We have tenants that signed a renewal notice back in October agreeing to a rent increase and continue their tenancy. Current rental agreement was set to terminate on November 30. New rental agreement was prepared and given to tenants for review and execution. Tenants did not return signed rental agreement. The 1st of December comes and goes. On December 3 at 10 am, I sent a reminder text that it was the last day to pay without a late fee. This when the stories begin... husband texts back wife and the kids got COVID and she was unable to work for 1 1/2 weeks. Promised to pay on the 7th including the late charges that are growing day by day ($75 on the 4th and $25/day until all paid in full). Crickets all day on the 7th. Had to send reminder text. Received text he hadn't been paid yet and would let me know when he has the money. On the 10th I call both of them. No answer. What a surprise! Then I receive a page-long text about not being able to go back to work and claiming she was hospitalized with pneumonia. Husband never mentioned hospitalization. Funny how you can't take my call but have time to type a long-winded text. I avoid texting back and forth and prefer a phone call or in person. Long story short, they promised to pay yesterday (14th) and did not. I had to reach out again and I was told over the phone among other things they can not afford to live there anymore, want to use their deposit to pay the rent and plan on leaving in February. I informed them they cannot use their deposit to pay rent as stated in the RA. Unfortunately giving people the benefit of the doubt is not always best. Lesson learned. My concern is that they do not pay thinking they have a 2-month deposit and I get stuck with costs for repairs/damage, etc. and they could possibly stay beyond that without paying. My question is since they did not return the signed new rental agreement, they are actually holdover tenants, correct since they did not return the new signed RA? I have a holdover clause in my RA for double rent. At what stage can I demand payment of the double rent? Can I include it in the 3-day notice or perhaps when the eviction is filed, or both? Seems like the rental amount demanded would need to be the consistent. Hoping to convince them to leave knowing they could be held liable for double rent. I plan on giving them a 3-day notice tomorrow. If they had returned the new RA, the 2-month early termination clause would kick in. I'm sure that's why they did not return the new executed RA. But we all know that no matter how strong of a RA you have, tenants will ALWAYS leave whenever convenient for them. It's clear now that they only signed the renewal to buy them some time to find a place and withhold rent so they could put money down. They are under the impression they owe the new rental rate. It appears the 3-day notice would demand payment of the previous rent not the increased rent. Would really like to find a better solution and avoid the hassle but all signs are pointing to serving a 3-day notice. I know it is the foundation of the eviction process here in Florida. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Miami, Florida

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