SEVEN DAY NOTICE OF NONCOMPLIANCE WITH OPPORTUNITY TO CURE

The “Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance With Opportunity to Cure” is second only to the Three Day Notice as the most common notice that a property manager uses, and is often prepared incorrectly or not given at all. Knowing when and how to prepare and serve a “Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance With Opportunity to Cure” is crucial to successful property management.

When a resident is in noncompliance, action needs to be taken. Whether the noncompliance is an unauthorized pet, unauthorized occupant, debris outside a door, unsupervised children or any of the myriad problems which can occur, nothing will be solved until the resident is notified of the problem and told to cease. All too often the property manager writes a letter to the resident or calls them into the office for a meeting. While this may get the desired results, if it fails, the property manager is now faced with a dilemma and a delay, as in most cases, the law only recognizes “notices”. The classic mistake of property managers is sending “letters” to the residents rather than using “notices”. Commonly, when you send a letter to a resident about a problem, the resident solves that problem and all is well. In a sense, by sending the “letter” you are giving the resident a second chance. The problem begins when the resident does not comply with your “letter”. What now? Can you file an eviction? No. An eviction requires “notice”, a legal “notice” such as a “Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance With Opportunity To Cure” for items which are of a curable nature. If the resident continues to be in noncompliance, a further notice may need to be given called the “Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance Notice of Termination”. If the property manager only gave a “letter” previously to the resident, a “second chance”, they now need to serve a “notice” which in essence is giving the resident a third chance. Depending upon the noncompliance, you may be in the process of losing good residents which are neighbors of this noncomplying resident as the process is so delayed.

What types of noncompliances are of a curable nature?

Here are just a few: improper parking of vehicles, unregistered vehicles, failure to supervise children, barking dogs, unauthorized pets, unleashed pets, failing to pick up after pets, changing locks, speeding in the parking areas, denying access to maintenance, loitering in the breezeways, debris in the common areas, failing to pay a utility, failing to put a utility in one’s own name, grill on the lanai, debris on the lanai, violating pool rules, unauthorized occupants, improperly installed satellite dishes, failure to pay the security deposit, unsanitary apartment; the list goes on and on.

How is a Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance With Opportunity to Cure properly worded?

We recommend you always start off your notice by saying “You and/or your guests and/or occupants are in violation of Florida law and/or the lease agreement and/or rules and regulations due to (list reasons)” You should not simply quote a lease clause or name a paragraph number. Your notice should clearly and concisely state what the resident is doing that is in noncompliance. Many notices we see are legally insufficient in that they are too vague or sometimes actually too specific. You might wonder how being too specific could be a problem. Let’s take a case where a resident is leaving their bicycle on the lanai in violation of your lease. If you give the resident a notice just stating this violation, the resident may get the bicycle off of the lanai, but two months from now be accumulating personal items outside the door in your breezeway, a violation of your lease agreement. Will your notice regarding the bicycle that you gave two months ago be sufficient? Possibly not. We would recommend wording the notice as follows: “You and/or your guests and/or occupants are in violation of Florida law and/or the lease agreement and/or the apartment rules and regulations due to keeping or allowing personal items, including but not limited to a bicycle, on the lanai and or in the common areas of the premises.” As you can see, this is specific enough for the bicycle on the lanai and broad enough to include a later violation in the breezeway. It is crucial that the notice is always specific enough to put the resident on sufficient notice as to what the noncompliance may be.

How do we calculate the expiration date of a Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance with Opportunity to Cure?

You simply must give your Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance With Opportunity to Cure and wait seven straight days. Note that you do not have to exclude weekends or holidays as with a Three Day Notice. Once the time period has expired, if you have not achieved the desired results, you may be able to immediately file an eviction or may need to serve a Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance Notice of Termination. Any time you have a lease noncompliance, you must get into the habit of serving the Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance With Opportunity To Cure, if it is in fact a curable problem.

A word of caution: Judges are not apt to want to evict someone on a small noncompliance. Make certain that the noncompliance is fairly serious before you think that you can evict the individual. Proof is a very integral part of success in these cases, so your documentation, witnesses, police reports, videos, etc. will be crucial. If you have a weak case but really want the resident to vacate, there is always the option of offering to let the resident out of the lease agreement and making a mutual agreement on the resident vacating at a fixed date. If a problem is not cured, we recommend that you call your attorney first to see if you have sufficient grounds to serve a “Seven Day Notice of Noncompliance Notice of Termination”, and get the proper wording straight from the attorney.