My roommate and I moved into a house Jan 1, 2009. The lease was signed for one year. After the first couple of months we started getting notices on the door for the owner to call the bank. Then we got the "pink notice". I knew exactly what it was, because I have been through this before with a previous rental. We took it to the property management company and she said they would take care of it. We went back and checked and the agent said, the owners took care of it, it was just an error. So, on June 28, we get a knock on the door and someone literally throws a court summons on us. The house is going into foreclosure. We contact the property management company and talk to them and they said don't worry we'll get this taken care of. We checked back the next week and once again they said everything is fine. The owners are taking care of it. Another week goes by and we haven't heard anymore so we go back again. The agent we rented from wasn't there, but another was and we told him we are still getting notices to call the bank left on our door. We asked him about moving because we don't won't to have to just up and move without having sufficient time to find somewhere. He told us that was no problem whatsoever. He totally understands and would probably want to do the sdame in our shoes. He also said that they would look in their properties and see if their was something that we could just move into that way we don't have to worry about the security deposit, it would just transfer. I then asked what if we find somewhere else that is not through you, how would we get the security deposit back because we know it takes up to 30 days. He said they would go the day we moved out and check the property, then get us the deposit immediately.
So, we go and do some research, a few weeks go by and they never get back to us about any properties they may have. We found a house and went in to talk to them. They are now saying that the owners have not contacted them since the summons was received by us. (They had already said several times they had talked to the owners and everything was being taken care of) As of Aug 15 when I checked the civil court records the owners were still unserved. We told the agents that we had found another house and wanted to go ahead and give a 30 notice. The agent said well we totally understand, but the owner has to sign off on the lease before we can let you out. I told them what we were previously told by another of their agents and they just told us that he was mistaken in what he told us.
My question is this, is the lease still binding when the owner knew in advance he had not been paying the mortgage since August? In the summons was a letter dated Dec 16 that he had 14 days to pay the balance of all of the late payments or it would be going into forclosure.
The Florida Landlord Tenant Act states this:
83.45 Unconscionable rental agreement or provision.--
(1) If the court as a matter of law finds a rental agreement or any provision of a rental agreement to have been unconscionable at the time it was made, the court may refuse to enforce the rental agreement, enforce the remainder of the rental agreement without the unconscionable provision, or so limit the application of any unconscionable provision as to avoid any unconscionable result.
(2) When it is claimed or appears to the court that the rental agreement or any provision thereof may be unconscionable, the parties shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present evidence as to meaning, relationship of the parties, purpose, and effect to aid the court in making the determination.
Would this be considered unconscionable considering our lease started January 1?
Also, with what the other agent (from the same office) told us, do we have any rights because of that?
We are just tired of all of the stress not knowing when we'll have to move, the notes on the door, the attorney letters in the main, it just never ends and is way too stressful to live there. Thanks for any advise!!!
Julie
So, we go and do some research, a few weeks go by and they never get back to us about any properties they may have. We found a house and went in to talk to them. They are now saying that the owners have not contacted them since the summons was received by us. (They had already said several times they had talked to the owners and everything was being taken care of) As of Aug 15 when I checked the civil court records the owners were still unserved. We told the agents that we had found another house and wanted to go ahead and give a 30 notice. The agent said well we totally understand, but the owner has to sign off on the lease before we can let you out. I told them what we were previously told by another of their agents and they just told us that he was mistaken in what he told us.
My question is this, is the lease still binding when the owner knew in advance he had not been paying the mortgage since August? In the summons was a letter dated Dec 16 that he had 14 days to pay the balance of all of the late payments or it would be going into forclosure.
The Florida Landlord Tenant Act states this:
83.45 Unconscionable rental agreement or provision.--
(1) If the court as a matter of law finds a rental agreement or any provision of a rental agreement to have been unconscionable at the time it was made, the court may refuse to enforce the rental agreement, enforce the remainder of the rental agreement without the unconscionable provision, or so limit the application of any unconscionable provision as to avoid any unconscionable result.
(2) When it is claimed or appears to the court that the rental agreement or any provision thereof may be unconscionable, the parties shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present evidence as to meaning, relationship of the parties, purpose, and effect to aid the court in making the determination.
Would this be considered unconscionable considering our lease started January 1?
Also, with what the other agent (from the same office) told us, do we have any rights because of that?
We are just tired of all of the stress not knowing when we'll have to move, the notes on the door, the attorney letters in the main, it just never ends and is way too stressful to live there. Thanks for any advise!!!
Julie
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