Florida Law: non-specific advanced notice of entering

[Alexander V.]

I just had an interesting exchange...

I'm both a landlord and a tenant in Florida. While I always give specific advanced notice of entering to my tenants (e.g. I tell them exactly what day and time I will be there), my landlord just attempted something that seems unusual to me. He just emailed me that he will enter my apartment "sometime within 1 to 4 WEEKS" and said that this email constitutes advanced notice under Florida's required notice law. The law in Florida is that "tenants must be given at least 12-hours advance notice before landlord may enter." It doesn't actually say that the entry time needs to be specified.

Obviously, a standing notice like this is completely useless. I have no idea what time, what day, or even what week he may choose to barge in. But is such a uselessly broad standing notice legally compliant? Can you really get around the law so easily by saying "I will enter your apartment sometime within 6 months" and then just enter whenever you want since this "notice" was technically more than 12-hours in advance? I wouldn't do this to my tenants anyway even if I could, but it doesn't seem legal to me since the notice conveys essentially no meaningful information. It is not a notice of any specific entry, it's a blanket statement that does not prepare the tenant at all.

It isn't a big deal, but to understand this facet of the law better, does anyone know if this is legal in Florida (or other states that have advanced notice laws, for that matter)?

[Matt Devincenzo]

I'll agree with the general sentiment that this notice is not 'reasonable', and generally the provision for notice centers around the idea of repairs and maintenance. Obviously he can inspect etc, but again reasonable...inspecting every day would be seen as harassments I'm sure. I would not whip the statute out, but would reach out and have a plain conversation about what it is he needs and why etc. Maybe the explanation helps understand the reasoning for a 3 week window...like an appraisal window he's received or a contractor's schedule that is also variable (just random ideas). 

If he has a decent explanation then you can easily say, "Great I completely understand and will do my best to make this work for you! Since it is such a large window I really can't plan for that length of time, so could you please let me know the day before...or even the day of 6-8 hours before hand...when specifically they would be by? Now that I know it's within the next three weeks I can just make sure I'm prepared for the last minute notice and it won't be an issue. But I really can't reasonably be expected to be prepared all day everyday for 21 straight days!

If that conversation doesn't go well, then you can go to the statute and argue your point...but hopefully a conversation resolves this.