How to Legally Break an Apartment Lease in Florida

Imagine someone cutting you a few thousand dollars. You would be angry. If you don`t pay the monthly rent you owe when you break your lease, you can be sued. Unless you have a valid reason to break the lease, you are responsible for the rental and attorney`s fees. If a tenant does not have access to the rental unit because the landlord has changed the locks or access codes, this is considered a nuisance. If the landlord closes its sources of electricity and water, the tenant is allowed under Florida laws to no longer meet its obligations under the lease. Breaking a lease can be one of the most important things to know for a landlord in the rental real estate industry. For a number of reasons, you may find that some of your tenants break their leases. Some reasons are beyond your control, e.B. Marriage, divorce or moving from work. While these reasons are valid, there are still state laws in place to protect the landlord if a tenant breaks their lease.

Finally, lease termination rights are extended to military personnel who are released from active service prematurely or involuntarily during the rental period. The member must notify the landlord at least 30 days in advance and provide proof of his or her situation, which may take the form of official orders from a commanding officer. There are only four situations where breaking a lease in Florida is justified. These situations include: In this case, federal law allows you to break a lease. However, you must file a handwritten notice period for Florida indicating the reason for the violation. Your rental ends 30 days after the next due date of your rent. Landlords may include clauses that break the lease in leases, although they are not required by law. These clauses can dictate both the notice a tenant gives before early termination of their lease and the amount a landlord can charge for an early cancellation fee. The highest notice a tenant in Florida can expect is 60 days, and the fee may not exceed double the monthly rent.1 This can be a complicated scenario for both the tenant and the landlord.

In this article, we`ll cover relevant landlord-tenant laws in Florida as well as some tips when it comes to breaking a lease in Florida. If the tenant decides to leave before the lease expires, he may be legally compelled to continue paying the rent. You must cover the rent until the end of the tenancy, even if the tenant no longer lives in the unit. If a landlord violates the terms of the lease, there may be sufficient justification for breaking the lease and releasing the tenant from their own obligations (i.e., illegally increasing the rent during the specified period). Because every lease is different, carefully read the obligations and requirements for both parties to understand if a breach has been committed and if there is language that describes how to deal with certain breaches. There is another type of lease called periodic rental, which is sometimes called monthly rental. This rental does not have a definitive end date; it continues like this until the landlord or tenant cancels to leave the property. State law determines the amount of notification you must give. The notice period is usually 30 or 60 days and as long as you give the right notice, the rental agreement ends at the end of the notice period.

You don`t need a reason to send the notification and you don`t have to pay a penalty. If you break a lease, you may end up stuck with a high bill. But if you don`t pay for it, you risk seriously damaging your credit score. Landlords don`t always report unpaid debt to credit reporting agencies, but if you`ve passed through a popular apartment building or your landlord is a homeowner, you can pretty much guarantee that your credit score will be damaged. There are consequences that a tenant faces if they break the lease without proper justification. A tenant receives bills if the landlord does not agree with the reason for the breach of contract and the tenant does not pay the rent for the duration of the tenancy period. Here are some results: At best, the only thing the tenant can do (in addition to paying the rent until the end of the lease) is to help the landlord find another tenant. Because if the landlord accepts another tenant, the old lease automatically ends, allowing the former tenant to become free. First, the landlord has the option of re-renting the unit. Second, the landlord has the right to liquidate the tenant`s assets to cover the financial damage.

And finally, the landlord can choose to do nothing, which means the tenant has to pay the rent until the end of the lease. Usually, when someone signs a lease, they do not intend to need or break it until the agreed time has expired. However, unexpected circumstances arise in which people`s plans change and they have to cancel their leases. Current living conditions may not meet agreed standards, you may want to move in with a roommate or partner, or a job change may require you to leave your current rent. The big concern is that breaking a lease in Florida will cause you to lose a lot of money. Florida is a bit strict about early lease terminations, but there are always ways to resolve it! Whatever your situation, our guide has everything you can expect to get from a lease in Florida without penalty. For example, you can move early if you get sick and need to be transferred to a health facility, or if you are married or divorced. However, specific rental laws have been enacted in Florida to break a lease. Homeowners in Florida have a duty to provide safe and habitable housing.

This means that the home must be people-friendly and compliant with Florida health and building regulations. For example, if you find yourself in a unit with a leaky roof or no sanitary facilities and the landlord can`t fix the problem within a reasonable amount of time, you have a good argument that the landlord has constructively evicted you. This means that you can withdraw from the lease without further liability for the rent. According to Florida laws updated 83.595, the landlord may meet a condition in the lease to make an offer of early termination to the tenant. The amount must be limited to two months of the required rent. In addition, the tenant must send 60 days` notice. It`s important to include all of this in your lease in Pensacola, Florida. A lease often lasts for a fixed term, which is usually one year from the signing of the lease. At the end of the lease term, you must either; Let`s look at what a lease in Florida really is. A residential lease is defined as a binding contract between a landlord and a tenant. Traditional leases are «temporary», meaning that the dates of occupancy are set out in the agreement.

Fixed-term leases traditionally have one year, but they can have any period of time that both parties agree on. There are also «periodic leases» that do not have a fixed end date. Month after month is the most common periodic rental. Leases in Florida define both the responsibilities of the tenant and the landlord, and Florida`s lease laws under Title IV of Chapter 83 of the Florida Act, Part II state that the landlord cannot change the terms of the lease, increase the rent, or evict the tenant for no reason. Tenants in Pensacola, Florida, are allowed to break a lease without penalty as long as these situations are met: Essentially, if an unwarranted breach of a lease occurs, the landlord has three options. If you`re in a hurry to move but haven`t found anyone to transfer the lease to, you can consider the termination offers listed in your lease. In most cases, the termination of leases usually forces tenants to pay about 2-3 months` rent or lose their security deposit. Again, provide a detailed and accurate explanation of why you choose to break the lease to increase the chances that the landlord will reduce your termination fee.

However, under the new law, when signing the lease, the landlord can offer the tenant the option to get a rent break/early cancellation fee. Provided that the fee is not more than double the required monthly rent and that the tenant submits at least 60 days in advance. And, of course, all of this has to be provided for in the Florida lease. You can break a lease under Florida Statutes Act 83. 60. Law 83.60 emphasizes the owner`s ability to provide habitable rental space in accordance with local and state housing regulations. These codes regulate the quality of the dwelling and determine whether sufficient hot water, heat and locks have been provided. A tenant must be given 12 hours` notice before a landlord can enter the premises regarding their privacy.

If the landlord ignores this rule, the tenant can legally break the lease. This means that because the landlord is renting an «uninhabitable unit,» they have «evicted» the tenant. Thus, the tenant is free of the lease. Keep in mind that the rental housing problem must be really serious (p.B, lack of heating) before the court can conclude that it is «constructively resolved». In most cases, tenants who have signed a lease intend to stay for the duration specified in the lease. However, certain circumstances cannot be avoided. For example, something that appears during the rental period and causes the tenant to leave before the lease expires. If you want more help to end your lease in Florida, there are agencies that can help. Tenant advocacy organizations have tons of useful information that can help you navigate the situation.

Click here for a list of Florida housing consulting agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Owners have enough time for repairs and maintenance. However, if they do not act within the time limit set for them, tenants can legally terminate the lease. .