I am currently trying to evict a tenant from an illegal rental unit in the state of Florida.
Background to the situation is as follows: Three months ago my husband and I bought a house that included an already rented out trailer unit in the backyard. The seller's agent assured us it was a legal unit because it was a mobile (as apposed to fixed structure) unit and could be removed at anytime. Not knowing any better, we proceeded to buy the house, backyard tenant included. There was no existing lease agreement with the tenant, therefore we drafted a written agreement between us and the tenant. We conducted a walk-through of the trailer, with no issues noted by the tenant.
Since such time, the tenant has verbally advised us of various repair requests which we promptly addressed. My husband and I have done a little more homework in the legality of the rental and discovered it to be an illegal rental. We consulted an attorney, who advised us to proceed with a notice of termination as outlined in our lease agreement.
Our tenant, however, came to us on the first of December with a certified letter claiming 14 items of repair and advising us that rent would be withheld until such repairs were made. We reviewed the list of repairs (some of which we strictly cosmetic) with the tenant and agreed on a plan to make necessary repairs. We then, served a 60-day (so as not to rush the tenant out in the middle of the holidays) notice to terminate the lease. Our tenant informed us that she did not intend to pay us or get out, that she was going to call Code Enforcement, because she knew the property to be an illegal rental. We sought assistance from the clerk of the court, who gave us a 3-day pay or vacate notice. We served it on her (two days ago), knowing that collecting any further rent would put us in jeopardy of civil fines for illegal renting. We more or less wanted to get her to vacate. I again approached the tenant today trying to reason with her to resolve this issue. She again balked, claiming that she didn't intend to pay a dime and wouldn't leave until she found another place to live.
I contacted the local Code Enforcement Inspector for my area and told him of my dilema. He said he was familiar with the situation, because he had just been out to my house the day prior, at the request of the tenant. He said she called him, thinking they could save her from getting evicted. He told her they could be of no assistance and that their issue would be with us, the landlord, in the form of a civil citation for the illegal rental. He told her the end result would be the same: She would have to vacate. He then told me he understood my position and that I was doing the right thing to get the tenant out and to continue with the court eviction process. He said he was not going to act on the case immediately, but would follow up with me in a month to see where I was at with getting rid of the rental unit.
I apologize for the lengthy thread, but I wanted to make sure you had the details. I now have a few questions:
1. Although it has been established that this is an illegal rental unit, does the lease agreement still stand as a binding contract? If so, to what extent?
2. The tenant paid a security deposit equal to one month's rent. Do we have any right to make claim to the money for the unpaid use and occupany? Or for damages?
3. If we shouldn't collect any further rent for the property, does this include not collecting for utilities?
4. If we proceed with the complaint process, will the courts recognize our claim to repossession of property and/or recoupment for damages, even though it is an illegal rental?
5. When all else fails, what options do we have to get this person off our property?
Any insight you can provide will be helpful and much appreciated. Thank you very much in advance!
Background to the situation is as follows: Three months ago my husband and I bought a house that included an already rented out trailer unit in the backyard. The seller's agent assured us it was a legal unit because it was a mobile (as apposed to fixed structure) unit and could be removed at anytime. Not knowing any better, we proceeded to buy the house, backyard tenant included. There was no existing lease agreement with the tenant, therefore we drafted a written agreement between us and the tenant. We conducted a walk-through of the trailer, with no issues noted by the tenant.
Since such time, the tenant has verbally advised us of various repair requests which we promptly addressed. My husband and I have done a little more homework in the legality of the rental and discovered it to be an illegal rental. We consulted an attorney, who advised us to proceed with a notice of termination as outlined in our lease agreement.
Our tenant, however, came to us on the first of December with a certified letter claiming 14 items of repair and advising us that rent would be withheld until such repairs were made. We reviewed the list of repairs (some of which we strictly cosmetic) with the tenant and agreed on a plan to make necessary repairs. We then, served a 60-day (so as not to rush the tenant out in the middle of the holidays) notice to terminate the lease. Our tenant informed us that she did not intend to pay us or get out, that she was going to call Code Enforcement, because she knew the property to be an illegal rental. We sought assistance from the clerk of the court, who gave us a 3-day pay or vacate notice. We served it on her (two days ago), knowing that collecting any further rent would put us in jeopardy of civil fines for illegal renting. We more or less wanted to get her to vacate. I again approached the tenant today trying to reason with her to resolve this issue. She again balked, claiming that she didn't intend to pay a dime and wouldn't leave until she found another place to live.
I contacted the local Code Enforcement Inspector for my area and told him of my dilema. He said he was familiar with the situation, because he had just been out to my house the day prior, at the request of the tenant. He said she called him, thinking they could save her from getting evicted. He told her they could be of no assistance and that their issue would be with us, the landlord, in the form of a civil citation for the illegal rental. He told her the end result would be the same: She would have to vacate. He then told me he understood my position and that I was doing the right thing to get the tenant out and to continue with the court eviction process. He said he was not going to act on the case immediately, but would follow up with me in a month to see where I was at with getting rid of the rental unit.
I apologize for the lengthy thread, but I wanted to make sure you had the details. I now have a few questions:
1. Although it has been established that this is an illegal rental unit, does the lease agreement still stand as a binding contract? If so, to what extent?
2. The tenant paid a security deposit equal to one month's rent. Do we have any right to make claim to the money for the unpaid use and occupany? Or for damages?
3. If we shouldn't collect any further rent for the property, does this include not collecting for utilities?
4. If we proceed with the complaint process, will the courts recognize our claim to repossession of property and/or recoupment for damages, even though it is an illegal rental?
5. When all else fails, what options do we have to get this person off our property?
Any insight you can provide will be helpful and much appreciated. Thank you very much in advance!
