Landlord/Tenant terminology question

[FLMom]

I am helping a neighbor with a dispute with her landlord. I'm having
problems finding the correct terminology in the statutes.

State of Florida.

Neighbor moved into rental home 4/99 under local housing authority
subsidising rent. Her monthly rental amounts have varied betweeen
$54 and $120 since that date.

Landlord has now served (properly) eviction notice stating:
"Defendant owes Plaintiff $3589.00 that is due with interest since
12/18/00."

Family was given a three day notice on 12/22/04. Answered by payment
to the clerk of rental monies owed dated by court 1/7/05.

Property has been under the management of three separate individuals
since 4/99. Lease agreement is still carried with original leaser (all
related). Written notice was sent by the second, but not the third
manager. Third manager gave no mailing address for payment and
told neighbor that he would stop by monthly to pick up rent in September and she never saw him after that.

Questions:
1) Is there a statute of limitations for rent collection? Until this recent snafu she always paid her rent on time and HUD took care of the rest.

2) What is the proper terminology if a landlord is, with no advance notice, allowed into the rental home by an 8 yr. old child?

3) Should pictures of shoddy care of the home by the landlord be included as an exibit in the answer to the Eviction Summons or saved
for trial?

Thank you for being here Soc!!!!!!
FLMom

[socrateaser]

>1) Is there a statute of limitations for rent collection?
>Until this recent snafu she always paid her rent on time and
>HUD took care of the rest.

A rental agreement is a contract, thus the statute of limitations for suing on a contract in FL would probably apply. However, as this is Federally subsidized housing, there may be a Federal law the alters the standard limitations period. Therefore, before counting on a FL statue, I would contact HUD and explain the situtation and see if they have any suggestion.s

Your post appears to state that the tenant paid the $3,589. If so, whatever the limitation statute may be is irrelevant, because you've paid, and the landlord has nothing to sue on now, unless it is simply to evict you, which, may or may not be legal, depending upon FL law, Federal HUD law and the terms of the lease agreement.

>2) What is the proper terminology if a landlord is, with no
>advance notice, allowed into the rental home by an 8 yr. old
>child?

Um...the child, by permitting entry to the premises, grants the landlord a license to enter. The license is revocable at any time, but this is not a trespass, because landlord did have permission from an occupant.

Now, does an eight year old child have legal authority to grant such a license? Probably not, but that would be for a court to decide. If the court decided that the child was not capable of exercising such authority, then you could sue for civil trespass, but as there appears to be no damage, you would get nothing for your efforts.

>3) Should pictures of shoddy care of the home by the landlord
>be included as an exibit in the answer to the Eviction Summons
>or saved
>for trial?

In order to determine that, I'd need to read the landlord's entire complaint. If you're thinking that the fact that the place is a slum will somehow prevent your eviction, I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree. The only valid reason for not vacting the premises on notice to quit is because you have a contract that permits you to remain.

There may be some express HUD regulation that permits this, however, I'm no expert on this, which is why I suggest you contact HUD.

Some clerk there could tell you in a few seconds what would take me hours to research.

There also may be a local FL tenant's association that would know the ins and outs of FL law, so try to locate them on the web.