First time landlord learning from my mistakes needing eviction advice in South Florida

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First time landlord learning from my mistakes needing eviction advice in South Florida

Mark Weinstock
Investor · Sunrise, FL · Member since 2009 · 105 posts · 15 votes

This is my first experience as a landlord and really don't think I've handled it well. My first big mistake was I got to friendly with the tenants.

Mistake number 2 is the first time they were late with the rent I let them slide on the late fee  big mistake that was there ticket to thinking they can be late anytime.

Anyways I have this tenant for about 4 years already rent is $1200 a month. For the first 2 years they never missed a payment then the husband got hurt on the job and they got behind making partial payments making all kinds of promises like they will have it at the end of the month one month they even somehow got the county or VA to help them pay.

Anyways before i knew it there about $5000 behind the wife promising me they will get it caught up telling me they have a settlement  coming and all different kinds of BS promises  never materialized yo date they payed back $300 towards what they owe but at that point they started paying monthly again and not missing any payments for about 2 yrs until last month rent is due on the 3rd they said they having some issues and will be late promised me they have it on the 11/26

On the  26th the tenant called no money telling me there still having problems now telling me they will have a full $1200  on 12/3 and by the middle of next month they will pay me the $1200 there behind.

Anyways this is completely out of control I'm thinking i need to evict them or at the very least i need to serve them notice get the process started 

I'm looking for advice on maybe a local service that can help me through the process I have no idea how to file this thing the proper way with all the previous back rent they still owe me and the fact that they never resigned the lease after the first year.

I live in South Florida Broward county

HELP

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Jeff B.
Real Estate Investor · Lake Worth, FL · Member since 2009 · 263 posts · 92 votes
11y

Sounds like you fell into the same trap I did with some past tenants.  You letting it get out of control again will usually on happen once.  The eviction process is not all that hard.

I actually like law and had people in the law library and advice found from law firms online guide me through all the proper steps.  

1.  Serve a pay or quit notice through certified mail.  Make sure to name both parties on the lease if that's how it was created.  It should include the exact wording from Florida Statue 83.56 beginning with "you are hereby notified" ending with "to wit: on or before and the date" Keep a file for all of these documents.  File the returned certified mail receipt.

2.  Do NOT accept a partial payment from them or it will delay the eviction.
Go to the courthouse and purchase the County Civil Case filing documents and pick up the Self Service Guide.

3. Make copies and save the receipt for all your collection expenses as this is the total amount of your judgment you want repaid.  You will file a County Civil Eviction Case Count I and Count II.  You want them out and your money.

4.For Affidavit of Military Status, Google Search "Verification of Military Status" Enter their SSN and full name.  Print out the results to file.

5. Fill out Count I and for Count II and file the case with the clerk of court.

6. You will need to bring multiple envelopes pre addressed to the defendants with postage.

7.  Fill out the Notice of Confidential Information sheet if applicable.

8.  Bring plenty of money or checks as you will be spending about $250 - $300 to file everything.

9.  The clerk will issue a 5 day and 20 day summons.  This will be when the tenant will have to file and mail a written response to the court case or possible face a default judgment.

10.  I usually fill out and submit the Sheriff information sheet which allows the clerk to file a Writ of Possession after Count I Possession judgment is made.  Otherwise you will be making another trip to the courthouse.  

11.  If the defendant doesn't pay all of the judgment after Count II Damages then I pay the extra money and go to sunbiz.org and record a Judgment Lien against the defendants.  This gives your lien priority over some other liens.  

12.  The interest applied to Count II damages can be found on the Florida Chief Financial Officers website and is currently 4.75% annually.  They have the formulas listed on how to apply interest to the judgment.

13.  When the case goes to trial you will need to bring a signed copy of the lease, and all the service notices on mail being delivered as to Count I and II.  All the receipts from the Clerk or Court and Sheriff for filing and serving the case.  It is important for your witness to physically be present at the trial if you served or had any interaction or altercation with the tenant.

The most important thing I find is that all of the paperwork has to be accurate and served properly.  This is not that hard.  Additionally any physical interaction you have with the tenant should be done in front of a witness you bring with you or the Sheriff.

