Termination of Month-to-Month Tenancy

[Mark Dowsett]

Hello everyone,

I have a fun situation down here in Florida that I was trying to work through. Basically I have a bully of a tenant and back in March I filed a termination letter of their month-to-month tenancy to get rid of the headache. They received the letter and basically told me that they would begin looking for a home, but would not be able to move-out in the given time frame. After talking with them about this we decided to not pursue eviction and rather just continue on collecting rent. So here we are in August and the homeowner has sold the home and is set to close on Sept 1. He asked me to file a notice to terminate the tenancy so that they would be out of the home and boy were the tenants upset. 

They claim that I have no legal ground to stand on as I already terminated their tenancy and have been collecting rent. (I was under the impression that this notice would start the process if we decided to pursue eviction, but if we did not do so that all would be as it was before). They have indicated that as a result of the previous termination letter that we have no contract and that they will not be doing business with us anymore. They have demanded that we are not to contact them in any way by mail, electronic, or otherwise and if I contact them or come to the property they will have me arrested for trespassing and harassment. They claim that they are "afraid of me and what I am capable of doing". (this made me laugh a bit since I get anxiety just thinking about talking with them).

Apparently if the property is not sold then they will be taking legal action against our business and the homeowner. They will also be forwarding a letter to the owner when the property is vacant with their forwarding address for the security deposit. 

So here I am a bit taken aback. Does anyone have any advise? Did I mess everything up by filing the notice back in March? Should I still send another notice of termination as I only spoke to them over the phone informing them before I posted the notice officially. I'm not looking to be arrested or be sued. Do I have a leg to stand on? Any help is appreciated as always.

sincerely,

Mark