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Unbelievable Florida security deposit claim lawsuit!!!
Attention all Florida investors/landlords regarding making a claim on tenant's security deposit!!
I obtained an eviction judgment against a former tenant who failed to pay rent in St. Petersburg, Florida (Pinellas County). After obtaining the judgment, but without my knowledge, tenant's attorney filed a "notice of last known address change re: security deposit" in the eviction case, listing an address belonging to an LLC located in another Florida county. Since I never received a copy of this notice, I was unaware of the address change or that the tenant assigned her security deposit claim rights to the LLC.
Within 30 days of tenant moving out of the property, I sent her a notice of intention to impose a claim on security deposit, via certified mail, to the tenant's last known address since I was unaware of the address change notice. The notice of intention to impose a claim on security deposit was returned to me as undeliverable by the USPS.
Now the LLC has filed a lawsuit against me for not returning the security deposit and/or for not sending the notice, via certified mail, to the LLC's address. Unfortunately it will be my word against the attorney regarding whether I ever received the notice and therefore knew about the address change. As a result, I will end having to pay the full amount of the security deposit and attorney's fees and costs to the attorney, even though I believe I fully complied with Florida law regarding this matter. To make matters worse, I discovered that this same law firm filed over 80 of these type of lawsuits against landlords just in 1 Florida county courthouse. Unbelievable!!!!
I welcome any feedback from other landlords regarding this type of case. Marc Brandon
I wouldn't pay a dime. Let them get a judgement and try collecting on it..ambulance chasing lawyers...forget it.
Quote from @Marc Brandon:
How much was the deposit? Most attorneys won't show up in court for small amounts. I have attempted to sue for $25,000 with attorneys telling me it's an open-and-shut case, but they still won't represent me because it's not worth their time. If the attorney went through with this, they would spend at least $2,000 to come after you, probably leaving nothing for their client. It's just not worth it.
I suspect they are running a little operation to squeeze money out of scared landlords. The claim you were notified of the change of address, then sue you when they don't receive a refund disposition. You get scared, contact the attorney, he agrees to settle for a lesser amount, and he pockets some money.
I've seen the same thing with copyright infringement cases. Photographers put pictures on websites and say they're available for free download. When you use them on your blog or something, they will track it down and then have their attorney send a letter demanding you pay them $20,000 for copyright infringement. You panic, negotiate a settlement for $5,000, and they do this over and over again. Their shake-down with a $10 photograph can earn them hundreds of thousands.
I'm not an attorney, but I can tell you that it happened to me and I ignored it. They sent a few letters and even called me twice, but I continued to ignore them. That was five years ago and they never sued. Your situation may be similar.
I'd spend $5K on my own attorney to defend me before I spent $2K to settle. The burden of proof is on them to demonstrate that you were wrong, and my guess is the amount they're suing for is small claims amount. I would not worry at all.
Nathan thanks for your response. The security deposit was $1,200, but here in Florida, attorney's fees and costs are recoverable to the prevailing party in cases concerning security deposits. (FL statute 83.49.) If the landlord is making a claim against the tenant's security deposit, he/she must send a written notice to the tenant's "last known address" within 30 days, via certified mail.
In this case, since the tenant did not pay her last month's and stopped communicating with me, I obtained an eviction judgment. The tenant did not challenge the eviction, but apparently hired an attorney who filed a few documents in the eviction case, but I never received any of these documents.
Later I learned that the attorney convinced the tenant to assign her rights to make a claim for the security deposit (presumably because she could not pay the attorney) to an LLC that the attorney created. As previously stated, I never received a copy of the notice regarding last known address change for security deposit. More than 1 year after obtaining the eviction judgment, the LLC sued me for not returning the security deposit and/or not sending the notice to impose a claim on security deposit to the LLC's address in another Florida county.
Though I sent the notice to the tenant's last known address, via certified mail, I cannot prove that the attorney never sent me the address change notice and therefore run the risk of losing the case at trial. If this happens, the attorney will probably seek thousands of dollars in attorney's fees and costs, far greater than the security deposit.
This is incredibly frustrating since this attorney filed many of these type of cases against landlords throughout Florida!!!
Nathan thanks for your response. The security deposit was $1,200, but here in Florida, attorney's fees and costs are recoverable to the prevailing party in cases concerning security deposits. (FL statute 83.49.) If the landlord is making a claim against the tenant's security deposit, he/she must send a written notice to the tenant's "last known address" within 30 days, via certified mail.
