REQUIRING NOTICE PRIOR TO LEASE END

Many leases have a clause stating that the tenant must give the landlord a certain number of days notice in writing that they are vacating at the end of the lease. If the tenant fails to give this notice and vacates, the landlord tries to charge the tenant a specific amount for failure to give this notice. While it is our opinion that a landlord should do their best in determining whether a tenant is staying or going through the use of notices to the tenant which require a response by a specific time, landlords still insist on charging for insufficient or nonexistent notice. Florida law now allows this, but if it is not done properly, the landlord can find themselves in serious trouble, especially if they report the amount charged to a collection agency, and it winds up on a credit report.

A careful reading and understanding of the law is crucial if the landlord insists on charging the tenant an amount for failure to give notice. Unfortunately, the law is a bit tricky, as it requires the landlord to give the tenant notice that they will be charging the tenant for failure to give notice. This may seem like a tongue twister, but it simply is a requirement of the landlord to “remind” the tenant that the tenant must give notice so the tenant is not “surprised”.

The law enacted in 2004

83.575 Termination of tenancy with specific duration.--

(1) A rental agreement with a specific duration may contain a provision requiring the tenant to notify the landlord before vacating the premises at the end of the rental agreement; however, a rental agreement may not require more than 60 days' notice before vacating the premises. (2) A rental agreement with a specific duration may provide that if a tenant fails to give the required notice before vacating the premises at the end of the rental agreement, the tenant may be liable for liquidated damages as specified in the rental agreement if the landlord provides written notice to the tenant specifying the tenant's obligations under the notification provision contained in the lease and the date the rental agreement is terminated. The landlord must provide such written notice to the tenant within 15 days before the start of the notification period contained in the lease. The written notice shall list all fees, penalties, and other charges applicable to the tenant under this subsection. (3) If the tenant remains on the premises with the permission of the landlord after the rental agreement has terminated and fails to give notice required under s. 83.57 the tenant is liable to the landlord for an additional 1 month's rent.

How it works: In order to enforce a clause in your lease that requires a tenant to give you notice prior to lease end, you must do the following:

Give the tenant a notice WITHIN 15 days of the beginning of the notice period you are requiring from the tenant.

Example: Your lease requires 30 days notice from the tenant. You must “remind” the tenant of this by giving the tenant notice of this sometime within days 30 and 45 prior to the lease ending.

Reprinted with the permission of the Law Offices of Heist, Weisse, Davis & Wolk

Contact JCG Property Management, a Fort Lauderdale based property management company. Visit www.fortlauderdalepropertymanagement.com or call Janice Gomez at 954.847.1126