dead tenant in Florida

[Indira Molina]

I have a condo (townhouse) in Sunrise Florida, I live abroad and my sister manages it. We had a tenant for 2 ½ years, He was the only person on the lease, but in the application he put his son who lived there till last December. Unfortunately, the tenant had an unattended death in the property. The police found him death after almost a week. He had a dog (illegally as it was not allowed in the lease) and the dog made a big messed. the biohazard cleanup cost $2000. We paid for it as we wanted the condo to be empty as soon as possible, and we wanted it to be done to soon to avoid smells, etc. The deposit and last month of rent is only $2700. The tenant died at the beginning of July and did not pay the July’s rent. His son said he would take the stuff out but he has not given us back the property yet (July 29th), and as He lives in Fort Myers which 3 hours away (he is 21 years old and in college), he is saying is very hard to remove everything fast, etc. Now, he wants to move all out in the third week of August. We said “no” unless you pay rent. However, I am afraid they are going to keep fooling us, how do I get them out?. Can I start an eviction process against him, even though he is not on the lease but only in the application?. I am losing money, also I don’t know the condition of the place what other damages may be there, and I have a person that wants to buy the property as the market is very hot at the moment. Please I need suggestions on what to do, thanks

[Chad Nagel]

Hes not on lease. So you have a squatter. Call the cops and have them removed for trespassing