Question about 3 days pay or vacate notice

[Aiko C.]

LL sent me a 3 day notice for unpaid rent. Notice is written "demanding" rent or "possession of the premises". Of course, I paid the rent. I'm curious if I move out and vacate the premises, can I then sue my landlord for illegal eviction? Or, must I wait for the legal eviction process to complete? In other words, have I been evicted if LL demands possession of the premises?

Rest of the story, if you're interested. Requested to add a tenant (new wife) and LL asked for an additional $1600 security deposit. Fine, LL within his rights. Sent me lease addendum...but I didn't sign it (this is important). More of the story, new wife didn't have SSN, only ITIN. LL rejected using ITIN and would only use SSN. Without SSN, LL said "no credit history" and asked for $1600 extra security deposit. Well, new wife has been using ITIN to establish credit including Chase and BoA bank accounts and even unsecured credit lines (credit cards) of both $2800 and $1500. Like I said, LL dismissed using ITIN - which has a credit profile. More details, ITIN credit profile can be transferred over to SSN (when obtained) by contacting the three CB's. LL put $1600 in their on-line portal and subtracted that $1600 from my June rent payment. I still paid my normal rent for June, but the total came up short of exactly the $1600. Now LL has issued pay or vacate.

[Ray Hage]

I am a landlord myself. It sounds like you got a pretty terrible landlord. Technically, you paid rent on time. When you sent the payment through the portal, was it labeled clearly as rent? However, even if the answer is yes, your landlord could go through the eviction process for you violating the lease (moving in an unauthorized person without his written approval), though I would imagine if it got in front a of a judge, he may not win it.

Either way, you probably don't want to even have an eviction record (even if you win and don't get evicted) because your next landlord will be a bit more fearful of taking you and your wife as tenants. You are kind of stuck paying this deposit, which is pretty much bs, just to keep a clean record (no crime, no evictions and no lawsuits). To keep the peace, you may just want to give in. It is a tough time being a tenant right now in south Florida. However, when your lease is up, consider other places to move to. No easy answer on this one as all the options are not fun (moving or paying extra deposit or worrying about an eviction process on record)