experienced, but I've never experienced this!

[Nicholas Oh]

Ok, so I'm an owner/operator landlord in the capital of Florida.    College town FSU land... so, I took a deposit on 2/13 from an out of state tenant, 2 young girls, checked out ok, they had a local friend look at the place, all good.    Old tenant moves out 2/29 at 5pm.     At 7pm on 2/29 I met them at the townhome (3br/2.5ba about $1500 a month), where we went over the townhome in detail, it needed some cleaning but the floors and the walls were good.    I needed to caulk, trim paint and the biggest thing was pressure washing the rear deck because the previous tenant had potted plants on it for 4 years... a bit of a pain because it's a very humid environment down here so wood rot is prevalent.     We signed the lease, everyone was happy, I knocked $100 off the initial deposit so they could clean.    I didn't note it on the lease because the girl who moved in was a manager at a cleaning company, and again, the place wasn't that bad.     Oh, and I needed to bring a couple air filters because the townhome has 2 HVAC units for upstairs and downstairs and the upstairs one in the ceiling looked like it hadn't been changed in years.   

So, on 3/1, on the way to the townhome to pressure wash the rear deck, I stopped and picked up 2 Filtrete 20x20x1's... and then around 3pm-ish, I texted them that the rear deck and brick were fully pressure washed and I wanted to let everything dry, including the caulk so I could come by in the morning and hit the trim.     So, later that day on 3/1 one of the tenants, texted me and said she needed the filter NOW.    I told her, it's 6pm, and if she ran the upstairs unit for a few hours while cleaning it'll be no big deal.    The place was pretty dust free, just cabinets and bathrooms needed that 'special touch' so to speak, so I told her she'd be fine for the night.   She starts making a big stink about it.   I just kind of ignored it but then a bunch of text messages started on how the place was dirty.     The trim needed paint and they couldn't understand that when it gets like that, cleaning doesn't really do the job, you have to paint.    I don't mind painting, I'm 48 and in good shape, and have been painting for quite a while so whatever right...

They go on and on.... demanding me to send a cleaner over there ASAP.
Started demanding that I repair things... honestly, there was one kitchen cabinet door that needed a hinge, maybe another but honestly, this is one of my better and bigger places so I knew it was BS.     I let them go for a couple hours and stew, then one threatens to call Code Enforcement... oh boy, another code enforcement game.    Tenants should learn the definition of habitable and inhabitable before they go down that road, but if you've taken the time to read this far, you know precisely what I am talking about.

Now, I must tell you that sometime in the middle of these texts, I told the one girl in a group text with the other, as they were both bombarding me with pictures of some lint on the floor, a cobweb here or there, etc... that I FELT VERY UNCOMFORTABLE WHEN WE SIGNED THE LEASE ON 2/29 AND THAT SHE SHOULD KEEP HER FREAKING HANDS OFF ME IN THE FUTURE.    Yeah... the girl was a little too touchy feely, and the roommate saw it... and when I put it in the text, nobody denied that I was lying or exaggerating because they knew I was right.     I don't touch tenants and I don't like to be touched by anyone... but young women, or women in general think they have the right to do what they want.    No biggie, I'm a big boy, but I don't think it went over well with the tenant.      She said she didn't like the way I was talking to her, especially when I took the deposit from the one out of state and then within 30 minutes after taking the deposit the touchy feely one texts me out of nowhere and says how thankful she is that she has a place for her service dog.   oh boy.    I don't think it's a service dog as much as an emotional support dog.     And even if it was a service dog, I didn't deny it entry so whatever.    I don't have children and am a huge dog - guy and pretty much allow all my tenants to have dogs... even PITBULLS which are so prevalent down here, I have extra umbrella insurance to cover this precise breed.

So, it's 3/8 and I haven't heard from them... the non-touchy feely one texted me Saturday and said she's been busy and doesn't take well to threats or demands, which is the line I used on them when they started barking orders at me.    I didn't reply until today but still no response.

I have it in my lease, that if your utilities are OFF for a period of 5 DAYS or more, that you forfeit your deposit and vacate the premises.    It is ESPECIALLY important in this townhome that's built on a crawlspace because it has a $15K encapsulation system underneath the building that protects the crawlspace and most importantly pumps water out because it's in a weird almost flood zone type of area... only gets bad when it rains heavy, and boy does it rain heavy here.    North Florida, hurricane / tropical storm area....


So, with the damage being done by the POWER not being on, the floor can and will separate from moisture... I turned the utilities on in my name on Friday, 3/6, because I'm not letting my place get ruined over some primadonna BS.     Still haven't heard from tenant.    Now, in Florida, if tenant doesn't pay rent, you must give a 3-day notice for non payment of rent.... but if it's for another issue in the lease that they are violating, you have to give a 7-DAY Notice... 

Would love some feedback and this one is tricky with the 7-day because most of the time if I put a 7-day which is rare... it's for them having a dog, parking over the water meter, loud music, too many people in the place, etc.    Nothing that has a time limit on it like the 5-DAY stipulation in my lease that says if your Utilities are OFF for a period of 5 days or more, you agree to forfeit deposit and vacate.    Can I put the 7-day during that 5-day period ?    Or do I have to wait for more  damage to occur after the 5-day then wait another 7-days to evict?          


Hope this makes sense... it's never happened to me.