Reality Attorney that handles Breach of Rental Agreement
 

Anyone know of or experience with a Reality Attorney that handles Breach of Rental
Agreement that is in Sumter County and/or close to TV?
We have a 1 year Lease/Rental agreement that started 2/01/21 thru 01/3122 that has very concise and specific default provisions.
Renter has advised they will be abandoning our rental on or before 09/01/21, thus
defaulting on the following 4 months rental. This amounts to significant dollars.
I contacted Sumter County Sheriff Dept. they can't do anything without a court order.
Have now contacted 2 attorney firms close to TV, left voicemail asking if they handle
this type of case. Asked to reply either way, thus far no reply from either.
I am not going to just sit in a corner on this, letting the Renter get away with this.
Now in WI but will be flying to TV 09/02/21. Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Not worth the effort, clean it up and find a new tenant, you'll probably be able to get a higher rent now than you did 6 months ago.

Which law firm wrote up the contract

I agree. It's not worth hiring a lawyer, even if you could find one. You might consider small claims court, but I would try to find another tenant. If you do, you won't have any damages to sue the current tenant for.

What is it want an attorney to do? At this point you haven't been damaged.

Offer the renter a bonus to leave immediately without damaging anything. You press too hard, your renter can easily make your problem a lot worse.

Withhold the deposit for defaulting on the rental agreement and say good riddance. Judge Judy just loves theses types of cases… :-)

Never heard of a "Reality Attorney"

At least the OP has been given notice by his tenant, so I would not call it an abandonment. The tenant has not disappeared with no notice overnight, so to speak.

Actually, from a common sense perspective the tenant may be vacating at an opportune time to relet the premises at a high season rate, likely substantially more than the OP may be now getting on the one year lease.

Not much you can do - clean it and re-rent. You’ll have it rented in 45 days

I’d be glad they’re leaving. That’s much better than the alternative. Not a good time to be a landlord in this country.

In most states this is a simple case for small claims court, for which an attorney is not needed. The lease undoubtedly indicates that the security not be used for a final months rent. It might also give leeway for tenant to give 60 or 90 days notice to short stop the lease, at which time the tenant would forfeit the security, but still be responsible for any damage beyond normal wear and tear. Getting that security, which would at minimum equal a months rent, the OP should be able to clean the place up and rent it with no problem.. I agree at a potentially much higher rate (no mention of whether the property is furnished or not). If all the above is true, there would be very little out of pocket loss.. If it not, then the detailed lease might not have the owner covered to the degree assumed. In any case, I wouldnt bother with an attorney .. if I could prove damages and not come to an agreement with tenant, I'd go the small claims court route.

Eight grand and below is a small claim. Let's say you prevail in court. Then there is collection. The court has no means of enforcement.

Effectively, you are limited in attacking their credit. I have no expertise in this area but if it was me that is what I would do, recognizing you are not going to get dollar to dollar of the debt back and certainly not anytime soon - unless they are buying a home with a mortgage.

Many landlords lost renters during the pandemic. Some had to leave early, some had to cancel completely. Many owners gave the deposits back, lost substantial rent. However some owners did what you are trying to do.

What is the reason they are leaving? Health, death, did they buy a home? You will make a larger return, by finding a new tenet. Plus you have their security deposit, and last month rent. So really only lost couple months rent.

You are lucky to not deal with renter that is not paying any rent, and refusal to leave.

Additional Note: I am looking to file in Small Claims Court if possible.
Being in TV 09/03/21 to inspect for damages, looking to potentially discuss
options with an Attorney, if there is one that is willing to discuss this.
Maybe just have to kiss this off, but really want to let the renter know that
there are consequences to breaching a contract. Just a matter of principal because
they are now so arrogant in faulting how they can breach the contract.

It is principle, not principal. And how do you know they are arrogant?

With the unconstitutional foreclosure policy extended, the tenant could just remain and not pay anything if they are threatened with a negative mark on their record. This is a good time for rentals.

Perhaps find a broker to help find a new tenant. Mine only charges 10%. Worth every penny.

That’s 5 months they will be defaulting on. Is the security deposit a months rent?

I had this happen - keep any security deposit and move forward. It could cost you more to do any kind of litigation than the rent in the end. From what I hear rentals are in demand in TV. There might be a good reason they are leaving so cut them some slack. They could of just moved out without notice.

I’ve been a landlord for 45 years. I’ve had every kind of tenant from the best to the worst. You must learn to NOT take it personal. It’s business. Accept any loss that way. The lease that was signed generally protects the tenant. I don’t use them anymore. If you aggravate yourself enough to go to small claims court and win you’ll get a judgement that the tenant probably will not pay.
Be happy they are leaving and not just withholding rent payments.
Been there, don’t that.

Totally agree! I too was a landlord and trust me leases are to protect tenant. If you go to court the judge is going to ask them why they had to leave before the lease was up and they will have their story, true or not, and typically the judge will rule in their favor. Don’t be greedy and cut your losses. Hiring an attorney is a waste of time.and money. High season is coming and you will be much happier to let it go and find a new tenant. I would keep their deposit as they are not going to chase you in court either seeing that they breached your lease. They have already written that money off when they made the decision to leave before lease was up. Good luck!

