lawyers please help - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

cockmonger · 08-09-2004, 05:47 PM

this may be common practice but any website i go to leads me around in circles. Here's my problem

I signed a lease in may for a student housing apartment (in tallahassee, fl). The lease is a stated 12 month lease. The payment is due august 21(move-in date) and eviction day is august 5th. the last month is "payed for." My question is: Is this legal? if the lease is for 11 months and two weeks, can they charge me for 12? Is there anything that says that a landlord must give housing as long as the rent is being payed?

Any help is more than welcome...any florida/national statues or citations also...thank you very much.

choskins · 08-09-2004, 06:01 PM

Being a SC lawyer, I don't want to comment. I don't know FL law. However, here is a link to the Florida Landlord-Tenant Statutes.

choskins · 08-09-2004, 06:03 PM

My short answer though is that this is probably ok, as it is agreed to in the lease. Could call the two weeks a security deposit, etc. I am sure the language is drafted to make it legal.

choskins · 08-09-2004, 06:04 PM

http://www.megalaw.com/fl/top/fllandlord.php

hannukah harry · 08-09-2004, 06:23 PM

without having looked at the link choskins posted, as a general thought, the lease you signed isn't so much a month by month thing... i mean, what's basically going on is the lease you signed probably said you'd pay X amount of dollars in 12 installments of $Y. so really you're just paying one amount broken up into installments, kind of like when you buy a car.

choskins · 08-09-2004, 06:27 PM

Exactly Harry. The month begins on the fifth. You are paying for a partial month for the 21st through 5th.

portwineboy · 08-18-2004, 04:11 PM

I've been handed this type of lease before and luckily caught it before I signed it. I had that changed easily by asking to a pro-rated price for the first month.

I would advise you to clean the place very well before exit and TAKE PICTURES that can be date verified (ie with that day's newspaper in a photo). A landlord who will stick you like that for 2 weeks rent may also stick you for a cleaning fee on your security deposit, even if the place is left clean.

[edit] for clarity [edit]

08-09-2004, 05:47 PM	#1 (permalink)
cockmonger Insane	lawyers please help this may be common practice but any website i go to leads me around in circles. Here's my problem I signed a lease in may for a student housing apartment (in tallahassee, fl). The lease is a stated 12 month lease. The payment is due august 21(move-in date) and eviction day is august 5th. the last month is "payed for." My question is: Is this legal? if the lease is for 11 months and two weeks, can they charge me for 12? Is there anything that says that a landlord must give housing as long as the rent is being payed? Any help is more than welcome...any florida/national statues or citations also...thank you very much. __________________ Lovely party Geoffery, but theres a turd in the punch bowl. -George Carlin

08-09-2004, 06:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
choskins Psycho Location: Greenville, SC	Being a SC lawyer, I don't want to comment. I don't know FL law. However, here is a link to the Florida Landlord-Tenant Statutes. __________________ "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." - Sigmund Freud

08-09-2004, 06:03 PM	#3 (permalink)
choskins Psycho Location: Greenville, SC	My short answer though is that this is probably ok, as it is agreed to in the lease. Could call the two weeks a security deposit, etc. I am sure the language is drafted to make it legal. __________________ "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." - Sigmund Freud

08-09-2004, 06:04 PM	#4 (permalink)
choskins Psycho Location: Greenville, SC	http://www.megalaw.com/fl/top/fllandlord.php __________________ "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." - Sigmund Freud

08-09-2004, 06:23 PM	#5 (permalink)
hannukah harry Junkie	without having looked at the link choskins posted, as a general thought, the lease you signed isn't so much a month by month thing... i mean, what's basically going on is the lease you signed probably said you'd pay X amount of dollars in 12 installments of $Y. so really you're just paying one amount broken up into installments, kind of like when you buy a car. __________________ shabbat shalom, mother fucker! - the hebrew hammer

08-09-2004, 06:27 PM	#6 (permalink)
choskins Psycho Location: Greenville, SC	Exactly Harry. The month begins on the fifth. You are paying for a partial month for the 21st through 5th. __________________ "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." - Sigmund Freud

08-18-2004, 04:11 PM	#7 (permalink)
portwineboy Master of No Domains Location: WEEhawken, New Joisey	I've been handed this type of lease before and luckily caught it before I signed it. I had that changed easily by asking to a pro-rated price for the first month. I would advise you to clean the place very well before exit and TAKE PICTURES that can be date verified (ie with that day's newspaper in a photo). A landlord who will stick you like that for 2 weeks rent may also stick you for a cleaning fee on your security deposit, even if the place is left clean. [edit] for clarity [edit] __________________ If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you can read this in English, thank a veteran.