Are you thinking of purchasing or taking a property on rent in Florida? It is essential to gather knowledge about Florida real estate law before you start looking for such a residential property. It will help you to know the rules and regulations regarding property ownership along with some other aspects in regard to lease of a residential property.
Given below are 6 major provisions of the Florida real estate law.
1.Condominium ownership
In Florida, condominiums are operated by the condominium associations, which are made up of unit owners. Florida law has set some provisions regarding the condominium ownership and it is mandatory for everyone to follow. However, the condominium association has complete authority to enforce several operational rules, like, parking, noise levels, unit maintenance, etc. Therefore, make yourself aware of the rules and regulations regarding condominium units if you’re thinking to buy one in Florida.
2. Property Lease
According to Florida real estate law, a period tenancy (such as, a month-to-month or a year-to-year) gets automatically renewed from period to period. As per law, the landlords need to follow certain procedure in order to evict a tenant from the property. The tenants have the right to sub-lease their rental property as far as the lease or any other binding restrictions don’t prohibit them from doing it.
3. Termination of a lease
As per Florida law, you need to fulfill certain notice requirements while terminating a lease. A 60-day notice period is mandatory if you want to terminate a year-to-year lease contract. If the lease is quarter-to-quarter, then you’re required to give at least a 30-day notice period prior to the end of any quarter period. Likewise, for a month-to-month lease, a 15-day notice period prior to the end of the month is necessary. If you want to terminate a week-to-week lease, then you need to give a notice at least 7 days before the end of the week. However, it is possible to alter the above mentioned periods under certain conditions.
4. Security Deposit
It is known to everyone that a tenant has to pay a security deposit before taking possession of the rental property. Under Florida real estate law, a landlord has to hold the security deposit in a non-interest bearing account or deposit it into a interest bearing account and pay the tenant either 5% interest annually or 75% of the interest that the deposit earns. The landlord can also post a surety bond equal to the security deposit. It is mentioned by law that the landlord has to notify it to the tenant within 30 days of receiving the security deposit, as in what way the landlord is holding the deposit amount.
After the end of the lease period, the landlord has to return the money (with interest, if applicable) within 15 days. The landlord can also notify the tenant of a claim against the security deposit. In such a situation, the tenant can object to the claim within 15 days as otherwise the landlord can deduct the required amount and return the excess money to the tenant within a period of 30 days, starting from the date of issue of the ‘Claim Notice’.
5. Property abandonment
According to Florida real estate law, a landlord can either repossess the property by terminating the contract or sue the tenant for the unpaid rent if the latter unjustifiably abandons a rental property. The tenant is also liable for any extraordinary damages to the property. However, the law requires the landlord to mitigate the damages and it is against law to pile up damages in the form of unpaid rent, when the property can be rented to someone else. Moreover, abandonment is considered to be justifiable if the landlord/owner is not able to keep the property premises habitable.
6. Eviction from a property
In Florida, a landlord cannot forcibly evict a tenant from the rental property. The former has to file a lawsuit in order to evict a tenant. After receiving the notice, the tenant has 5 days to answer, failing in which, the landlord gets a default judgment. The tenant may argue and under Florida law, the tenant/landlord disputes get early trial date. However, in the meantime, the tenant has to pay the required rent into the court registry.
Florida real estate law prohibits housing discrimination on the basis of color, race, sex, religion, handicap, national origin and familial status. If anyone experiences discrimination, then he/she can contact the Florida Commission on Human Rights in order determine whether or not he/she can file a complaint under Florida Fair Housing Act.
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