Breaking a Lease in Palm Beach County, Florida - Know the Laws

TIRTH JANI • March 1, 2022

Usually, tenants who sign a lease in Florida intend to stay for the entire period specified in the lease. But things don’t always go as planned and a tenant may need to break their lease.

Now, breaking a lease is akin to breaking a contractual agreement between two parties. Just like a typical contract, there are consequences to unlawfully breaking a lease, no matter the intention behind it. Eviction is not the same as breaking a lease.

As a landlord, you may be able to hold your tenant liable for all the rent remaining under the contract. This is especially true if the reason for breaking the lease isn’t legally justified.

Some legally unjustified reasons for tenants to break their lease include:

Moving to the new home they bought
Relocating for a new job or school
Moving to get closer to family
Upgrading or downgrading
Moving in with a partner
Moving out because of separation or divorce

These reasons are generally not enough justification to let a tenant off the hook. Due to this, tenants have no legal protection against penalties for failing to honor the lease.

Legally Justifiable Reasons for Breaking a Lease in Florida

According to Florida's landlord-tenant law, the following are conditions for legally breaking a lease in Florida if a tenant meets the requirements.

1. Breaking the Lease Using an Early Termination Clause

Some leases contain an early termination clause which a tenant can use to terminate their agreement. Usually, such a clause stipulates the requirements that a tenant must meet before getting off the hook.

One such requirement is payment of a fee, usually equivalent to the rent of 2 months. Another common requirement is the notice period. 30 days is typical.

Once a tenant has met such requirements and moved out, the agreement will be deemed to be terminated.

2. Breaking the Lease to Start Active Military Duty

If your tenant is beginning an active military duty, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) allows them to break their lease legally. The protection starts from the day they start the active duty and ends anywhere between 30 to 90 days after their discharge.

According to the relief act, a tenant must meet certain requirements before the lease can terminate. They must, for instance, provide their landlord with proof that they intend to be on active duty for at least the next ninety days. Also, they must show their landlord copes of their deployment letters.

Once your tenant has met such requirements, the lease will only terminate 30 days after the next rent period begins. Suppose, for instance, that your tenant delivered the notice on the 13^th of April, and the next rent period begins on the 1^st of each month. In that case, the earliest the lease will terminate is 1^st of June. This means that rent will still be due for the month of May.

In Florida, servicemembers are members belonging to either the armed forces, the activated National Guard, the commissioned corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or the commissioned corps of the Public Health Service.

3. Breaking the Lease for Health and Safety Code Violations

Every state has minimum standards for rental properties regarding health and safety. If those standards aren’t met, your tenant may have a right to break their lease.

For this reason, it’s important that landlords make necessary repairs in a timely manner. In Florida, landlords have up to 7 days after receipt of written notice to make the repairs. If you don’t, your Florida tenant may have several options to pursue. They include:

Withholding further rent payments until you’ve made the repairs
Deducting the cost of the repairs from the next month’s rent
Reporting you to a relevant government agency
Suing you in a court of law for damages
Breaking the lease

According to Florida state law, the following are some things that make a property habitable. (Fla. Stat. Ann. § 83.60.)

Reasonable protection from criminal harm in the form of locks and window guards
Sanitary premises, including rodent infestation or removal of insect
Working bathroom and toilet
Working carbon and smoke detectors
Adequate ventilating system
Working electricity
Heat during cold weather

If you don’t provide these, you’d be considered to have evicted your tenant “constructively.” Thus, your tenant’s obligations under the lease would cease, as you’d have not met your own under the statewide landlord-tenant act.

4. Breaking the Lease Due to Privacy Violations

Your Florida tenant has a right to live in privacy. In Florida, a landlord may only enter a tenant’s rented unit if they have a legally justified reason. Common reasons for landlord entry include:

To inspect the property
To make needed or required repairs
Under emergency situations
To show the unit to prospective buyers, lenders, or tenants
Under court orders
To serve important notices

In addition to that, you must also notify your tenant beforehand, as well. Under Florida law, landlords must provide their tenants a notice of at least 12 hours prior to entering the rental unit. Although it isn’t specified under the state’s privacy laws, the entry times must also be reasonable.

The only exception to the notice requirement is during times of emergency.

5. Breaking the Lease Due to Landlord Harassment

Landlord harassment can also be a reason enough for a tenant to break free from their lease obligations in Florida. The following are common examples of landlord harassment.

Sexually harassing your tenant
Filing a fake eviction against your tenant
Refusing to accept a rent payment
Threatening your tenant with physical injury
Refusing to make repairs
Cutting off amenities promised in the lease agreement

6. Breaking the Lease Due to Violation of the Lease Agreement by the Landlord

Just like your tenant, you have an obligation to abide by all terms of the lease agreement. If you don’t, by doing such things as altering the terms of the agreement, your tenant may have a legal justification to break the lease. An example of this could be the landlord failing to inform the tenant of where they're keeping the tenant's security deposit.

Landlord’s Duty to Find a New Tenant in Florida

Unlike most other states in the U.S., Florida does not require a landlord to mitigate damages after a tenant moves out.

Bottom Line

When you own a rental property in Florida, it’s important to know the local laws when it comes to both breaking a lease and handling the breaking of a lease by a tenant. If you’re still unsure about the rules and regulations, give RentPro a call! Our team will guide you through the entire process.

Disclaimer: This blog isn’t a substitute for legal advice from a qualified attorney. If you need expert legal advice, kindly get in touch with a licensed attorney or an experienced property management company.

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