Orlando Eviction Services

$495 Flat-Fee Evictions plus court costs

Uncontested Residential Tenant Evictions for Non-Payment of Rent

Tel. (407) 835-8688

For a flat-fee of $495 plus court costs and expenses, Orlando eviction attorney Jaisen Stango represents landlords with rental property in Orlando, Florida in conventional non-government subsidized tenant evictions for non-payment of rent in which the client is only seeking to recover possession of the leased premises.

The court costs to evict a tenant in Orlando, FL depend on the number of tenants that are being evicted. Typical costs for an Orlando residential eviction of a tenant for non-payment of rent include the Orange County Clerk filing fee, Orange County Process Server Fee, and the Orange County Sheriff’s fee to enforce the Writ of Possession.

For free information on how to terminate a tenancy through the eviction process and an estimate of court costs to remove a tenant from rental property in Orlando, please contact Orlando eviction lawyer and real estate attorney Jaisen Stango today at (407) 835-8688.

Orlando (aka the City Beautiful) is located in Orange County, Florida. Orlando evictions are filed in the Ninth Judicial Circuit in and for Orange County with the Clerk of the Court for at the Orange County Courthouse located at 425 North Orange Avenue.

http://www.cityoforlando.net/

In Smith vs. Hunt, the 3 Day Notice was given by a real estate agent and only listed the real estate agent’s name and address.

The court held that the 3 Day Notice was fatally defective because it was not given by the lessor to the tenant. Furthermore, the court held that according to the written rental agreement, the tenant was only obligated to pay rent to the lessor, not the real estate agent.  The court also stated that the real estate agent use of the phrase “indebted to me” in the 3 Day Notice was misleading because it implies that the tenant is indebted to the real estate agent, and not the lessor.  Consequently, the court dismissed the landlord’s complaint for eviction without leave to amend.

_{SHARON SMITH, Plaintiff, vs. VERONICA HUNT, Defendant. County Court, 17th Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County. Case No. 08-02057}

Under Sec. 83.56(3) of the Florida Statutes, the 3 Day Notice can only demand “rent”.

Accordingly, the court in EMMER, vs. WALKER¹, held that the 3 Day Notice was fatally defective for including filing fees in the amount due. The court reasoned that filing fees are not rent and may not be included in a 3 Day Notice.

¹ RYAN EMMER, Plaintiff, vs. OLIVER WALKER & SHEILA WALKER, Defendants. County Court, 17th Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County. Case No. 08-07639.

Jaisen J. Stango, Esq.
Orlando Eviction Attorney

Question: How many days late does the rent have to be before a Landlord can issue a 3-Day Notice ?

Answer: A 3-Day Notice can be issued 1 day after the “due date.”

Explaination: Most Landlords and Tenants mistakenly believe that the Landlord must wait until the “grace period” regarding the application of late fees is over before they can issue a 3-Day Notice. Fortunately, this is not the case.  Landlords must first read the Rental Agreement.  So long as rent is “due” on the first of the month under the terms of the Rental Agreement, the Landlord can issue a 3-Day Notice on the 2nd of the month, even though rent is not “late” until the 5th of the month (i.e., “late fees” are not imposed until the 5th of the month).

Commentary: In my opinion, this problem is a result of the bad drafting of the rental agreement.  For reasons unknown, drafters of rental agreements typically include a 3 or 5 day “grace period” before “late fees” are applied.  It is most likely that these drafters never owned a piece of rental property.  In my experience as a Landlord, if you give Tenants until the 5th of the month before “late fees” become due, they usually will not pay until the 5th of the month.   In addition to giving the Tenant 4 days of free rent (should you have to eventualy file an eviction), this creates confusion between Landlords and Tenants.  Some Tenants sincerely believe that the Landlord can not issue a 3-Day Notice until the rent is “late” (i.e., paid after the 3rd or 5th on the month depending on the Rental Agreement).  Consequently, these Tenants will not promptly respond to a 3-Day Notice issued on the 2nd of the month.

Remedial Action: I counsel my clients to not allow any “grace period” before “late fees” become due and payable to the Landlord as additional rent.  In other words, rent should be “due” on the 1st and “late” on the 2nd.

Before renting housing built prior to 1978, Landlords are required to disclose the presence of known lead-based paint and provide Tenants with the Federally approved pamphlet on lead-based paint poisoning prevention.

For a sample disclosure form, click here.

For a downloadable copy of the Federally approved pamphlet, click here.

If you have any questions about the required disclosures that must be made in a rental agreement, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (407) 835-8688.

Jaisen J. Stango, Esq.
Landlord / Tenant Attorney
Orlando, FL

Florida Law requires the following radon gas disclosure to be made prior to, or at the time of, entering into a rental agreement:

RADON GAS: Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that, when it has accumulated in a building in sufficient quantities, may present health risks to persons who are exposed to it over time. Levels of radon that exceed federal and state guidelines have been found in buildings in Florida. Additional information regarding radon and radon testing may be obtained from your county health department.

This disclosure is specific to the State of Florida.  Accordingly, unless the Landlord is using a rental agreement drafted to comply with Florida law, most likely that document does not contain the required disclosure.  Too often, I come across Landlords that download leases for free off of the Internet.  One of the problems with this is that these Landlords only have a 1 in 50 chance of downloading a Florida specific rental agreement.  Consequently, there is a 98% chance that a randomly selected rental agreement found on the Internet is not a Florida specific.

If you have any questions about the required disclosures that must be made in a rental agreement, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (407) 835-8688.

Jaisen J. Stango, Esq.
Landlord / Tenant Attorney

Under Section 83.595, Florida Statutes, if a Landlord retakes possession of the premises for the account of the Tenant after the Tenant breaches the rental agreement, the Landlord has an obligation of “good faith in attempting to relet the premises.”

