Posted by jimmy on September 25, 2005 at 07:54:57:
do your eviction by the book, or suffer the consequences.
abandonment is a factual question. if the tenant has abandoned, you can enter the unit and take possession. are the utilities on? is there food in the place? what about clothing and furniture? if you can answer all of these questions YES, your tenant has NOT abandoned.
You gave him the 3-day notice. Now go back to court and file the eviction papers. The court will serve the papers on the tenant. I don’t know Florida law, but in Texas, we can tape stuff to the front door.
You do not need a lawyer. Evictions are routine, and the paperwork is available at the courthouse. Could be a municipal court or a Justice of Peace.
I have a tenant who is always late on rent and is currently 24 days late for the month. I have issued him a 3 day notice as per Florida law. Last I heard he was out of the state visiting people, and has not responded to phonecalls or emails but he still has furniture and TV in the unit. My question is this, if I go to the court and request a summons for eviction, do they have to physicaly hand it to him, or can they post it without him being there??? If he does not respond to the summons and is nowhere to be found can this be considered abandonment??? I need this guy out ASAP, so I can sell the unit. What is the fastest legal way to do this under Florida law???
Contact the individuals in landlord tenant section of the county courthouse. They’ve been very helpful, even mailing or emailing me the forms. They do this stuff daily. Also, check out the Florida Statutes on line as a backdrop. It’s not rocket science with a little research.