In this case, since the tenant did not pay her last month's and stopped communicating with me, I obtained an eviction judgment. The tenant did not challenge the eviction, but apparently hired an attorney who filed a few documents in the eviction case, but I never received any of these documents.
Later I learned that the attorney convinced the tenant to assign her rights to make a claim for the security deposit (presumably because she could not pay the attorney) to an LLC that the attorney created. As previously stated, I never received a copy of the notice regarding last known address change for security deposit. More than 1 year after obtaining the eviction judgment, the LLC sued me for not returning the security deposit and/or not sending the notice to impose a claim on security deposit to the LLC's address in another Florida county.
Though I sent the notice to the tenant's last known address, via certified mail, I cannot prove that the attorney never sent me the address change notice and therefore run the risk of losing the case at trial. If this happens, the attorney will probably seek thousands of dollars in attorney's fees and costs, far greater than the security deposit.
This is incredibly frustrating since this attorney filed many of these type of cases against landlords throughout Florida!!!
I wouldn't pay them anything and risk going to court. This sounds like a legal scam to scare you out of your money. Stand tough.
Quote from @Marc Brandon:
...he/she must send a written notice to the tenant's "last known address" within 30 days, via certified mail.
... I sent the notice to the tenant's last known address, via certified mail, I cannot prove that the attorney never sent me the address change notice and therefore run the risk of losing the case at trial.
I think this is a fatal flaw in your logic...the American legal system does not burden you to prove you never received notice, it burdens them with proving you did. You seem to have met the standard of the statute since ypu sent notice to the last known address. You didn't know about the new address, and they have to prove you did.
Have you gotten a consult with your own attorney to discuss the merits of the case? Like I said I'd spend more defending myself before I'd ever consider settling.
Quote from @Marc Brandon:
Nathan thanks for your response. The security deposit was $1,200, but here in Florida, attorney's fees and costs are recoverable to the prevailing party in cases concerning security deposits. (FL statute 83.49.) If the landlord is making a claim against the tenant's security deposit, he/she must send a written notice to the tenant's "last known address" within 30 days, via certified mail.
In this case, since the tenant did not pay her last month's and stopped communicating with me, I obtained an eviction judgment. The tenant did not challenge the eviction, but apparently hired an attorney who filed a few documents in the eviction case, but I never received any of these documents.
Later I learned that the attorney convinced the tenant to assign her rights to make a claim for the security deposit (presumably because she could not pay the attorney) to an LLC that the attorney created. As previously stated, I never received a copy of the notice regarding last known address change for security deposit. More than 1 year after obtaining the eviction judgment, the LLC sued me for not returning the security deposit and/or not sending the notice to impose a claim on security deposit to the LLC's address in another Florida county.
Though I sent the notice to the tenant's last known address, via certified mail, I cannot prove that the attorney never sent me the address change notice and therefore run the risk of losing the case at trial. If this happens, the attorney will probably seek thousands of dollars in attorney's fees and costs, far greater than the security deposit.
This is incredibly frustrating since this attorney filed many of these type of cases against landlords throughout Florida!!!
>I cannot prove that the attorney never sent me the address change notice and therefore run the risk of losing the case at trial. If this happens, the attorney will probably seek thousands of dollars in attorney's fees and costs, far greater than the security deposit.
You have the direction wrong. Can the lawyer prove he provided you the change of address? You should have proof you tried to return the deposit via certified mail.
In addition, this is unlikely to be worth the lawyers time to pursue in court. It is a shakedown. They want you to pay. Sending a letter is easy and if they sent 80 in one court, most will Pay. This is much easier money than trying to pursue you in court.
I hate someone trying to extort money like this. I would happily spend $2 to save $1 if it prevents the extorsion.
I have a lawyer neighbor. He threatened suit because he is a lawyer and feels he can bully people into doing what he wants. I called his bluff. I call him 2-bit and keep asking him when he is going to sue me. He now almost runs from me cursing at me.
Good luck
Quote from @Marc Brandon:
Nathan thanks for your response. The security deposit was $1,200, but here in Florida, attorney's fees and costs are recoverable to the prevailing party in cases concerning security deposits. (FL statute 83.49.) If the landlord is making a claim against the tenant's security deposit, he/she must send a written notice to the tenant's "last known address" within 30 days, via certified mail.
