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Is your landlord ignoring your requests for repairs to be made? Why Your Landlord May Be Ignoring Your Requests First, in most instances, the law requires that a tenant give the landlord a seven-day notice to cure and require the tenant to withhold rent for the landlord's failure.  Then, the tena...

COVID 19 Tenant Rights for Month to Month Tenants If you have read my article:  Corona Virus 19, Florida Evictions, and Tenant's Rights, by now, you know that depending on a tenant's circumstances, in Florida, a landlord may be prohibited from filing an eviction against the tenant for nonpayment ...

COVID 19 Tenant Rights If you have read my article:  Corona Virus 19, Florida Evictions, and Tenant's Rights, by now, you know that depending on a tenant's circumstances, in Florida, a landlord may have been prohibited from filing an eviction against a tenant up until at least May 17, 2020.  Howe...

Testifying can be scary.  Why? Because most people don't know what it is—or how to deal with the opposing party's lawyer.  Therefore, in this article, I will address the following:  What is Testifying?  What is Remote Testifying?  How do you Prepare for your Remote Tes...

COVID 19 Tenant Rights If you have read my article:  Corona Virus 19, Florida Evictions, and Tenant's Rights, by now, you know that depending on a tenant's circumstances, on rental homes that have a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac backed loan, a landlord may have been prohibited from filing an evictio...

Has your landlord locked you out? In my experience, the best thing a tenant can do is to do the following—in the following order: 1. Make a police report. 2. Confirm the lockout with video and/or witnesses. 3. Send the landlord texts or emails requesting that the locks be changed back. 4. Send yo...

COVID 19 Tenant Rights If you have read my article:  Corona Virus 19, Florida Evictions, and Tenant's Rights, by now, you know that depending on a tenant's circumstances, in Florida, a landlord may have been prohibited from filing an eviction against a tenant up until at least May 17, 2020.  Howe...

Tenants can be great people.  For example, some tenants allow people to move in with them (“House Mates.”)  However, before doing so, tenants should consider whether they can, truly, afford to.  This is especially true when it's time to ask the Houses Mates to move out.  If the House Mates do not...

COVID 19 Tenant Rights If you have read my article:  Corona Virus 19, Florida Evictions, and Tenant's Rights, by now, you know that depending on a tenant's circumstances, in Florida, a landlord may be prohibited from filing an eviction against the tenant up until at least May 17, 2020.  However, ...

COVID 19 Tenant Rights If you have read my article: Corona Virus 19, Florida Evictions, and Tenant's Rights, by now, you know that depending on a tenant's circumstances, in Florida, a landlord may be prohibited from filing an eviction against the tenant up until at least May 17, 2020. However, if...

When a tenant rents a property, the tenant obtains a right to peacefully hold possession of the rental premises.   In the law, we call this right “quiet enjoyment.”  However, there are exceptions.  One such exception is in Florida Statutes § 83.53. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.53(1), a landlord has a ri...

If you haven't already done so, please read “So. . . .Your Landlord Wants to Show Your Rental Property?  What are YOUR RIGHTS? [HYPERLINK]” to fully understand what a tenant's rights are when a landlord, in general, wants to show a rental property to a new tenant or to a purchaser of the rental p...

When a landlord fails to make repairs to a rental home, it, understandably, causes the tenant concerns.  Who has the obligation to make repairs?  What should a tenant do if a landlord fails to make repairs?  What options are available to a tenant under such circumstances? Must a Landlord Make Rep...

With so many businesses closing their doors, unfortunately, many tenants are finding themselves either underemployed or even completely unemployed.  The obvious result is that many tenants are struggling to pay their obligations, including their rental payments. However, the good news is that ten...

Renters across California came home to an early Christmas present from their landlords this season: a 60-day notice to vacate. Reports of sudden eviction drives are emerging throughout the state, spurred on by AB 1482's effective date of January 1, 2020. The new law caps annual rent increases in ...

The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, enacted on Dec. 20, 2019, included several tax changes with retroactive impact, requiring taxpayers and their advisors to consider filing amended 2018 tax returns. These include 28 regularly expiring tax breaks that had expired at the end of 2017 and h...

How difficult is it to prove landlord retaliation?  It's not easy as one may think. Get witnesses. If the only person who witnesses the retaliation is you and the landlord, it will become a credibility battle in court.  Therefore, try to get witnesses to the retaliation.  For example, if a landlo...

Most often in my practice, landlords retaliate for the following reasons: The tenant demanded repairs that the landlord was obligated to perform. The tenant reported landlord to a governmental agency for some reason. The tenant failed to pay rent on time. How do these landlords actually r...

Has your landlord sent you a notice of claim on your security deposit? If so, you may have a limited time to send a response.  However, in my experience, a short and sweet response is always best. This is especially true if you haven't been working directly with an attorney from the beginning of ...

A 2014 poll from the insurance information institute found that 37% of renters don't get a renter insurance policy. It was astonishing to find out the reasons tenants gave for not purchasing it; they were mostly all myths and misconceptions. You've got belongings, and most of them are likely wort...

Almost every state discourages  landlords from retaliating against tenants for exerting their legal rights. For example, in Florida, a landlord can be severely punished for evicting, harassing, changing locks, turning off utilities, removing walls or doors, or raising the rent of a tenant in dire...

If your application to rent an apartment is rejected, you have a right to know why. It is illegal for a landlord to refuse your rental application for discriminatory reasons. This article focuses on the general rights of tenants, as governed by state and federal law. Federal Anti-Discrimination...

In most states and jurisdictions, landlord responsibilities cover, at least to some degree, protection of their tenants. This protection responsibility may impose a legal duty on the landlord to take steps to protect their tenants from thieves, assailants, and criminal acts from other tenants. ...

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions regarding landlord responsibilities when it comes to protecting their tenants from criminals and other tenants. • What responsibilities does a landlord have for the tenants' safety and security? • Are there ways that a landlord can limit thei...

Disputes over security deposits are the most common disagreements between tenants and landlords. Due to this, states have laws and regulations concerning what landlords can use the security deposit for, and the timeline for when a landlord has to return the security deposit. As in any legal dis...