Curable Or Non Curable Lease Violation In FL
The lease I have spells out that (3) late payments may result in eviction. Now that the tenant has reached this limit, do I go straight to termination of the lease or do I have to post a 7 Day Notice to Cure?
Or is it something else? He also already dodged several 3 Day Notices but his rent is late every time.
You always have to give a 3-day notice regardless of what your lease states.
OK, now I am thick. He paid late every single time, including this month. Is it a lease violation if he exceeded the number of late rents (or bounced checks for that matter) that are stipulated in the lease? If so, does he simply default?
Or are you saying the clause is invalid? Can a tenant pay late and go through the 3 Day Notice step 12 times? Thanks!
I can write in my lease that if they do not flush the toilet it is cause for immediate evication. But guess what? It will not hold up in court. Non payment of rent is a 3 day notice. If he has not paid in three days then you start the eviction. Evictions and late payers are messy and cost us time and money. That is why we need to be as picky as possible before we let someone rent.
In most states there are usually two flavors of eviction. One is involved with curing what may be a temporary breach of a lease condition. Usually a short period notice is given and the most common reason is for non-payment of rent. In CA it is a three-day notice and it sounds like yours may be a seven day notice in FL. These notices give the tenant a short period to cure the default or quit the premises. You might give them a short term notice to get rid of their dog if they signed a lease that prohibits pets.
There is also a termination of the lease where a condition of the lease is violated. You may have a clause that prohibits drug use or criminal activity or as in your case having three or more months of late payment on rent. In CA we would give a 30 day notice that you are terminating the lease because the tenant breached.
It is likely that your 3 lates and your out clause is enforceable. I am pretty sure it would be in CA assuming not in an area where there is eviction control such as Oakland. You might run it by a company or attorney that does evictions in Fort Lauderdale.[ Edited by edmeyer on Date 02/16/2006 ]
Just spoke to my attorney. He says that I can evict for anything in the lease, which constitutes a term of the agreement. That means that I can evict for violating the late payment clause. I suggested 30 days notice but he said that is not even necessary. If the lease was monthly for example, only 15 days is required. Where it gets messy is if this tenant fights it. But that is a possibility regardless of whether it is a 3 Day Notice or an eviction for violation of the agreement. My attorney did agree that discretion may be the better part of valor if the guy is paying eventually with a late fee. Thanks all.