In this case, since the tenant did not pay her last month's and stopped communicating with me, I obtained an eviction judgment. The tenant did not challenge the eviction, but apparently hired an attorney who filed a few documents in the eviction case, but I never received any of these documents.
Later I learned that the attorney convinced the tenant to assign her rights to make a claim for the security deposit (presumably because she could not pay the attorney) to an LLC that the attorney created. As previously stated, I never received a copy of the notice regarding last known address change for security deposit. More than 1 year after obtaining the eviction judgment, the LLC sued me for not returning the security deposit and/or not sending the notice to impose a claim on security deposit to the LLC's address in another Florida county.
Though I sent the notice to the tenant's last known address, via certified mail, I cannot prove that the attorney never sent me the address change notice and therefore run the risk of losing the case at trial. If this happens, the attorney will probably seek thousands of dollars in attorney's fees and costs, far greater than the security deposit.
This is incredibly frustrating since this attorney filed many of these type of cases against landlords throughout Florida!!!
Hmmmm......you should be able to prove that you sent the notice to the tenant through certified mail. If it came back to you as undeliverable, then you can show in court that you did your part. You made a sincere effort to contact the tenant. You gave the required notice within the 30-day period. If the tenant was not there or did not leave a forwarding address, then that is on the tenant (not you).
It is not up to you to prove the attorney sent you an address notice change. It is up to that attorney to prove they sent it to you. Who knows if it was sent or if it was even sent in time.
The attorney or tenant could have picked up a phone to call you at any time, but they chose not to.
I would find a real estate attorney and argue this in court.
#2 1031 Exchanges Contributor
- Investor
- Las Vegas, NV
What’s the problem?
You have proof that you sent a letter to their last known address, a returned piece of mail.
Ask them for a copy of their proof they sent you a notice, their returned piece of mail. If they sent you a registered mail change of address they will have a USPS receipt of the delivery. That’s the first thing the judge is going to ask them for.
Since your letter was undelivered, she didn't put in a forwarding address with the post office. And if the lawyer had sent you registered mail, you would at least have received a notice of attempted delivery. Since you did not, either the lawyer did not send it registered mail, or sent it to the wrong address. A lawyer should know to send anything legal as registered mail, specifically to have that receipt as proof.
Just another example of why networking with other real estate investors in your area can help. This lawyer might be well known and others already have dealt with him, or heard of him. If you aren't already in a group, check out meetup.com to see if anyone has started one in your area. Or start one yourself. You can post on BP and see if anyone is interested.
#2 All Forums Contributor
- Investor
- Virginia
@Dave Hagen
Looks like this lawyer does this just like ambulance chasers - they keep the majority so they threaten with lawsuits.
If it were me I would fight it
Maybe I didn't explain it well in my initial post, but without my knowledge, the tenant assigned her security deposit rights only to the attorney who created a separate LLC. After the eviction judgment was obtained, but without my knowledge, the attorney filed a notice of last known address change in the eviction case. Yes I did send the proper notice regarding imposing a claim on the security deposit to the tenant's last known address, but not to the LLC at a different address. This is what the attorney is focusing on on, that I did not send the security deposit notice to the correct "last known address" and therefore I violated FL 83.49.
The attorney will argue in court that he or his legal assistant mailed the notice of last known address change to me since there is a proof of service filed in the eviction court, but as I previously stated, I never received it and did not know about the attorney until after being served with the summons and complaint about 2 weeks ago.
This attorney has found a very lucrative loophole in the Florida landlord tenant laws and sues many landlords over a technical violation.
Quote from @Marc Brandon:
Nathan thanks for your response. The security deposit was $1,200, but here in Florida, attorney's fees and costs are recoverable to the prevailing party in cases concerning security deposits. (FL statute 83.49.) If the landlord is making a claim against the tenant's security deposit, he/she must send a written notice to the tenant's "last known address" within 30 days, via certified mail.
In this case, since the tenant did not pay her last month's and stopped communicating with me, I obtained an eviction judgment. The tenant did not challenge the eviction, but apparently hired an attorney who filed a few documents in the eviction case, but I never received any of these documents.
