Apartment Eviction Laws in Florida
Eviction laws in Florida and around the country detail the procedures a landlord is required to go through in order to repossess his rental property. Eviction from a rental property like an apartment is procedure-oriented to preserve the rights of the tenant and to provide every opportunity to remedy the situation before a formal eviction is granted by the court.
Other People Are Reading
-
Three-Day Notice to Evict
-
In Florida and in other states around the country, written notice of a delinquency in the rent or violation of the lease is required before a landlord may proceed with the eviction process. This notice is referred to as the "three-day notice to evict." A tenant is required to receive this notice by certified mail or through hand delivery. If the tenant does not receive this notice, any following eviction proceedings may be thrown out of a Florida county court.
Service of Summons
-
If the tenant has not remedied the landlord's complaints within three business days, the landlord is granted the right to move to reclaim his property by filing an eviction complaint with the Florida county clerk's office where the residential property is located. An eviction summons is sent by the court to the tenant through certified mail or hand delivery. Florida law gives the tenant five business days to make a formal response to the eviction summons. If the tenant is able to satisfy the landlord's complaint before the five days have passed, the landlord is required to contact the court clerk's office and inform them of the satisfactory answer to the summons.
-
Motion of Default
-
If the tenant does not formally answer the eviction summons, the landlord may file for a formal judgment of eviction. At the eviction hearing, the law requires the landlord only to show the tenant's rent delinquency or that the tenant violated another legal term of the lease. If the landlord is able to show either of these circumstances, the court will grant him the right of possession in regard to the rental property.
Formal Eviction of Tenant
-
It is illegal in Florida and in other states across the country to bar a tenant from retrieving his property from a rental unit even if an order of eviction has been granted. It is also illegal to change locks or bar windows until the formal eviction of the tenant has taken place. A representative of the county sheriff's office having jurisdiction over the rental property is required to supervise the formal eviction of a tenant once an order of possession has been granted by the court.
-
