Tenant Filing Lawsuit Against Me?

Question

I manage a property where the tenant has paid rent on time for the first few months but the last 3 months the tenant has paid late by almost 20-30 days. I usually reach out to him once to twice a week asking when rent will be paid as well as charging late fees twice a month like stated in the lease and sending out 3 day notices. Rent is due on the 1st and this morning I asked when he will be paying since I know he'll be late, I followed up by saying after this 3 day notice we will file for eviction. His response was "I am going to go downtown and file a harassment suit, I have always paid the rent, it has never been a month behind, renters have rights and this is a form of harassment. In the state of Florida you have up to 90 days of being behind to be evicted and there’s nothing in the lease stating anything about eviction if rent is not paid by a certain time period". He also sent another email stating "Evictions are normally for people who do not pay and I have always paid. I am going to go by everything that is agreed-upon in the lease, other than that I will just go file a claim in civil court. Once I pay rent this month I want an energy audit, or I will have code enforcement involved. I had our energy bill looked at by 2 people and they both said my bill is way to high and i need to get an audit done".

My question is can he actually file a lawsuit against me or is in the right to do so for "harassment" in this case and would anything happen to me? And regarding the energy audit and code enforcement is that my responsibility or just something I should ignore since utilities is his responsibility?

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

@Chris Geer given our legal system anyone can be sued at anytime by anyone. But it still costs money, until you get an actual filing from a court it is mostly hot air as is a letter from a lawyer. If you were in NY or CA this could easily become troublesome. I believe FL to still be fairly sane; I would tell the tenant he is free to leave without penalty if he leaves in 30 days.

Leo R. · Answer

@Chris Geer it's very common for deadbeat tenants to threaten lawsuits against landlords. It's also very UN-common for them to actually file those lawsuits--primarily because it's difficult and expensive to do this, and most of the time, the money and time they'd spend filing a lawsuit is more than the lawsuit would be worth if they won (and they often have no chance of winning).

Having said that, its also common for NON-deadbeat tenants to threaten lawsuits against deadbeat landlords--in which case, the tenant may actually follow through and file and win a lawsuit (depending on how bad the landlord was about violating relevant laws/regulations).

Assuming that your communications with the tenant about late rent have always been professional, and follow any relevant local/state laws and regulations about landlord behavior, then it's very doubtful that repeatedly asking a tenant to pay their late rent could be considered "harassment" (I'm not a lawyer, though--so you'll want to do your own research and not take my word as the absolute truth). Assuming you're running a professional operation within the bounds of the law, then asking tenants to pay their rent is completely legitimate.

The first time a tenant threatens to sue, it can be alarming...but believe me--at a certain point, you've heard these baseless threats so many times, and you're so knowledgeable about the relevant laws and your own rights as a landlord, that you become emotionally numb to most lawsuit threats (again, assuming that you're operating a professional business that's within the bounds of the law).

I don't know about the energy audit, but it sounds like just some more blustering the tenant is doing to try to intimidate  you....if the tenant is responsible for the utilities, and they think their utility bill is too "high", the obvious response is: "you have total control over the amount of utilities you consume. If you think your bill is too high, then turn down your AC, stop consuming so much, etc."

Assuming that you're running a professional operation within the bounds of the law, this tenant sounds like more headache than they're worth, and I'd suggest looking into the legal ways of having them leave ASAP so that you can get a better tenant.  ...it may be worthwhile to just text the tenant and say  "Look, you're clearly unhappy with the property. Let's settle the out-standing debts, and then I will cancel your lease with no penalty, and you can leave and find another place that better suits your needs"  ...obviously, keep the deposit until they have vacated on the agreed-upon date, and you've verified that they didn't damage the property...

Good luck out there!

Sergey A. Petrov · Answer

Anybody can sue anybody. Your mistake is reaching out and asking when rent will be paid. Follow the lease terms, observe local regulations and you’ll be ok. Check for eviction moratoriums and/or other related local laws to make sure you are on solid ground.

As for the energy audit, your tenant accepted the property in its then current condition. 99% of the time an energy audit will find ways a property can be improved even if it was just built a month ago to the highest of standards. Does an owner have to improve? No. Did you promise your tenant when they were moving in that the property will be improved after they accepted it as is?

Jill F. · Answer

Hi Chris, You should spend the time learn the rules in Florida. The rules all vary from state to state.

Since you are in the rental business, the single most important thing you have to do today is to learn the rules so that you KNOW when a tenant makes untrue claims regarding the rules.

This tenant's claims sounded pretty unlikely to me bases on what I know about FLorida, I"ve included a link below with a summary of the rules but you should also look up and carefully read the applicable statutes. Based on the summary below, as I suspected, this tenant is full of **it.

Further, I have found that most of the time if  I am well into a lease, in OHio, it is easier and more cost effective to wait and just non-renew a tenant rather than pursue an eviction for a habitually late paying tenant.

https://ipropertymanagement.co...

Julie Hartman · Answer

I woudn't do anything until you have an actual notice of a lawsuit in your hands. He's a bum and those are the types that like to make empty threats when they know they are in a postion of weakness. He knows he doesn't pay on time. I am sure your lease doesn't allow for a 20-30 day grace period. IF he actually does something, you can talk with an attorney to find out next steps. In the meantime, I would gather up all of your evidence/paperwork/texts/payment ledger, etc. in support of your position. Going forward, I would not hand-hold a tenant into paying rent by constantly sending reminders. These are adults and know when rent is due. Have a process and follow through with it.

Chris Seveney · Answer

Get an attorney involved and have the tenant send everything through your attorney. Reason #345,765,345 why I do not self manage.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

If I had a dollar for every time a tenant threatened to sue, I wouldn't need to invest in real estate.

I recommend you contact an attorney and work towards removing this tenant. They are in violation of the lease and still feel the need to intimidate you with threats. That's a sign that things will only get worse in the future and you should get them out now. Since you don't know the law, I would hire an attorney that is experienced and can do this right the first time.

Kim Meredith Hampton · Answer

@Chris Geer It may be a problem with a judge, if it comes to that, you have allowed this tenant to create a pattern if you accepting late rent, and now all of a sudden are saying Im going to evict. Yes, in Florida you can evict after your three day expires and be also has an opportunity to respond to the court about why, and/or put the rent money with the registry of the court. Normally professional tenants know the system, most have no idea

If he wants an audit, he can simply call the electric company, they will do the inspection for free, but once you get that report, time sensitive to get those recommended items completed, or I’m sure he will call code enforcement.

Try and have a sit down with him to figure out why he is so late and how you can work together on getting him back on track

Brett Miller · Answer

Are you on a month to month basis or a yearly rental? I usually (Michigan) always write my contracts to be month to month because eviction is generally quicker I find with month to month. Most will give you a heads up when they are about to leave anyway. Also raising rent is easier as well because your not “locked” into a Set amount  for a year at a time. Idk I’m sure some people won’t agree but month to month has always worked much better for me. Something to look into maybe for future endeavors.

Scott Mac · Answer

Hi Chris,

Contact a (LOCAL) eviction attorney and see what your options are.

You might get an idea of court leanings, and also what options are available to you.

Good Luck!

Tenant Filing Lawsuit Against Me?

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