Later I learned that the attorney convinced the tenant to assign her rights to make a claim for the security deposit (presumably because she could not pay the attorney) to an LLC that the attorney created. As previously stated, I never received a copy of the notice regarding last known address change for security deposit. More than 1 year after obtaining the eviction judgment, the LLC sued me for not returning the security deposit and/or not sending the notice to impose a claim on security deposit to the LLC's address in another Florida county.
Though I sent the notice to the tenant's last known address, via certified mail, I cannot prove that the attorney never sent me the address change notice and therefore run the risk of losing the case at trial. If this happens, the attorney will probably seek thousands of dollars in attorney's fees and costs, far greater than the security deposit.
This is incredibly frustrating since this attorney filed many of these type of cases against landlords throughout Florida!!!
Who’s the attorney? We should find their Google business page and leave bad reviews 🤣
-
Real Estate Agent
- 801-441-8891
- http://tamparei.com
- [email protected]
Quote from @Marc Brandon:
Maybe I didn't explain it well in my initial post, but without my knowledge, the tenant assigned her security deposit rights only to the attorney who created a separate LLC. After the eviction judgment was obtained, but without my knowledge, the attorney filed a notice of last known address change in the eviction case. Yes I did send the proper notice regarding imposing a claim on the security deposit to the tenant's last known address, but not to the LLC at a different address. This is what the attorney is focusing on on, that I did not send the security deposit notice to the correct "last known address" and therefore I violated FL 83.49.
The attorney will argue in court that he or his legal assistant mailed the notice of last known address change to me since there is a proof of service filed in the eviction court, but as I previously stated, I never received it and did not know about the attorney until after being served with the summons and complaint about 2 weeks ago.
This attorney has found a very lucrative loophole in the Florida landlord tenant laws and sues many landlords over a technical violation.
Only if you and others pay.
Have you ever had a police officer try to extort money from you (assuming in different country)? They walk up and typically exaggerate your offense (it is seldom fully made up). They then tell you it will cost you $x (what ever amount they are trying to extort). Those with experience say sorry not paying. The officer then states he will have to take you to the police station. Those with experience say please take me to the police station. The officer usually goes back to his car for at least 5 minutes hoping you stew and panic. Those with experience talk or listen to book on tape and are have zero concern. Officer comes back and states he will be taking you to police station. Those with experience say let’s go. I already told you to take us to the station. The officer tells us to get going.
Why does officer always let us go 1) there are easy people for him to extort from that will take less time and effort 2) if he takes us to the police station and we state he tried to extort from us, the first time they will believe the officer as they should. But if this happens a half dozen times what happens? Everyone knows the officer is extorting money. The officer likes his job that allows Him to extort money. He does not want to risk being fired.
If the analogy is not clear, writing a letter to get these funds is easy. Equivalent to the extorting officer pulling us over. Going to court would be like extorting officer taking us to the police station. The time it takes compared to easy money of just sending a letter does not warrant it when there are so many that will pay upon receipt of the letter. If he does take you to court, how long before enough cases with similar stories as yours are before the court? The lawyer looses all reputation. Judge pretty much immediately rule for defendant.
There is no way I pay the extorting police officer or the extorting lawyer. Let the lawyer sue. Let them try to make their case that you acted in bad face (assuming you have proof that you tried to return the deposit). As I already stated in another post, I have zero issue spending $2 to not pay this extorting lawyer $1. It is one reason even the lawyers who threaten suit against me never file. I used to regularly get threatened with lawsuits. All bogus stuff, but I suspect it has been far over a year since the last time someone threatened to sue me. This is because 1) their case is bogus 2) they know they are in for a battle (I suspect they even know they are likely coming out looking like $hit).
You can either pay the extortion or not, but if you pay the extortion I suspect you will pay again in the future like the victims of the extorting police officer. There certainly are a lot that will pay.
Good luck
Quote from @Dan H.:
Quote from @Marc Brandon:
Maybe I didn't explain it well in my initial post, but without my knowledge, the tenant assigned her security deposit rights only to the attorney who created a separate LLC. After the eviction judgment was obtained, but without my knowledge, the attorney filed a notice of last known address change in the eviction case. Yes I did send the proper notice regarding imposing a claim on the security deposit to the tenant's last known address, but not to the LLC at a different address. This is what the attorney is focusing on on, that I did not send the security deposit notice to the correct "last known address" and therefore I violated FL 83.49.
