I entered into a verbal agreement to rent a house, with a lease to be forthcoming. The landlord didn't have a Florida lease agreement, but she said she would get one - in the meantime, I paid 1st mo., last mo., and 1 mo. as sec. dep. and moved in Oct. 1. I also had a verbal understanding with her of certain defects that would be repaired upon or soon after move-in.

Within a week after moving in, the defects (broken screens, kitchen sink tap leak) hadn't been repaired. New defects cropped up: discovery of no dryer vent to the outside of the laundry room. LL's response was that she had never had complaints, and when doing laundry, just feed the vent hose out the laundry room door for venting. At this point, she chose to inform me (not ask) that she would be using the laundry facilities (detached laundry shed) once a week for her own personal use - no offer of negotiation or compensation for electric/power, which I pay for.

I also discovered a leaking water heater pipe (water wasn't turned on when I initially inspected property) and several defective blinds that would not function (I didn't test every single blind upon initial inspection). Also, two non-functioning electrical outlets, and a large hole behind the toilet which was covered by loose tiles propped up against the wall matching the wall color, apparently to hide the defect.

LL response was that these were minor issues and a person capable of adapting would have no problem living with these defects and she would not address them.

I sent certified mail on Oct. 6 stating my dissatisfaction with her failure to address prior issues and her cavalier refusal to address new issues, and for her illegal non-disclosure of these pre-existing defects and her personal use of laundry.

I also noted that she didn't provide me with name/address of bank where my deposit money was held, which is a violation of FL statutes. I never got a lease; I didn't even have her mailing address to which I would send future rent payments. I had to get her address off the local property tax records to send the certified notice.

The letter also stated that I would be vacating by Oct. 9 and would be shutting down by that date all the utilities I had initiateded in my name. I demanded my deposit money be refunded along with prorated rent for October, less the 9 days I resided there. My rationale justifying the prorated rent refund was that she had negotiated in bad faith regarding the non-repair of existing defects, non-disclosure of other existing defects, new conditions of rental (laundry), and non-disclosure of deposit fund escrow acct. I suspect she comingled funds with her personal acct. since she made an aside remark about now being able to pay her property taxes.

From reading the relevant Florida Landlord-Tenant statutes (Ch. 83), it appears that any agreement, express or implied, that was made or thought to be made, is considered void and unenforceable in the event of bad-faith negotiations, unrepaired defects in critical areas such as plumbing and electrical, and other violations. This would seem to render moot her claim to the remainder of Oct. rent.

I just received a bank check for the deposit amount, but not the pro-rated rent. She said I was lucky she found a renter and that I was lucky to be getting this much back.

My question: Based upon my description , do I have a valid case for suing her for the pro-rated rent she withheld? It's around $700, so it sounds like a small claims case, if anything. If not, please let me know why you think she should be enriched at my expense for her faults, defects, and bad faith. I also took many time-date stamped digital photos of all defects noted above. I'm trying to decide if this is worth pursuing, so I appreciate your replies.What is the name of your state?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------