My tenant refuses to leave the property at the end of the lease – what are my rights as a landlord?
t is not typical for many renters to stay past the date outlined in their rental agreement without an additional agreement, either verbal or written, with their landlord. Nonetheless, a holdover tenant (a tenant who stays on the property after his or her lease has expired, without the landlord’s explicit permission) situation can sometimes occur leaving the landlord in difficult predicament.
Double Rent
The good news about having a holdover tenant is that by law in Florida a landlord is entitled to charge double the stated rent amount. Florida Statute 83.06 explicitly says that when “any tenant refuses to give up possession of the premises at the end of the tenant’s lease, the landlord . . . may demand of such tenant double the monthly rent, and may recover the same at the expiration of every month . . .” Although the landlord is entitled to charge double the amount of rent in the event of a holdover tenant situation, this still does not help the landlord in the recovery of the property or in the success of collecting the double rent.
This is just one aspect of having a holdover tenant and there are other matters to consider. At J. Perez Legal P.A., our real estate attorneys have over twenty years serving landlords in Cooper City and all-over South Florida dealing with these types of matters. Our experienced real estate attorneys fight hard to protect the rights of landlords. Please call (954) 450-2585 to schedule a consultation today.
J. Perez Legal P.A. handles a variety of cases, so call now if you have any questions related to real estate including mortgage, foreclosure, modification, etc.