Tenants Using COVID Rent Moratorium as Retaliation

[Brad Rabinowitz]

Hi All. Long story short. I decided at the beginning of March to list my tenant occupied rental property for sale (great timing huh). My tenants at the time were very understanding and were willing to accommodate showing requests etc. That lasted about a day, after the first showings on day one of the MLS listing going live. They then made there stance very obstructive and I realized they were going to make this difficult. The lease is written in a way that 100% allows for me to market and show the property without issue.

Along came COVID-19, and I halted all showings anyhow, as requests slowed down, so they got their way. April 1st rolls around, and no rent. I served them a 3 day notice on the 2nd, which will expire on Tuesday the 7th, albeit late fees should be assessed according to the lease terms. 

Here we are at the 5th, no rent, no communication on any hardship due to COVID-19. Lease states late fees are incurred if rent is not received on or before the 5th. 

With Florida under a statewide rent moratorium, halting even the filing of eviction for nonpayment and restricting assessing late fees, I'm confident they're using this to simply be difficult and retaliate for the listing of MY property for sale. With only April and May left on their lease, and me being in possession of 2 security deposits totaling 2 months rent, I'm fairly protected, other than having zero cushion for damages to the property if I were forced to use the security deposit for the back rent. These tenants are still employed to the best of my knowledge, aren't impacted medically due to COVID-19 and combine for $250K a year in income. 

I find it completely unethical, spiteful, and flat out disgusting to use this crisis and rent freeze to their advantage when it's intended for those who have lost their source of income and/or are dealing with life and death with themselves or their loved ones.

How would you navigate this during the moratorium other than retaining a lawyer?

[Nathan Gesner]

You're stuck. All you can do (legally) is to wait this out.

It's often difficult to sell a home with tenants living in it. That's not unique to you and your choice is to fight through it or wait until they're gone. I personally recommend you wait since there aren't many people looking at homes right now, anyway.

The tenants didn't pay rent because they know you can't evict and you have two months of rent as the deposit. What they're doing is against the lease and possibly illegal but there's nothing you can do about it.

Stop stressing over it. You can't force them to comply so worrying about it is only increasing your problems. Personally, I would write them a nice letter that says:

1. You are removing the property from the sales market until COVID-19 is cleared up and the tenants are out;

2. You still expect them to pay rent for as long as they occupy;

3. Although you can't charge late fees, give notice, or evict during the moratorium, you do fully expect them to comply with the terms of the agreement and will take legal action once the moratorium is lifted.

That's what I would do. One quick, professional, factual letter to let them know what is happening and what will happen. Then leave the ball in their court. As soon as the moratorium is lifted, I would smack them with the late fees and a legal eviction notice.