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My niece owns a small condo in South Florida and she has been renting it out to her mother-in-law for the past 15+ years. There is no lease and the MIL is paying way below market value, $500 a month when going rates are $1600-$1800 a month. The brother-in-law (no steady job) is also living there.
My niece and her husband have been keeping the condo up to date with new appliances, replacing things that have broken over the years (faucets, etc) and have put hardwood in years ago. The condo is in good shape with outdated but a working kitchen and bath.
Niece/hubby and MIL/BIL have had a falling out about 9 months ago, not over the rental. MIL is still paying the rent on time at $500 a month.
I was talking to my niece yesterday and she said they are going to update the kitchen/bath and tell the MIL that the rent will now be $1800 a month. I told her she has to be careful and make sure the lease is up to date, that's when I found out there is no lease. My niece then said she might like to sell it and I told her she could have problems selling it while the condo has tenants.
What is their first step in all of this? I'm sure it's seeing an atty but what kind? Do they have to get the MIL and BIL on a lease? How can they force them to this this after all these years? I'm not sure if they can just evict them either? I did look at the sticky for Florida at the top of this forum, but thought I'd ask for advice from you all too.
First she needs to talk to a lawyer to figure out her rights as well as her "tenants" and honestly I would not fix it and raise the rent....I just would put it up for sale.... just to cut down on the family drama that will ensue....
My niece owns a small condo in South Florida and
she has been renting it out to her mother-in-law for the past 15+ years.
There is no lease and the MIL is paying way below market value
The brother-in-law (no steady job) is also living there.
Niece/hubby and MIL/BIL have had a falling out about 9 months ago
My niece then said she might like to sell it
What is their first step in all of this?
The first step is to sit down with a good LL oriented RE attorney.
The second step will be to write up a lease (or to file an eviction).
1) Have neice have LONG discussion with hubby to make sure this is really what both want to do.
2) Consult with a RE attorney
3) Send them a 15 day notice to vacate, as per Florida law.
They do have a lease, it is just not a written lease it is a verbal lease. And, the only difference is that with a verbal lease everything falls on the FL state rental statutes as your guide regarding how you need to handle everything. So, either read up on those statutes for guidance on raising the rent, notice requirements and everything else you need to know OR contact a knowledgeable RE attorney who can guide you through every step if you don't feel comfortable doing it on your own.
Quote:
Oral and Written Rental Agreements
A rental agreement is an agreement to rent property (commonly referred to as a lease). Rental agreements may be either written or oral. Most rental agreements are written because oral agreements can be subject to misunderstandings and are difficult to prove if there’s a dispute. A written rental agreement can be a formal contract or simply a copy of a letter stating the rights and obligations of both the landlord and tenant.
Florida law requires that notices to and from a landlord or tenant must be in writing and must be either hand-delivered or mailed, even if the rental agreement is oral. You should always retain a copy of any correspondence.
Give mom a 30 day notice to vacate. You can give 15 day notice, in Florida, but that would be a hardship on the tenant and the tenant is her mom. If mom doesn't get out, then file for eviction for over-stay.
When I sell a rental, I always start by offering to sell it to the tenant.. maybe mom could buy it. But don't give much time for the tenant to decide and get qualified for a mortgage. Dont let the tenant who can't buy have time to stall.
All notices should name everyone known to be in the house, plus the words "et al" or "and all others."
First, she needs to decide if she wants to sell or not (not considering all the other details). So, does she live nearby, is it easy to manage, is she good at getting good tenants (better ones than these), etc.? Perhaps talking to a real estate agent before making the decision to determine what the sale value would be may help guide this decision.
Then, talk to an attorney who handles landlord/tenant law.
Then, if they decide to keep it, they need to end the current verbal lease and offer a lease with normal rent at full value (maybe a small discount if she doesn't mind this lady staying, but that sounds like a disaster in the making).
Someone buying a condo might like someone with a great payment history paying $1,800 per month, but a real estate agent will be best to guide that specific issue.
Probably should get a local FL real estate attorney to assist with this.
As someone below mentioned, there IS a lease. It's just not written. It defaults to FL landlord tenant laws. Current lease is month to month. This means you can give 15 day notice for tenant to move out. If tenant does not move by this end date then eviction can start. In FL, eviction is pretty quick. You can give more than 15 days if you choose. 30 for example.
Make sure the notice for tenant to move is IN WRITING.
If you simply want to raise the rent give at least 30 days notice in writing of the new rent amount. If tenant doesn't pay that new rent amt them you can begin eviction.
The reason you want an attorney is that you want to give PROPER written notice of either of the above and have proof for this. This way if eviction is started you have proof, which is needed to evict. Without proof then you have to restart the notice of rent increase(or notice to move).
You also want to ensure both the MIL and her son are on the notice (if needed) because you will need to evict both of them else one might stay and since they aren't evicted you might have to restart everything with new timeline. An attorney will assist with getting BIL on the written notice if needed per law and same with any needed eviction.
You know they will be negotiating for lower rent increase and to stay longer. If you have an attorney you can tell them all discussion on this matter goes through the attorney. This way you don't fall for the sob story and allow them to stay...and stay...and stay if they try this. Having attorney from the start will save you the headache of hearing the sob stories and all the drama that's likely to occur.
IMO, just get them to move out, then fix up and sell. Or rent to someone else that will pay market rate. They won't want to pay market rate most likely. Do you want that drama anyway? If you really want to sell just get them out and put the place up For Sale.
PS - Do NOT get a new written lease with them because this will add many months to the lease. Leave it unwritten/month to month because it's to your advantage. Get the rent raised or get them out.
Normally if there is no lease it's like a verbal lease and month to month.
She can give 30 days notice for them to move out or to increase the rent.
Best way to do it is before or on the first of the month or the day the rent is due.
Make sure it's written notice and they accept it. Send a copy certified mail, tape a copy to their door if they refuse it and take a picture. Also you can send a text with the notice as an attachment as back up.
Let them know if they are not out or do not agree to the rent increase in 30 days that you will begin eviction proceedings and it has to be on both and make sure no one else is living in the home or they may have to be listed too. Let the know evictions are public records and if you have to evict them they will both have trouble renting anywhere else.
Best thing is to increase the rent to $1800 a month, also tell them they have to leave a security deposit equal to the difference between the old and new amount, but look into laws on this.
Give them a month to month lease. If they refuse to leave they owe you $1800 a month while the eviction is ongoing. If they pay the $1800 you can still wait another month and tell them their lease is up and you want them out since it's still month to month.
As has been noted, in the absence of a signed lease its usually a month-to-month defaulting to state statutes.
It isn't really complicated. Actually, in some ways, its simpler. She can give 30 days notice, require a signed lease or a 30 day notice (usually 30 days, check state laws.)
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