Can Landlord Use Last Month's Rent towards Damages?

Question

QUESTION: CAN I, LANDLORD, WITHHOLD THE LAST MONTH'S RENT ALONG WITH DAMAGE DEPOSIT FOR DAMAGES IN FLORIDA?

I searched previous discussions and couldn't find this question, somehow.

The specific story if it matters:

Purchased property with Tenant in place, the first thing he said when we met is that he's moving. I was glad to hear it because the house was severely under-rented and this tenant was clearly incapable of caring for a property, covered in greasy dusty cobwebs and terrible odor.

I met with Tenant twice, performing walk-through inspections both times. The tenant complained that thousands of dollars in work was needed. He admitted to never cleaning once in 9 years.

He refused to sign renewal that was offered to him 8 months earlier, so I served him with a letter stating we would not be renewing, he handed back a letter saying that he would leave even sooner than that, demanding money up front to walk. I refused. He ignored me completely. So I sent him a new lease at market price, since it seemed he resolved to stay. Luckily, we learned that he did in fact leave and there was a "purposely broken pipe in the kitchen" when I walked in, my plumber's words.

Tenant wrote to the management company / us, "I was advised by Heather Olson that I would receive my deposit money back promptly as soon as I moved out but have yet to receive it. Here is the list of deposit-related items and early vacancy refund I am emailing you about: $900 - Security Deposit $900 - Last Months Rent $250 - Pet Deposit $225.81 - Pro-rated Rent Refund (7 days early vacancy) Total Owed: $2,275.81 "

OF COURSE, I WOULD NEVER SAY SUCH A THING.

My notes from the walk through inspection with Tenant show that Tenant admitted to only doing less than minimum maintenance over his 9 years of tenancy: 1. reinstalled mailbox, 2. crawled in attic once, 3. had a breaker installed (wrongly charged landlord $250 by underpaying rent on last month), 4. had small repair done on pool, which was not effective, by his own account.

Single Page Lease from Attorney states tenant is to take care of first $200 of maintenance not including labor, monthly. Monthly rental rate set at $800 below market.

I want to claim for the approximate $10,000+ in repairs and deferred maintenance that I am paying a crew to perform, including supplies. I am not sure the exact amounts yet and have to separate out the upgrades and normal wear and tear from what was absolutely necessary. The entire house needed interior paint, with hundreds and hundreds of holes and kid's wall graffiti, broken cabinets, doors missing, he purposely cut off the new A/C from the rooms he didn't want to cool and that caused mold, you name it!

MY MAIN CONCERN IS HOW FAST TIME IS FLYING AND I DON'T KNOW THE FULL COSTS YET, WITH A FULL CREW WORKING EVERY DAY EXCEPT FOR BEING PULLED OFF FOR STORM EMERGENCIES HERE. ALSO, HE DOES HAVE AN ATTORNEY INVOLVED FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STATE? ODD!

I TRUST THIS FORUM AND APPRECIATE YOUR INPUT!

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

Mike Cumbie · Answer

@Heather Olson

Do you have the pre walk through checklist from the previous landlord? If yes, then you can most likely make a play for the damages. If you do not have any proof to the condition of the property at move in all he has to say in court is "It was like that when I moved in" the judge will look at you and say "Do you have proof of condition at move in?" Some states can award 3 times damages so just in the security deposit you could be on the hook for $1800. So I think @Jd Martin was saying let the deposit go because you can't prove the cabinets were not broken, holes were not in the walls.

As far as the last months rent and prorated etc, check local laws but there should be a time frame from when notice was given. Commonly 30 days notice has to be given before next rent due date (Not positive about Florida). So if he moved out 7 days before the end of a month he still owes for that month and the next if no notice was given. Unless you agreed to let him move out early with no penalty.

Good Luck

JD Martin · Answer

I would cut bait and move on from here. The previous landlord apparently approved of the previous 9 years, and you purchased the place with the tenant in place and the home in the current condition, so I don't see that you'll have much legal ground to stand on anywhere. If you don't have any proof of the condition of the home before the tenant moved in, you'll be hard pressed to even hold on to the deposit for damages.

As for keeping rent paid but unused for damages, I doubt that is legal in Florida. You would need to get a court judgement to determine if the tenant is responsible for damages beyond the deposit amount in order to collect any further money.

Kim Meredith Hampton · Answer

@Heather Olson First and foremost, what does your landlord tenant laws state about notice from either party? Familairize your self with these, they are life savers.

Secondly, your story sounds somewhat confusing, you gave notice to vacate, then offered a renewal. Should have been one or the other, sometimes (depending on your states laws), one can negate the other

Rent can not be used for repairs at all.

Heather O. · Answer

Good points! I do have the original walk through! And all of the documents ever between the tenant and previous landlords, so I will use that to my advantage. Incredible that I didn't even think of that!

John Thedford · Answer

A " non refundable pet deposit" is the wrong wording and COULD force you to return it. In the future, the proper term is non-refundable pet FEE. Fees are non-refundable. Deposits may or may not be refundable. It would also be prudent to add in a fee for breaking the lease. I use 1.5x the montly rent. Exactly what your lease states, as well as the state statutes, will determine what you may or may no do.

Becca Summers · Answer

@Heather Olson then I'd say no to refunding the prorated rent since he choose to leave when he did. If he didn't pay rent the last month that is yours to keep as well. It sounds like he knows he is a pain and wants to push you around. I don't blame you for wanting to move on and get him out of your life these renters cause more stress.

What I meant by asking if you got a deal on the house I mean did the seller sell for less than they could have just to get rid of the tenant? If so that might be some of the compensation you get for dealing with the problem renter.

Karen Young · Answer

Usually you can add in the ORIGINAL lease_ if you leave early or break the lease 2 months is owed>>Intial here_______>.The money on the table is yours IF THEY SKIP OUT_but I doubt they will pay 2 months rent-always-so money owed goes out the window except the DEPOSIT>paid.

Heather O. · Answer

EXACTLY! I call it a "fee" in all of my paperwork, he's using "deposit". Well done!

Heather O. · Answer

Good point, Karen! You never know - we have the strangest, nonsensical things happen.

Can Landlord Use Last Month's Rent towards Damages?

Can Landlord Use Last Month's Rent towards Damages?

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