Get your house back first, then upset the tenant with any claim you wish to make.
Personally I would swallow my principles, and move on.
Sticking to your principles can sometimes cost you a lot of money.

I am thinking you didn’t get an attorney to put together the lease? Your posts have made me giggle and smile (thanks!) - I can only imagine the enjoyment I’d get from reading your lease (if you wrote it, of course). :-)

Let it pass - you may regret harassing the renter while they are still in your home. Also, maybe they have retained an attorney :-)

I rented for a few months before moving into my home here - went thru Villages Property Mgmt - I left the place spotless - and got my entire deposit back - including my pet deposit. A great experience for me - and I am sure the person who owned the home, as well.

You cant with hold a deposit for this. The deposit is for any damages. Let them leave, clean the place and rerent. Im surprised you would even consider hiring an atty for something like this and maybe the attys arent returning your calls because they think its nuts too. Housing market is tight now and itll rerent in no time. Stop pursuing something so trivial, list the place for rent and move on.

Not worth the hassle. Renters are easy to find, rent it at a higher rate and move on.

Repudiation of a contract can have consequences, true. But any contact is only as good as the enforcement mechanism. With a debt judgement you can sell (assign) your judgement to a debt collector. Expect no more than 50% and more likely 30% upon collection, if anything.

If you want 'satisfaction' rest assured you will cause their home and auto insurance to increase as well as their credit card interest rates. Their score will take a 150 - 200 point hit. Your judgement will remain on their credit report for years (varies depending on their state of residency).

Consider it a blessing and get a new tenant for September. Request a vacancy from the current tenant on or before 8/31. Attorneys, court, takes money, time, and frankly, not worth it. The first question the Judge will ask you is if you tried to re-rent the house, did you try to mitigate your damages (loss of rent). This is the not so fun part of being a Landlord, but you shouldn’t have a problem finding a renter these days.

Don't have an attorney; but if you need a rental , I have one available from 9/1/21 to the end of the year--contact me at 410-340-7585 chris

Your rental agreement should have stipulated first and last months rent at signing and a sizable security deposit. Also include language that they will forfeit last month's rent and security deposits if they break the rental agreement by leaving before the end of the rental period. If your agreement included those provisions, cut your loses. You'll spend more money going to an attorney.

If you’re on Facebook, a good group to join is “Landlords of The Villages.” That group usually has some good suggestions and has experienced just about everything.

I am a landlord in The Villages and Wisconsin. My opinion is to go with a collection agency on this. I’ve never experienced that in Florida, but in Wisconsin I have recouped unpaid rent that way. I have filed a couple of lawsuits in Wisconsin for problems with tenants up here, I would not have been able to do that from another state. The court appearances make it too difficult to try that from another state in my opinion.

Report the renter(s) to the Big Three credit reporting agencies.

It's been a while but last time I did this it was in PA but should be similar civil complaint through district court (small claims without an attorney). The people at the court office where you file provide the form and also advised me how to calculate the filing fee (which could be added onto the amount I was claiming). I needed to fill it out in detail (repairs, rent, the filing fee then a total). I got a hearing in about 10 days or so but I needed an address for the tenant to receive the hearing notice (as well as ultimately to exercise any judgment when I prevailed). There was timing involved, waiting for judgement, then waiting for the period I was allowed to serve it. All do-able in my case as the tenant had caused significant damage. But, if no new address, you have to find them first and if they are out of state it's a LOT harder as we would have had to transfer the judgement to that state first before serving.

All that said, if it's for lost rent, I just take a deep breath and advertise right away and try to replace the tenant as the process (even small claims) outweighed my time to go through that exercise if I successfully secured a new renter.

I understand you are upset but, as one poster cautioned, they are in your house now and you want it back in good condition. Also, do they have your key, your gate pass, furnishings or a cart? A lot is at risk. I might suggest you begin to advertise, inspect when you arrive and try to be cordial (disappointed with them for leaving early, ok) so you can get the forwarding address for their security deposit refund once you inspect and find another tenant. That way, if you need to act, you won't have to search for them.

Sorry for your issue. We've rented for many years and it usually goes smoothly but, when it doesn't, I understand how upsetting it can be. Good luck!

Make certain you change the key to the house after any tenant. That reduces any liability you can have. You will be thwarted by going to court, speaking from experience, let it go and charge them for all the cleaning and repairs needed.

Florida law allows a landlord to keep the security deposit to cover unpaid rent. There is no way I would return the security deposit to a tenant who vacated the house 5 months prior to the lease expiration.

I had similar experience down in the Gulf. Sadly the laws in this State do not protect the landlord and attorneys here won’t take a case unless they can cash in as well. Our tenant destroyed the structure we went to arbitration which took 2 years. When you rent to strangers getting a security deposit and references should be standard.

The landlord probably did from rental forms for Florida online.

Wrong. Just arrive before the tenant does internal damage. A bonus ? Makes zero sense

Judge Judy.

You can use the security deposit against the use of the place. Small claims court has a limit which is less than the monthly rental amount. Clean it up rent and understand you cannot receive redress in Florida. Don’t waste the money. There is no such thing as a realty attorney. There are general attorneys but even the mediocre ones won’t bother with the case.

Realty. Just trying to help in case you are doing searches.

Be prepared to be very disappointed and your wallet smaller by a lot due to this being a nuisance case an attorney you don’t even know takes your money.