Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

I have a "rental agreement" and the landlord made sure to tell me it was not a lease. Many things have broken in the house, including the a/c three times and the heater and water heater were broken when I first moved here in December. Last month a pipe broke on the water heater and water was gushing out the back for an unknown amount of time. My electric bill doubled for the month as did my water bill. The landlord said sorry about my luck. Can he be held responsible in any way? There are also a lot of other safety hazards in the house. There are exposed wires in places, the porch floor is collapsing in places, one step leading to the porch is rotting and you can easily fall. The landlord knew about the step when we moved in and said he would have someone out to fix it by the end of the first week. After seven months it is still the same. The garage to the house was full of large buckets, boards, nails, etc. and he also said his son would come by that week to finish cleaning it and that didn't happen. The garage is where the laundry hookups are so I have to go out there regularly and try not to step on anything dangerous. Is there anything that can be done and what would my next step be?


Asked on 7/07/13, 5:38 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Barry Stein De Cardenas, Freixas, Stein & Zachary

Your rental agreement controls. You need to have that document reviewed. The distinction in calling something a rental agreement v. a lease means nothing in the law. It is the terms of the document that control.

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Answered on 7/08/13, 6:43 am


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