As I mentioned this doesn't happen to often.  The next time you will serve the three day notice once they are late and know how to properly file the Eviction and Damages court case.  You have know learned that being a Landlord is like running a business and that it is nothing personal but you do NOT run a Non-Profit.

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  • Jeff B.
    Real Estate Investor · Lake Worth, FL · Member since 2009 · 263 posts · 92 votes
    11y

    Sounds like you fell into the same trap I did with some past tenants.  You letting it get out of control again will usually on happen once.  The eviction process is not all that hard.

    I actually like law and had people in the law library and advice found from law firms online guide me through all the proper steps.  

    1.  Serve a pay or quit notice through certified mail.  Make sure to name both parties on the lease if that's how it was created.  It should include the exact wording from Florida Statue 83.56 beginning with "you are hereby notified" ending with "to wit: on or before and the date" Keep a file for all of these documents.  File the returned certified mail receipt.

    2.  Do NOT accept a partial payment from them or it will delay the eviction.
    Go to the courthouse and purchase the County Civil Case filing documents and pick up the Self Service Guide.

    3. Make copies and save the receipt for all your collection expenses as this is the total amount of your judgment you want repaid.  You will file a County Civil Eviction Case Count I and Count II.  You want them out and your money.

    4.For Affidavit of Military Status, Google Search "Verification of Military Status" Enter their SSN and full name.  Print out the results to file.

    5. Fill out Count I and for Count II and file the case with the clerk of court.

    6. You will need to bring multiple envelopes pre addressed to the defendants with postage.

    7.  Fill out the Notice of Confidential Information sheet if applicable.

    8.  Bring plenty of money or checks as you will be spending about $250 - $300 to file everything.

    9.  The clerk will issue a 5 day and 20 day summons.  This will be when the tenant will have to file and mail a written response to the court case or possible face a default judgment.

    10.  I usually fill out and submit the Sheriff information sheet which allows the clerk to file a Writ of Possession after Count I Possession judgment is made.  Otherwise you will be making another trip to the courthouse.  

    11.  If the defendant doesn't pay all of the judgment after Count II Damages then I pay the extra money and go to sunbiz.org and record a Judgment Lien against the defendants.  This gives your lien priority over some other liens.  

    12.  The interest applied to Count II damages can be found on the Florida Chief Financial Officers website and is currently 4.75% annually.  They have the formulas listed on how to apply interest to the judgment.

    13.  When the case goes to trial you will need to bring a signed copy of the lease, and all the service notices on mail being delivered as to Count I and II.  All the receipts from the Clerk or Court and Sheriff for filing and serving the case.  It is important for your witness to physically be present at the trial if you served or had any interaction or altercation with the tenant.

    The most important thing I find is that all of the paperwork has to be accurate and served properly.  This is not that hard.  Additionally any physical interaction you have with the tenant should be done in front of a witness you bring with you or the Sheriff.

    As I mentioned this doesn't happen to often.  The next time you will serve the three day notice once they are late and know how to properly file the Eviction and Damages court case.  You have know learned that being a Landlord is like running a business and that it is nothing personal but you do NOT run a Non-Profit.

    5Reply
  • Aly W.
    Investor · Middletown, NJ · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    It's basically as @Jeff B. says. I evicted a tenant for non-payment in March of this year. Because I filed on the 5th, she only owed that current month's rent. I wanted possession of the property, not a money judgment because she only owed the current rent and late fees/court costs. Her security deposit was going to cover that as long as there was no damage, and there wasn't.

    She did not respond to any legal notices, and the somewhat short version of this story is that she was out a month after I filed. I documented the entire process, which is similar to Jeff's description, but includes a few other items. Feel free to email me and I'll send it to you. 

    Basically, my contractor in Sunrise (my husband and I live in NJ) filed all the paperwork at the court personally. I had Fedexed everything to him from NJ.

    The following item was not described on the web site at the time, nor on any of the paperwork I downloaded. A helpful clerk mentioned it in time for me to include it in the package:

    "4.For Affidavit of Military Status, Google Search "Verification of Military Status" Enter their SSN and full name. Print out the results to file."

