QUESTION
I am being asked by a landlord to pay a security deposit, prorated rent and or 2 months rent to terminate a lease that was not executed due to pandemi
Asked on Apr 27th, 2020 on Landlord and Tenant Law - Florida
More details to this question:
I am in the process of selling my house. We were originally set to close on April 15th, 2020 but due to the pandemic several delays occurred which pushed our closing date back to May 15th. I reached out to the landlord and explained the situation and they requested a decision be made and money paid by 4/22/20. I never moved in or accepted keys to the property. They never took the property off of the market and it remained active on renal sites like Zillow and Trulia throughout this process. I am now being requested by the landlord's attorney to pay the prorated rent for April ($1333), the security deposit ($2000) and pet deposit ($150) to terminate the contract. 1.) Am I legally obligated to pay all of this money when I never accepted keys nor moved in to the property due to covid-19 related issues? 2.) What legal actions can be taken against me?
1 ANSWER
Consumer Debt Collector Harassment & Abuse Attorney serving Tampa, FL
Partner at
Tischhauser Law Group
2 Awards
If you signed a lease you made a contract and are bound by it. You don't get to not take possession aand not pay and then claim your own breach of the agreement as a means to get out of the deal. Fl. Stat. 83.57 sets out the LL options when a tenant breaches a lease. Your better bet may be to go forward with the lease as intended, move yor things there, and then deal with the closing. Your closing issues are not the concern of the LL.
Answered on May 06th, 2020 at 7:32 AM
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