of suing.
Why didn't check in with the manager on/around July 1st when you hadn't received the statement? You knew you would owe for water used prior to your move, as well as the possibility that you would owe rent for July. While the manager should have forwarded the statement to your new address, it is still your responsibility to stay on top of bills and payments. The statement easily could have been lost in the mail (if sent USPS) or accidentally sent to spam or deleted (if emailed).
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