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Updated over 5 years ago,
Florida law - window screens
Hi, I have one property in Florida managed currently by a management company. Our tenants' dog damaged the window screens. The company is saying that we can't take the screen repair out of the deposit since we didn't do annual maintenance. They are citing the following section:
83.51 Landlord’s obligation to maintain premises.—
(1) The landlord at all times during the tenancy shall:
(a) Comply with the requirements of applicable building, housing, and health codes; or
(b) Where there are no applicable building, housing, or health codes, maintain the roofs, windows, doors, floors, steps, porches, exterior walls, foundations, and all other structural components in good repair and capable of resisting normal forces and loads and the plumbing in reasonable working condition. The landlord, at commencement of the tenancy, must ensure that screens are installed in a reasonable condition. Thereafter, the landlord must repair damage to screens once annually, when necessary, until termination of the rental agreement.
Commentary I have read on this interprets it that repair doesn't need to be done more frequently than once a year if a tenant is repeatedly requesting screen repair. My reading of this is that repairs only need to be done if necessary - NOT that we must go out annually and inspect.
How do you do this in Florida? We've already given their deposit back, but I am curious for future reference.
Thanks!
Debby