TenantNet Forum

Where tenants can seek help and help others



FLA landlord renting illegally??

Moderator: TenantNet

FLA landlord renting illegally??

Postby jmj924 » Tue Mar 18, 2008 10:04 pm

I am a Florida resident who has lived at the same property for over 2 years. I received a noise complaint tipping off the city to the fact that the property I live in is not zoned properly and therefore my landlord is not allowed to rent the property that I live in. I now am forced to move out and find a new place to live. The landlord is implying that I will not be getting my deposit back because if it weren't for the complaint then they would still be able to rent the property and now they are losing out on all future rental income. However, do they have any right to use the complaint against me since they never should have been renting in the first place? I had no idea I was living in a property that was not zoned properly. I am now forced to come up with deposits for a new place to live with very short notice due to this situation. Can anyone assist me with this? FYI this is a month to month rental situation...there is no written lease.
jmj924
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 9:56 pm

Postby Monipenny » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:19 pm

Your landlord can NOT withhold your deposit for this reason, that's bogus. As long as you have fulfilled your rental obligation, you said you have to move..who requested this? the City or the landlord? I would be sure to give your landlord his 30 day written notice to vacate even though City orders may be making you move out. Leave the place in as good a condition it was when you moved in and read your lease to be sure to comply to everything listed in order to get your deposit back, example.. return all keys to the landlord. Give a forwarding address, so forth. If landlord has no reason to withhold your deposit, within 30 days you should get a security deposit settlement statement, detailing any and all charges he may charge you for. If the charges are unreasonable and/or he does not return your deposit. File a small claim civil suit and you may be awarded double or tripple your deposit according to your State law. Since, your landlord has already implied that you are not getting your deposit back, be sure to take lots of photes of your apartment/home after you moved everything out and cleaned it well. You will want to show the court the condition of the property how you left it, landlord may claim damage, filfth, etc. Take some of the pictures with the current newspaper showing the date on the paper to validate the photos taken when you moved out. Be sure to turn off utilities that are in your name, don't count on him transferrring them back to him.
Monipenny
 


Return to General Discussion - beyond New York

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests