Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

Re: Eviction time frame

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If you have not paid your rent, your landlord can (and did) give you a three day notice and then begin an eviction proceeding. If you fail to comply by paying the rent, the landlord will then have to file a suit for eviction and serve you with it. You have 5 business days in which to respond. If you do not respond, then the landlord can apply for a default and then schedule the case for final hearing at which time a judgment will be entered. After the judgment is entered, the landlord needs to obtain a Writ of Possession which must then be served on you by the sheriff. Theoretically, the sheriff will then return 24 hours later and physically evict you. In reality this can be 5 - 10 days later depending on where you live. The entire process generally takes from 4 -6 weeks.

You will probably be out of the residence before your landlord can obtain a final judgment (which is much longer than the timeframe you requested). The landlord can file a certified copy of the judgment in the public records as a potential lien against you. It will be good for ten years and can be renewed for an additional ten years. In addition, it will be picked up by the credit bureaus and will be a negative entry on your credit report for many years to come.

You would be well served to work things out with your landlord to avoid this problem with your credit history. The advantage for the landlord is to save the cost of the filing fee, sheriff for service of process and possible attorney's fees.

Scott R. Jay, Esq.

Re: Eviction time frame

your landlord has to file a lawsuit to evict you and attach the 3 day notice. if you need asistance e-mail me your phone #.