Greetings.

I was renting an apartment through the month of June, 2006. I moved to another city in January and during the first week of January gave verbal notice that I was moving out. I requested and was denied, verbally, the opportunity to try to sublet. My lease doesn't allow me to make the attempt without permission from the landlord.

I paid January and gave verbal permission to take the security deposit for February's rent at the beginning of February.

I'm told by people in the area the unit is still unoccupied and no significant attempts have been made to prepare the unit for rent nor is there any "For Rent" sign anywhere. The landlord claim's a realtor is being used to try to rent the place out.

In the meantime, the 5th of March has come and gone and I didn't pay as I simply don't have the funds to pay rent in two places at once.

What kinds of action can the landlord take against me?

I've been reading what I can find about Florida landlord and tenant law. There's nothing specific in my written lease agreement about what happens when I simply don't pay, so I assume that's covered by Florida law itself. I gave verbal notice, so I don't believe my actions constitute abandonment, do they? There is a clause in my lease concerning abandonment.

In either case, I can't exactly be evicted since I don't live there anymore and my personal effects are gone as well.

So what are the landlord's options to recover unpaid rent?

I was verbally warned that this might be passed off to a collections agency, but I haven't received any written notices of anything thus far. But then the landlord doesn't exactly have my current address, only my local phone from when I initially thought this wouldn't end up being an issue.

Thoughts on the consequences of my situation?

Thanks in advance!

:confused:

Amusingly I'm told that this weekend, after seven weeks of doing nothing, my old landlord is finally cleaning the place up, mulching, and so forth.

I guess sometimes you just need to light the fire of nonpayment.

I wouldn't suggest it if there's any feasible way you can be tracked down, though.

:rolleyes:

The landlord can turn it over to a collection agency and they can hound you for years. To officially do anything he will have to take you to court. If he can't find you he can get a default judgment.

The landlord can turn it over to a collection agency and they can hound you for years. To officially do anything he will have to take you to court. If he can't find you he can get a default judgment.

Guess I'll have to try this then.

http://www.creditinfocenter.com/rebuild/debt_validation.shtml

They don't have my SSN or my current address. I'm sure they can track me down, it's just a question of how much money they want to spend versus simply getting the existing unit back on the market, which they hadn't been doing for 8 weeks now. Further, my understanding is, in Florida, they need to notify me in writing that I am in breach of the lease with three days to respond before they can file it with the court. If that's not the case, sucks to be me I suppose.

From what I understand in Florida they have some responsibility to at least make an attempt to release the unit. Until I was non-payment no such attempt was being made.

What can ya do, eh?

Depends on the terms of your lease and it also seems kinda suspect that the landlord is not mitigating damage to rent the unit again, but most leasing happens in spring and summer months so it could be you left during a bad time for the year for re-renting.

Depends on the terms of your lease and it also seems kinda suspect that the landlord is not mitigating damage to rent the unit again, but most leasing happens in spring and summer months so it could be you left during a bad time for the year for re-renting.

Possible, but no magic began to happen until they realized via phone that no rent would be forthcoming. Then magically that weekend stuff got cleaned up after seven weeks of nothing.

One wonders...

:rolleyes:

Can they nail my credit report without any court documents? To my knowledge they don't have my SSN.

Former landlord managed to track down my current address.

Silly of me, for not just walking away. Instead I actually gave them a phone number and promised and intended to pay for a few months while they (claimed) to re-rent it. I should've just walked, apparently. No good deed goes unpunished.

They're demanding unpaid rent using what appears to be a type-written, self authored notice. It was dated on the 5th, not mailed until the 10th, and gave me ten days to comply. The tenth day was a Saturday following a Friday holiday. How clueless.

I'd be curious,

a) How they located my address, as that determines the degree of seriousness involved -- it'll be in the phonebook eventually, but is not yet
b) What legal remedies may be persued, given my address is now uncloaked

Thanks.