Florida Eviction Laws URGENT PLEASE

URGENT - What are the Florida (Orlando) eviction laws. My son is a single father (widowed) with a 2 year old son. He lost his job in construction about 2 months ago. He has struggled to pay his rent (one year lease), however, has not paid September.
The owners (now living in another state) sent their foul mouth 21 year old daughter to come with her 'friend' to 'force' collection of the rent. Now the parents are on their way down with the same foul threating mouths saying they are going to get the police to drag him out because he was in prision 10 years ago and they will do whatever it takes to have the police get him out.
I picked up my grandson - having to walk through the foul language and threats from the daughter - to bring my grandson to my house so he would not be around for whatever.
Now I worry about my vehicle being vandalized or house windows broken. Yes, she is that type.
Sorry this is such a long drawn out drama, but I can't sleep and I need to know what we will be facing here in Florida during the night or in the morning.
Thank you so much for you speedy reply and hopefully good news.

I can't comment about the language of the LL or their representatives. That is not business procedure for evicting tenants by most LLs.

But if your son hasn't paid his rent, he can easily be evicted. FL requires only a 3 day Pay or Quit notice where your son has only 3 days to pay the rent or move out before he faces eviction. After that expires, they can file an eviction suit with the clerk of court. Once filed, this will remain on his court record for years to come. It will keep him from obtaining good housing as most LLs check eviction records on prospective tenants and automatically deny those with recent ones.

I cannot say how quickly courts move in that area. This depends on the exact eviction procedures required and the number of cases in that court. Generally, most eviction cases are brought before a judge within 30 days of filing. Your son would receive notice of the eviction hearing (and in some states be able to file an answer to the case prior to the hearing). He would have to appear in court to defend himself against his non-payment. (There really is no defense against non-payment though.) The judge would order possession returned to the LL. The court would give him only a few more days to vacate before a court official, bailiff, or sheriff removed your son's possessions from the unit and set them to the curb. In some states the entire process can be accomplished within 3 weeks, others may take a couple of months from start to finish.

So their threats of having the police remove him are not idle, but he has to be afforded a court hearing before that can happen. If he can no longer afford the unit, I suggest he move out and return the keys to the LL before they can file an eviction against him. This will save him an eviction from his court record and allow him to find another rental later, when he can afford one. He will still owe money to the LL, of course, but a monetary judgement on his credit is better than an eviction on his court record.

ok i have a couple questions we are getting evicted we already have another house no big deal but we still have some of our stuff there cause we have till the 31st well they keep calling harrassing us saying we need to get out now. they cant do that can they? and they keep going in the house with out permission and we havent gave the keys back yet . they cant do this can they???

To the new poster: Are you also in FL? Where did you get the date of October 31st to be out by? Are you on a lease or a month to month agreement? Do you owe rent to the LL or are you being evicted for another rerason? More info is needed to answer your question. Not all states require prior written notice to have LL access to the premises. Are you currently living there, or are you just storing some things there yet?

ok here is more details we went and got a new car and we parked it on a concrete slab the ll does not own it. i got permission from the guy who owns it well the ll told me to park in the old spot or to move out we told her we were moving out . on the 7th we recieved a eviction notice saying we have to be out on the 31st and on the old lease it says they need to give proper notification of coming into the property and they havent done it. they keep calling everyday and telling us we need to be out now but thats not what the eviction notice says that they had drawn up.

New poster,
1) What state? Florida or somewhere else? Laws differ in each state.
2) Do you have a lease? Time lines are diferent for leases than for m2ms.

If you are in FL and have no lease, the LL can actually give you only 15 days to move out. If you're in some other state, or have a lease, the amount of time is different.

If you are in FL, the LL only needs to give 12 hours prior notice before coming into the unit. So he could post it on the door at 8 pm and come in the next morning at 8 am legally. They don't need your permission to enter. State law gives them the right to do so, they just need to give the legal amount of notice prior to doing so. Per FL law, he can enter in emergencies, to inspect, to repair, to show the property, or during your extended absence. If you're not living there now, but only storing your stuff there, that is an extended absence. No one is at home.

Additionally, FL has an abandonment statute. If your rent isn't paid and you aren't living there, the LL can declare the place abandoned (depending on the state law criteria). You can't just store stuff there, but not live there. Get your stuff out.

Since you have been so helpful I have a question I have a tenant (Commercial office builing in Miami, FL) who has not paid their rent for 2 months going on 3 now (in reality the man paid his 1st month & deposit & never made another payment.) The office seems to be empty, as looking under the door you can see no furniture. We have tried calling his cell phone on various occasions and there is no answer, and doesn't allow for voicemail. I believe this is abandonement, which would allow us to enter the premises and relet the office. I wanted to double check to be sure. And if the man returned and decided to say it wasn't abandoned how we would prove it was. Also, we just noticed that this man put the address of this office on his driver's license. This is a strictly commercial building, and is therefore not a residence. Should we notify the Fl Dept of Motor Vehicles about this. We are thinking this guy is in some shady business.

First, post a written notice to enter and inspect the property at least 12 hours before you intent to enter. Keep a copy of this. Take a dated digital photo of the notice posted on the doors. Go in the next day and look to see if it is abandoned. Document this with more photos. FL abandonment statutes are under FL Statute Ann. 715.104 to 715.111. Read through these to see what constitutes abandonment in your area. If this place seems to be abandoned, follow the procedures for abandonment for your state. This usually consists of posting a Notice of Belief of Abandonment on the property giving the tenant a certain number of days to contest the abandonment by contacting you. After that, you can usually retake possession. But check the procedures for your state as they do vary in each state.

In the next lease, write in a clause allowing you to lock the tenant out and retake possession upon a tenant's default. Then you will have only to issue notice of default and allow him time to cure before locking him out. Check your state law for Commercial Rentasl property laws before you do this. Most states do not have these, and this clause is standard in many commercial leases. Unless it states otherwise, the LL-Tenant laws do not apply to commercial leases, only to residential ones.

I own a mobile home park in Florida. The tentant has not paid power in months and has no way to pay rent. The mobile home park has told me to file a 3 day eviction for them to leave. The tentant informed me that since she gave me $300.oo towards her rent that by law she has a legal right to live there another month. and i can not evict her from the property. This is private property and in order to keep my mobile home there. It reguires lot fees to be paid monthly. Can i still proceed with the 3 day eviction without fear of getting myself personally in trouble??

If you accepted partial rent for THIS month, it may not be possible to evict for nonpayment this month. Some states do not allow you to evict if you have taken any rent. You need to check the law for your state since some states do allow you to evict over any money owed. Do not accept partial rents in future, only the full amount. Do not allow the tenant to use a deposit as rent.

If your lease says they have to keep the utilities current, you can issue a Perform or Quit notice to get the utilities current. When the tenant fails to do so within the stated time period, you can file eviction on the lease violation.