3 day notice florida

[cynbkrpt]

Hi guys..I'll keep this short & sweet. I moved into my rental 5 months ago after signing a 12 month lease. Despite my trashed credit from my divorce, I paid my rent on the first for every month but this one. (Yes, bad credit. No, don't usually pay rent late.) In November I got papers served that my landlord is going through foreclosure and I will be losing my home. He admits it now (after denying it for a month) and said he wouldn't let me break the lease. I haven't paid him yet because I need to get out of here and I need the money to move.

I have been putting off filing chapter 7 for which I'm beyond positive I'd qualify for because of other things going on in my life (divorce is the main thing).

He posted the 3 day notice (in Florida) on my door yesterday and I wouldn't doubt that he will follow through on Thursday morning. Here's my question:

If I file pro se (I have most of the paperwork together already) on Monday or Tuesday will it buy me some time before he can file for an eviction?

Thanks a million!

[AngelinaCatHub]

YES! 'Hub

[cynbkrpt]

I found a place to move into on January 2nd. I'm not sure that I'll be able to delay that long even with the holidays.

How would you play the filing in my situation? Keep in mind, the rent was only due on 12-1-08 nothing else is owed. His 3 day notice doesn't meet legal requirements..but to defend I would have to put the money with the court. And the judge could give it to him anyway..so I would rather avoid that.

Would you...

File on the same day that the 3 day notice expires? File on Monday to allow time for him to know that I've filed? Does my filing predating his filing protect me any more?

I know I can't stay indefinitely..I just want to be here until the end of December without an eviction on my record.

The funny thing is that I will never see my deposit..which would cover my rent anyway. Grrr!

[AngelinaCatHub]

I found a place to move into on January 2nd. I'm not sure that I'll be able to delay that long even with the holidays.

How would you play the filing in my situation? Keep in mind, the rent was only due on 12-1-08 nothing else is owed. His 3 day notice doesn't meet legal requirements..but to defend I would have to put the money with the court. And the judge could give it to him anyway..so I would rather avoid that.

Would you...

File on the same day that the 3 day notice expires? File on Monday to allow time for him to know that I've filed? Does my filing predating his filing protect me any more?

I know I can't stay indefinitely..I just want to be here until the end of December without an eviction on my record.

The funny thing is that I will never see my deposit..which would cover my rent anyway. Grrr!

As soon as you file, the automatic stay will keep him from legaly evicting you. I'm sorry about your deposit but it works out. Would he have given it to you anyway if you left in three days? I doubt it. 'Hub

[floridian]

is it a legal 3 day notice? it has to be processed by the sheriff...

[2Bshinyandnew]

File on the same day that the 3 day notice expires? File on Monday to allow time for him to know that I've filed? Does my filing predating his filing protect me any more?

File before the judgment is entered. Predating landlords filing doesn't really offer any added protection. Just file before a judgment is entered. Even if you get a judgment entered, you still have some room, but not as much.

If you go to your county's Clerk of Court website, you can get specific, detailed instructions on how long the process takes. You can even search your county's docket for Complaint for Tenant evictions and see how long the process actually takes from date of filing to actual disposition. Use your landlord's name or the name of the management company as your name search query.

After you are served the 3 day notice, if you don't pay the rent your landlord can file a a Complaint for Tenant Eviction. After the date of filing, you have to be served the official paperwork by the Sheriff's department, which takes another three days or so. THEN you have 5 days to respond to the complaint, that is 5 working days, excluding weekends or holidays. If you don't respond, a hearing date will be set, usually about 2-3 weeks after the filing date, and in my county in Florida, it seems to run about 10 days after you have been served by the Sheriff.

So, from the actual date of your landlord filing a Complaint for Tenant eviction (after the 3 day notice) to a court hearing is about 3 weeks.

If you file for CH 7 before the hearing date, even if you have already been served eviction papers, no civil judgment has been issued so as soon as you file a BK 7, the Clerk will docket a "suggestion of Bankruptcy" and all collection efforts must cease. The landlord must then go through the bankruptcy court to lift the stay, which isn't too difficult to do, BUT, if you get out of the apartment before they have the stay lifted (another month or so) your CH7 bankruptcy will discharge all previously due rent AND your no longer legally responsible for the balance of your lease.

It's all a matter of timing.

Sample totally approximate-no-guarantee-Timeline for Residential Eviction in Florida YMMV:

December 1st- rent not paid

December 5th-3 day notice posted

December 9th-11th Landlord files Complaint for Tenant Eviction

December 15th-Tenant served complaint for eviction by Sheriff's department

December 26th (no court on Xmas) - If no answer by tenant, default entered. If tenant has not vacated the premises, a writ of possession is issued and the Sheriff can come and "escort" tenant from premises.

If you file an answer to the complaint, you may buy yourself a couple of days.

[hereforinfo]

I think he's just bluffing with that 3 day notice. I doubt he's going to spend the money to formally evict you, when he's in foreclosure and there's no guarantee he'll win if he takes you to court. I wouldn't pay him a dime. He's just trying to scare you into paying.