The attorney will argue in court that he or his legal assistant mailed the notice of last known address change to me since there is a proof of service filed in the eviction court, but as I previously stated, I never received it and did not know about the attorney until after being served with the summons and complaint about 2 weeks ago.
This attorney has found a very lucrative loophole in the Florida landlord tenant laws and sues many landlords over a technical violation.
Only if you and others pay.
Have you ever had a police officer try to extort money from you (assuming in different country)?
Back in the 90s when I was in college we were driving through Texas late at night. Cop claims we were speeding and reckless driving. Says because we have out of state plates we qould have to pay the fine now, or spend the weekend in jail til a judge could hear the case Monday or Tuesday. We said we didn't have any money, he said we could follow him to an ATM machine.
I curse that corrupt mf til this day.
@Marc, are you saying that if you look at the up to date eviction case records, there is that change of address form filed and with a dated (expectedly, with a date prior to when your letter was due) stamp from the court clerk on it? Or is the opposing attorney simply telling you that they sent it to you? If it’s not in the case records, then it’s a BS claim against you.
If it is in the case record, the form should say to whom it was addressed. If you were represented by an attorney in the eviction, it should have been addressed to your attorney’s office. Did they receive anything about the change of address? Ask them. Perhaps they overlooked it - and I hope won’t try to cover for it (which, if the record shows the form went to them, they should come clean to you about.)
I can’t imagine that this is different from CA, where each party is supposed to serve the other with documents they file with the court - they can’t just say “Surpruse!” later. So, if the form is in the case file, on whom was it served? If on your attorney, and they forgot to tell you, they should now defend you in the opposing law firm’s claim - for free, as it stems from their direct negligence. (They may not offer to do so, so demand.)
Look at the lawsuit against you, it should (perhaps very vaguely) state the specific claim(s) against you. Perhaps the plaintiff stated how they (allegedly) served you/your attorney with the change of address form. If it’s not stated - and in my opinion, this is a material fact - my intuition says that they hope you’ll never challenge them, especially in court. (Remember the claims a certain former federal prosecutor and mayor of a major city would make outside of the courtroom…. only to not be able to make any such claims once in front of the judge?) So, please challenge them.
The bottom line - and I believe this was pointed out to you above - the burden of proof is on the party who filed the case against you. That means, for each and every claim they make (and they can make all kinds of claims in the initial filing,) there’d better be proof, or at least some evidence, in *their* possession.
I am not an attorney, but have successfully defended myself (without a lawyer) in legal proceedings against so-called-ones. I was once even lied to about a material matter when they (over 1,000-lawyers, nationwide firm) tried to collect before we’d go to court - and so advised that lawyer and her supervisor, once that became clear. They were clearly hoping that I’d fold, denied having lied, but (surprise!) offered to drop the case the next day... It was a shakedown.
At least try to speak with an attorney before you finalize your decision.
Quote from @Russell Brazil:In the 1980s in high school we were on Baja beach drinking alcohol (I was 16 or 17 years old). Police extorted us for money but negotiated down to the pittance of what we could afford. We paid it. I still remember it.
Quote from @Dan H.:
Quote from @Marc Brandon:
Maybe I didn't explain it well in my initial post, but without my knowledge, the tenant assigned her security deposit rights only to the attorney who created a separate LLC. After the eviction judgment was obtained, but without my knowledge, the attorney filed a notice of last known address change in the eviction case. Yes I did send the proper notice regarding imposing a claim on the security deposit to the tenant's last known address, but not to the LLC at a different address. This is what the attorney is focusing on on, that I did not send the security deposit notice to the correct "last known address" and therefore I violated FL 83.49.
The attorney will argue in court that he or his legal assistant mailed the notice of last known address change to me since there is a proof of service filed in the eviction court, but as I previously stated, I never received it and did not know about the attorney until after being served with the summons and complaint about 2 weeks ago.
This attorney has found a very lucrative loophole in the Florida landlord tenant laws and sues many landlords over a technical violation.
Only if you and others pay.
Have you ever had a police officer try to extort money from you (assuming in different country)?
Back in the 90s when I was in college we were driving through Texas late at night. Cop claims we were speeding and reckless driving. Says because we have out of state plates we qould have to pay the fine now, or spend the weekend in jail til a judge could hear the case Monday or Tuesday. We said we didn't have any money, he said we could follow him to an ATM machine.