    I called the court every day to find out the day the eviction was granted. The clerks were very nice, and the day the document was signed by the judge (no court appearance was required), my contractor went right over to pick it up. He used his own checks to pay for everything, as out of state checks would have added additional delays. I don't recall if they were prohibited or not.

    My contractor brought the paperwork right to the sheriff's office in Fort Lauderdale for the Writ, to avoid any inter-office mail delay. We were told that could add another week to the process.

    As Jeff said, be extremely careful to fill out the paperwork correctly and completely. You don't need an attorney, and after you've done it once, you have a reference for the next time. And if you serve the Pay or Quit on the 3rd or 5th of the month, the tenant has far less time to accumulate back rent. The longer you wait, the more you lose.

    If the tenant intends to fight the eviction, they'll need to put all the money they owe, plus late fees and court costs, into the court registry, per your lease. So they know they'll have to pony up, or leave. No more excuses.

    1Reply
  • Mark Weinstock
    OP
    Investor · Sunrise, FL · Member since 2009 · 105 posts · 15 votes
    11y

    Thanks for the reply's 

    I'm not really up on doing this all myself. Its a bit complicated they already payed me a partial payment towards the behind payment 

    I"m totally alone to deal with this need some help maybe somebody here can recommended a reliable eviction service paralegal services instead of dealing with bigger attorneys fee 

    In consideration for the fact they been renting from me for over 4 yrs now my plan is to wait till the third of next month get my full rent as promised then after they've paid tell them they have 2 weeks to pay me what they owe me towards the month there behind or I'm going to evict you.  So i need to be prepared to file right away

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  • Jeff B.
    Real Estate Investor · Lake Worth, FL · Member since 2009 · 263 posts · 92 votes
    11y

    One last but very important thing I've discovered.

    All Judge's want to see the original lease where the landlord and tenant(s) have signed in ink and NOT copies.  This goes for the Walk through checklist if you are attempting to collect damages when they move out.  Unfortunately that when people swear to tell the truth in court usually only one side does. 

    Lastly this goes for the Judgement for Count I or II.  The clerk of court and sheriff want to see the original Judgement that is stamped and signed in ink by the Judge and Not a copy.

    If anything on the form is to complicated when your attempting to file the case you can set an appointment with a lawyer at the clerk of court's office.  Be forewarned that at least in Palm Beach County they are Not their to give you legal advice on how to try the case.  They are to be used to interpret and instruct you on the filing and Rules of Court.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 688 votes
    11y

    file and smile....Bubye

    0Reply
  • Marcia Maynard
    Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Mark Weinstock:

    Thanks for the reply's 

    I'm not really up on doing this all myself. Its a bit complicated they already payed me a partial payment towards the behind payment 

    I"m totally alone to deal with this need some help maybe somebody here can recommended a reliable eviction service paralegal services instead of dealing with bigger attorneys fee 

    In consideration for the fact they been renting from me for over 4 yrs now my plan is to wait till the third of next month get my full rent as promised then after they've paid tell them they have 2 weeks to pay me what they owe me towards the month there behind or I'm going to evict you.  So i need to be prepared to file right away

    We dealt with a similar situation in the past. Our experience is once a tenant gets that far behind they will never get caught up. We will work with people to a point, but not past the 15th of the month.

    My advice is not to tell a tenant "I'm going to evict you." Instead present them with the facts of the situation (itemize the debt), what they need to do to be able to continue living in the unit, and what I am prepared to do if they don't do what is necessary. I present it as a choice they need to make.... (take a listen to BP podcast #83 where I explain my style of handling tenants who are not following the terms of the rental agreement).  I love the phrase.... "If you don't pay, you can't stay." and "If you can't do this, then you will need to move. Let's work on a move out plan." I will still serve the legal notice for them to Pay Rent or Quit at the appropriate time, but depending on how the move out plan is progressing may not need to take it to the attorney or to the courts.

    Evictions are a part of this business. If the tenant does not move-out on their own in a timely manner, then you must proceed with the legal process that involves the courts. If you are not up to doing it yourself, then retain the services of an attorney who specializes in landlord-tenant law. You will be paying not only for a swift and professional eviction, but also will receive the benefit of an education about the proper process.

