Florida Tenant not giving required notice - what next?

[Traci Lovelace]

Hi All,

This is our only rental property.  We have a tenant whose lease ends August 31st.  It is an annual lease and requires 60 days notice by the tenant if they aren't going to renew.  I reached out to them on July 3 (inside the 60 days) and asked if they wanted to renew the lease at the same terms.  They indicated yes.  Today I was contacted by someone looking for a reference for them as tenants.  We are 34 days from renewal.  I reached out to the tenant and asked what was going on and have not had a response.

The lease we used is Florida specific and actually contains sections of the state's landlord tenant act in it.  There is also a liquidated damages section that states the tenant can be liable for a maximum of 2 months rent if they breach the lease.  However, the state requires that I give notice : The statute requires the landlord provide notice to the tenant of the liquidated damages penalty, within 15 days before the notice period begins. And the landlord must list all fees, penalties and applicable charges in the notice, otherwise the landlord’s claim for liquidated
damages may be invalidated by the courts.

So it would appear that I did not hit that target.  Do I have any recourse at all?