I curse that corrupt mf til this day.
my son who is now 21 (who has seen me multiple times not pay the extorting officer) was in Baja with friends (mostly coeds) and got pulled over for an extortion attempt. He knew what he was supposed to do but had not coached his passengers (he was getting pulled over for like 10 people in a Prius - as I indicated previously they usually have some slightly legit premise for first making contact but in Baja you regularly see cars filled beyond capacity with people). When threatened to go to the police station the passengers basically whined and pleaded not to be brought to the police station. The battle was lost. They ended up paying the extorting officer quite a bit of money. When my son told me the story I told him he had to pre-coach his passengers. He indicated they were so afraid that he doubt it would have helped. My son resents that he ended up paying (it was maybe 3 years ago).
It feels like $hit to be taken advantage of. It is why I will gladly pay more than I save to not be taken advantage of.
OP can pay or he can choose not to. If he pays he will feel like $hit for a long time (taken advantage of), maybe forever. I would not pay. I would not consider paying. I would not loose 1 second of sleep over that decision. If the decision to not pay will stress you out, maybe you are better off paying. Sleep is precious. Stress sucks.
Best wishes.
Al D. thanks for your reply. I did not have an attorney representing me in the eviction case. The eviction judgment was obtained on 3/22/23. The attorney filed a notice of appearance and notice of last known address re: security deposit on 3/24/23. The pleadings filed with the court by the attorney show a proof of service on me by mail. As previously stated, I never received these pleadings and therefore did not know about the address change when I sent the security deposit notice to the tenant at her last known address on 3/31/23.
@Marc (it took me a while to research and write the following - before I saw your reply. As I am now in a hurry, I’ll post mine as originally written. But good to know that I was on the right track, and hopefully, you can still see my point that they may have no claim and what, I think, you can do.)
Based on public records, I’m guessing that it’s a 2023 eviction case, in which you represented yourself. From what I can tell, you were able to obtain default judgment, as the tenant did not timely respond to the court notice, and subsequently you obtained final judgment for possession (signed by a judge and entered into official record by the clerk.)
As far as I would think, the legal matter was closed/adjudicated at that time - any lawyer potentially about to take the case to represent the tenant/defendant should have seen it that way in the system. “Too late for this court.”
However, just days later, a law firm began to represent the tenant, first filing NOTICE OF UPDATING MAILING ADDRESS FOR DEFENDANTS AND OBJECTION TO ANY CLAIM ON SECURITY DEPOSIT, and a Notice that they now represented the defendant. In both notices, they alleged that they served you with the respective document at (the address you provided the court in the Summons.)
While the Clerk clearly accepted these documents, I see no record of any proof of service/certificate of mailing entered into the case for them.
The only other thing - the last item - I see is, another week later, DEFENDANT’S EMERGENCY MOTION TO VACATE THE FINAL JUDGMENT AND WRIT OF POSSESSION, which, to me, reads like a poor attempt to show their client that they did something (from what I can tell, the allegation that the tenant vacated a week before you obtained the final judgement should be the grounds to justify vacating the judgment now.)
The Court said nothing to either of these 3 filings by the law firm - according to the public records I see.
Seems like the horse was out of the barn when that LLC (the law firm) entered the case, but, again, I am not a lawyer. Also, I see no record of a pending lawsuit against you in the county or in trellis.
So, I see your concern, and appreciate the warning to the rest of us (tho, I’d be using a lawyer for my own Florida evictions.) Such situations really irk me, which is why I decided to look into this further (and assume I have the right case.)
My feedback remains to speak to an attorney. (However, now that I see that you have court experience, also consider this: The employee of the law firm who filed the lawsuit(?) against you may not be aware that they have no claim. It’s not an excuse, but I’d point that out to them myself first, and be sure to add “in good faith.” I am also basing this consideration on the poor GMaps reviews, by clients, from which it appears that there is a mess at this law firm. From the little I know of law, you are not prevented from speaking with this plaintiff(?) directly, especially if there really is no lawsuit by them against you.)