The Landlord’s obligation of good faith means

the landlord uses at least the same efforts to relet the premises as were used in the initial rental or at least the same efforts as the landlord uses in attempting to rent other similar rental units but does not require the landlord to give a preference in renting the premises over other vacant dwelling units that the landlord owns or has the responsibility to rent.

If you are a Landlord, you would be well advised to contact a Landlord / Tenant Attorney before choosing to retake possession for account of the Tenant to ensure compliance with for Florida Law.

If you are a Tenant and your Landlord seeking damages from you as a result of your breach of a rental agreement, you would be well advised to contact a Landlord / Tenant Attorney to determine whether you are in fact liable for those alleged damages under Florida Law.

If you have any questions about the Landlord’s obligation of “good faith in attempting to relet the premises,” please do not hesitate to contact my office at (407) 835-8688.

Jaisen J. Stango, Esq.
Landlord / Tenant Attorney

Section 84.43(17), Florida Statutes, defines an “early termination fee” as

any charge, fee, or forfeiture that is provided for in a written rental agreement and is assessed to a tenant when a tenant elects to terminate the rental agreement, as provided in the agreement, and vacates a dwelling unit before the end of the rental agreement.

However, the following are specifically excluded from that definition:

1. Unpaid rent and other accrued charges through the end of the month in which the landlord retakes possession of the dwelling unit.
2. Charges for damages to the dwelling unit.
3. Charges associated with a rental agreement settlement, release, buy-out, or accord and satisfaction agreement.

In order to charge an early termination fee, Landlord must comply with Section 83.595, Florida Statutes. Among other things, section 83.595 requires the Landlord and Tenant to sign an addendum to the rental agreement in which the Tenant specifically agrees to pay the early termination fee. Florida law also limits the amount of early termination fees to a maximum of two months rent.

If you are a Landlord and are interested in retaining the ability to charge an early termination fee, you would be well advised to contact a Landlord / Tenant Attorney BEFORE you enter in a rental agreement to ensure proper compliance with Florida Law.

If you are a Tenant and your Landlord is charing you an early termination fee, you would be well advised to contact a Landlord / Tenant Attorney to determine whether you are in fact liable for that fee under Florida Law.

If you have any questions about early termination fees under Florida Law, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (407) 835-8688.

Jaisen J. Stango, Esq.
Residential Eviction Lawyer

A common question from Tenants is, “When can my Landlord come into my home?”

The answer depends on the terms and conditions of the rental agreement. If the rental agreement is silent on the issue, then Florida Law exclusively governs the issue.

Landlord’s Right to Access:

Ownership of property has been analogized as having a “bundle of rights.” One of those “sticks” in the bundle of rights is ‘possession.’ Although the Landlord ‘owns’ the property, when he enters into a rental agreement with a Tenant, the Landlord transfers over the right of possession to the Tenant. Consequently, the Landlord does not have the unfettered right to enter the property.

Florida Law prohibits the Tenant from unreasonably withholding consent to the Landlord occasionally entering the premises to

1. protect or preserve the premises
2. make necessary or agreed repairs
   
3. make decorations, alterations, or improvements
4. supply agreed services
5. exhibit the premises to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors

Landlord’s Obligations:

The Landlord can enter the premises to protect or preserve the premises at any time.

Landlord Larry stops by the unit to collect the rent and sees smoke coming from inside. In this case, Larry can immediately enter the premises without prior notice or consent from the Tenant Tom.

The Landlord can enter the premises to make repairs by giving at least 12 hours notice and entering the unit between 7:30 am and 8 pm.

Larry hires Joe the Plumber (after he gets a license and liability insurance) to install water saving shower heads on all of his rental properties. Larry can enter the Tom’s unit by giving Tom notice on Monday at 9 am the Joe will be entering the unit on Tuesday at 1 pm to make repairs.

For any of the other enumerated reasons in Section 83.53(1), the Landlord may enter the premises

1. with the consent of the tenant
2. in case of emergency
3. when the tenant unreasonably withholds consent

However, the Landlord is prohibited from abusing his right to enter the premises or use it to harass the Tenant.

Jaisen J. Stango Esq.
Landlord / Tenant Lawyer

A common question ask by Landlords is whether they can include “late fees” in the amount demanded from the Tenant in the 3 Day Notice. The answer depends on the terms of the written rental agreement.

Under Florida Law, “Rent” is defined as the periodic amount due for occupancy of the premises AND any other amount due to the Landlord designated as “Rent” under the terms of the written rental agreement.

Accordingly, a Landlord cannot include ‘late fees’ in the 3 Day Notice if the Tenant is occupying the premises under an oral rental agreement. If there is a written rental agreement, the issue is whether the agreement specifically identifies ‘late fees’ as “Rent” due to the Landlord.

Common language used to designate ‘late fees’ as “Rent” in a rental agreement is

If payment is not made by the 3rd of the month, then $100 shall be due as additional rent.

Unfortunately, some of the Landlords that I assist in the eviction process downloaded their lease off of the Internet. The requirement that ‘late fees’ be due as additional “Rent” is a Florida specific law that is unlikely to be found in a lease drafted to conform to the laws of another state. Had the Landlord retained a Landlord / Tenant attorney to draft the rental agreement, the Landlord could have included the ‘late fee’ in the the amount demanded from the Tenant in the 3 Day Notice.

If you have any questions about what can be included in the 3 Day Notice or would like a rental agreement drafted for your investment property, please call my office at (407) 835-8688 for more information.

Jaisen J. Stango, Esq.
Landlord / Tenant Attorney