Evicting a Tenant That Withholds Rent in Broward is very common. Tenants often withhold rent if the Landlord is not maintaining the property. Although Florida law allows them to withhold rent, they must follow proper procedure. If procedure is not followed and they withholds rent, the Tenant can still be evicted.
How can a Landlord Evict a Tenant that is Withholding Rent?
83.60 allows a Tenant to withhold rent if the Landlord is in violation of Statute 83.51. This outlines the Landlord’s obligation to maintain the property.
83.51 states that they must:
1. Comply with the applicable, housing, and health codes
2. Maintain the roofs, windows, doors, floors, steps, porches
3. Extermination of rats, mice, roaches, ants.
If the Landlord violates 83.51, the Tenant can withhold rent if they send a 7 day notice to cure. The notice must be sent to the landlord 7 days before the time that the next rental payment is due.
If a Tenant fails to comply with 83.56 and proceeds to withhold rent, the Landlord can commence Proceedings. It is undeniable that many Landlords in Florida fail to maintain their property. However, if Tenants are going to enforce their rights, they must follow the required procedures to withhold rent.
Upon being served for failure to pay rent, a Tenant may raise the argument that the Landlord has failed to maintain the property. The Courts understand that they have been residing in an unsafe and inhabitable property. However, they will not allow them to raise this defense unless they complied with 83.60.
Evicting a Tenant that Withholds Rent in Broward can be quick and easy. If you need to learn about your rights, contact 954 Eviction Attorneys at 954.232.2529.