Also, from what I can tell, Florida does allow 10 days after Final Judgement for the defendant to file a Motion for Rehearing. I did not want to touch on whether the emergency motion filed was the right motion for the situation - since the defendant was already out (on her own, as essentially stated/admitted by her attorney in their “emergency” filing.) I don’t actually know about such situations, as I’d think it useless to file a Stay of the Writ of Possession at that time… This is way above my limited knowledge. My POV is only concerned with whether there is apparent merit for the lawsuit against you.
When you get to the bottom of this - and I hope soon - please share.
First I am not a lawyer nor do I have anything in Florida so I do not know Florida law. However there are some things that I did not see mentioned.
1: Have you been given anything that is signed by the tenant stating that they have turned their security deposit over to this LLC? Or is it just a letter from the attorney saying that they did? Your lease was with the tenant, not that LLC and anything that LLC sends you might not be valid.
2: Your lease was with the Tenant. It is a contract between you and her. She can not unilaterally change anything in that lease. Thus her "assigning" her deposit to the LLC might not even be something that she can legally bind you to. Just like when there are multiple tenants on a lease they can't just take someone off or add someone to the lease. I don't know that she can legally put the LLC in her place for the deposit.
3: Typically for lawsuit purposes sending someone a notice via regular mail will not count as service. If they didn't send it in some way that they have proof of service (Certified, Return Receipt, UPS, FedEx, etc) then it won't count as service. Anyone can stick a letter in an envelope and take a pic and say you mailed it but then never actually put it in the mail.
4: The little bit that I have had to deal with stuff like this in court I believe that anything that the opposing party files with the court, not only do they have to send to you as well, but the court upon accepting it then sends you a copy as well. If the court did not send to you a copy of what they filed on the 24th then the court may not even recognize it as valid.
Personally I would look more into #2. The LLC is not part of the lease and thus has no rights or claims to anything regarding the lease, unless you ever signed something agreeing to the LLC to become part of this transaction. Thus they would have no standings for a claim. Find out if they even have the right to assign their security deposit to someone else.
Spend the $200-$300 for a half hour consult with a RE attorney and get their opinion. If they tell you that you have nothing to worry about then you can rest easier than all of us non attorneys telling you stuff. It sucks paying the $300 but better than paying the deposit to that LLC.
I know you probably have a pit in your stomach over this and are losing sleep worrying about it and stressed out. Stupid stuff like this is one of the reason many get out of the Landlording gig. Everything you are feeling is normal. In my many years of this (property management company for over 20 years) I have dealt with similar stuff a handful of times and I still get the pit in my stomach and sweats while my stubborn side says do not cave in when we know we are right. Stay strong. It sounds like you did the right thing and you don't live in CA where even doing the right thing you can be screwed.
I take things like this personally, and I wouldn't bend the knee even if it was easier and cheaper to simply pay out. I would fight to the death if someone tried to weasel out like this. Transferring ownership of a deposit the day after eviction is not a "normal" occurrence, and is certainly not normal when the same lawyer does this 80 times per year. This is clearly a shakedown, and while I'm not a lawyer and wouldn't know what law it violates, it certainly must violate one or more laws to purposefully conceal what the correct address is in an attempt to have the LL violate housing laws, and thus profit from it.
I would request a freedom of information act request, and ask for all documents related to the previous 80 cases, as there are bound to be common themes, such as "attorney claiming to have sent a letter", but all 80 landlords mysteriously never got a letter. Remember that in court, claiming to have sent something doesn't mean Jack. If you can't prove it with a certified receipt, then it didn't happen. And I can pretty well guarantee that nothing was ever sent via certified mail. 80 cases of a lawyer not sending important documents via certified mail establishes precedence, and willful deceit.
If you can establish that the lawyer is acting unethically, or better yet illegally, then you may be able to counter sue the lawyer and his firm for damages. I'm sure this is taking quite the emotional toll on you, in addition to taking away precious time from your day where you aren't able to source additional deals.
I would also go after the lawyer and report this conduct to the board of ethics. Even if it's technically not illegal, its still shady and unethical.
Two 3 things:
1. It is not your word vs theirs. The reason you send certified mail is so that there is a third-party confirming receipt. They would need to provide evidence that you knew where the notice should be sent.
2. Predator lawyers are everywhere, in all industry's, and it is something that you need to be aware of. The longer that you are in business the more familiar you get with how to protect yourself.
3. Even if you have to return the monies it does not mean that they do not owe you those monies. It just means that you cannot retain the security deposit and you will have to find other means of collecting.