    @Aly L. didn't say it, but the property she mentioned is in Florida.  She invests in both New Jersey and Florida.  Many good landlords doing business in Florida that can help you with finding resources.  Good advice from those who already chimed in here.

    You can accept money right up until you file in the courts and state to the court the current amount of debt. Include all, so you can get a court judgement for all, not just the current month.

    For the future, it would be good to have a clause in your rental agreement that allows you to apply all monies received to past debt first. Here is an example from ours: 

    "PAYMENTS.  All payments made by Tenant to Landlord after the tenancy commences, no matter how designated by Tenant, will be applied as follows: first, to any outstanding amounts due for damages/repairs, utilities etc.; second, to any outstanding service charges and fees from prior months; third, to any rent outstanding from prior months; fourth, to any service charges or fees due in the current month; and lastly to the current month’s rent."

    Good luck!

    2Reply
  • Jennifer T.Pro Member
    Investor · New Orleans, LA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 944 votes
    11y

    Something else to consider for the future or anyone else finding themself in this situation is, looking back, it probably would have been kinder to have evicted them as soon as they fell behind. Especially since it sounds like their ability to pay was compromised...not just for one month...but ongoing.

    The fact is, they could no longer afford the rent after the man's injury. It would have been in everyone's best interest, including theirs, for them to move out of a place they could no longer afford. Unfortunately, now they are thousands in debt and you are owed those thousands. I hope everything works out well and smoothly for you, all considered.

    0Reply
  • Mark Weinstock
    OP
    Investor · Sunrise, FL · Member since 2009 · 105 posts · 15 votes
    11y

    Thanks again for the reply's 

    I'm going to wait till after I get my rent on the 3rd then hit them with Pay Rent or Quit notice 

    I'm still searching  or hoping someone here can recommend some kind of reliable local eviction service or reasonably priced attorney just encase things  get messy considering I've never done this before I"m not confident trying to handle this myself  infact I'm a bit nervous about it 

    0Reply
  • Mark Weinstock
    OP
    Investor · Sunrise, FL · Member since 2009 · 105 posts · 15 votes
    11y

    is there any way i can post a copy of the lease here ?

    0Reply
  • Mark Weinstock
    OP
    Investor · Sunrise, FL · Member since 2009 · 105 posts · 15 votes
    11y

    Just wanted to post a follow up  to my first time eviction issue post 

    I didn't feel comfortable handling the eviction process on my own so I wound up hiring  an eviction attorney that someone referred to me. http://hochbergevictions.com/

    Total attorney fees with all court cost included was $620 not bad

    We went through a mediation and the tenant said they wanted to stay so we worked out and they signed a payment agreement outlining exact amounts to be payed each month over 7 months totally paying me back the whole $5000 in behind rent including the cost of the eviction process but less a few hundred in out of pocket repairs that the tenants had receipts for. I"m happy with the results hopefully things will work out as planned If i had or have to do it again I think I'll handle it exactly the same way

    1Reply
  • Jon S.Pro Member
    Investor · Tampa, FL · Member since 2015 · 530 posts · 92 votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Mark Weinstock:

    Just wanted to post a follow up  to my first time eviction issue post 

    I didn't feel comfortable handling the eviction process on my own so I wound up hiring  an eviction attorney that someone referred to me. http://hochbergevictions.com/

    Total attorney fees with all court cost included was $620 not bad

    We went through a mediation and the tenant said they wanted to stay so we worked out and they signed a payment agreement outlining exact amounts to be payed each month over 7 months totally paying me back the whole $5000 in behind rent including the cost of the eviction process but less a few hundred in out of pocket repairs that the tenants had receipts for. I"m happy with the results hopefully things will work out as planned If i had or have to do it again I think I'll handle it exactly the same way

     It's been over a year since you posted this, how has this tenant and payment arrangement worked out? Thanks for sharing the info on this and on hockbergevictions.com.

    0Reply
  • Mark Weinstock
    OP
    Investor · Sunrise, FL · Member since 2009 · 105 posts · 15 votes
    9y

    The tenants are still living there they payed about half of the behind rent back so far

    In fact just spoke with  them today and the lady told me her husband is expecting to get a big disability reimbursement check and that she just got confirmation the check is on the way and promises to pay me in full once they have it 

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