[cynbkrpt]

Thank you guys for your responses! I am so fed up with his lies! I just saw where he is now advertising his other properties as RTO and they are in foreclosure! What a scumbag!

I understand we've all fallen on hard times, but this is unethical! He may be bluffing or may not. I will keep you posted and continue preparing my bankruptcy.

I also may just contact my local news because he's continuing to advertise his rentals that are vacant as RTO with large amounts up front. He sent me a text saying he had a mortgage to pay and I thought yes...your own personal mortgage..not on this house! Grrr!

[hereforinfo]

Tell him your attorney advised you not to pay since the home is in foreclosure. He has your deposit which covers your last month, right? Even if does proceed with eviction, it would take at least a few weeks or a month. And he really has nothing to gain by doing so.

[cynbkrpt]

You're gonna love this..I had placed an ad on craigslist looking for a flexible new arrangement a few days ago and I got a response in my email from guess who...my landlord! The post was anonymous so he doesn't know it was me.

He has 2 properties advertised for rent right now as RTO and they both are in the late stages of foreclosure. So he wants to rent his foreclosure property to a poor single mom with two kids who has to relocate because of a foreclosure. Rich!

[GreenInkOnPaper]

You're gonna love this..I had placed an ad on craigslist looking for a flexible new arrangement a few days ago and I got a response in my email from guess who...my landlord! The post was anonymous so he doesn't know it was me.

He has 2 properties advertised for rent right now as RTO and they both are in the late stages of foreclosure. So he wants to rent his foreclosure property to a poor single mom with two kids who has to relocate because of a foreclosure. Rich!

What an A$$!

[cynbkrpt]

& it gets better..now there's a "for rent" sign outside my door. This is the only one of his rentals that does not have a rider on the mortgage that gives the mortgage company the rent in case of default. I am his cash cow and I won't moo. :p

[hnhlvr]

Tape a large sign inside the window saying, "this house is in foreclosure."

[cynbkrpt]

Good one, hnhlvr..but I think a blown up copy of the complaint I was served is even better. Nothing says Christmas like foreclosure decorations!

[dingdong]

HI,

I kind of went though the same thing.

Rented a home, found out very early on that the home had a notice of default recorded before I even moved in!

Started getting foreclosure junk mail in my mail box, mostly post cards with "we can help save your house from foreclosure"

So, I asked my LL if there were any problems with the mortgage on multiple occasions.

Denied any probs every time.
Kept checking the recorder's website for filings.
Finally had a notice of Trustee Sale taped to my door.

CAlled the Foreclsure Processing service that handled his account, they informed me that he had filed BK.

Called him again, still denied everything.

Had been paying rent timely.

.
Called the "foreclosure processing servive" handling the account, they informed me he had filed BK.


The next month ( early in the month) after the TS notice, I sent him a letter with a copy of the notice saying can you please inform me what is going on, polite but to the point as I am single mom w/kids, and the rental market is very tight here, informed him to please be truthful as we would need notice to move and save for moving.

He told me he was working it out with the lender.

CAlled foreclosure r us place, they said nope, hasn't paid a thing or requested a loan mod. ( By the way, the jerk bought a new home a few months before I moved in and planned on the Buy and Bail scheme the whole time and was just trying to get a few bucks out of me for rent before the bank took the house)

Left him another letter telling him I was a bit nervous about my deposit since he was in BK and could we renegotiate the rental agreement to split rent into two payments (1st and 15th) that way if the bank filed a Motion for Relief ( which they did) and moved on the foreclosure, I would only be risking half my rent.

He retaliated by serving me with a 30 notice to vacate!

Not for non payment, just the most unintelligible , gramatically poor piece of ignorant verbage you have ever read ( the guy is an idiot)

He called the day my 30 day notice expired and asked when I would be out so that he could rent it to someone else again!!!

I of course did not move and he filed an unlawful detainer against me.

SO here is the beautiful part...

Instead of answering the complaint, I spent about a week researching the law, drafted a very complicated Demurrer and scheduled the hearing date a month away. ( you can schedule Demurrer hearings 35 calender days from the date of complaint) In my demurrer's statement of facts, I cited fraud and the fact that the home was in the foreclosure process when I moved in and the fact that he had purposefully committed mortgage fraud with the Buy and Bail scheme. ( more as a scare tactic for him, the fraud really had nothing to do with the points of the demurrer)

A good lawyer would have most likely shot it down or made a motion to have the hearing set for an earlier date, but he never used a lawyer!

When I went to the court house to file a notice of BK stay re the UD action, the clerk told me he had dismissed the case!!!

The house is still going to be foreclosed on soon, but I bought myself about 5 months and don't have to move during Xmas!

I witheld rent during the last two months while the UD action was in limbo and included my jerk LL in my BK!

I know it sounds a bit mean on my part, but he really was a scum and lied the whole time and if he would have just been honest..

Now one of his CC companies has filed an adversary hearing becasue he charged 10,000.00 0n his credit card within the 90 day period. ( I love PACER)

Karma comes back to bite him in the a$$ !!


Hope your situation gets better.