A Letter from the Tenant? -- A certified mail or regular mail letter from a tenant, now that is a change. Usually it is the property manager who is sending the letters and notices. You open the letter up expecting the tenant to be breaking his lease, but instead it contains a five page list of demands on you to make repairs to the property. The letter ends by saying that if you do not make the repairs within 7 days, the tenant will either withhold rent or break the lease. Rent is now due, and you have served a Three Day Notice. Can you file an eviction? Can the tenant break the lease? Does this need to be taken seriously? We commonly call this letter a “rent withholding letter” or “7 Day Letter from a tenant”.

Does the tenant have an attorney? -- If you receive a rent withholding letter from a tenant or even a letter that implies that the tenant is going to withhold rent, or worse yet, mentions something about you fixing something within 7 days, you can be almost 100% assured that the tenant has gotten legal advice. This means that there is an attorney lurking in the shadows somewhere in a dark alley, waiting to see if you fail to make the repairs within the 7 Day time frame as demanded in the letter.

The Landlord’s maintenance responsibilities - -- A landlord is required by the lease and Florida law to maintain the premises. While the lease normally states what the tenant’s responsibilities may be, if it is not stated in the lease that the tenant is responsible for a particular item, frequently the implication is that the landlord is the responsible party.

Florida Law and the Landlord’s Duties- Florida law states the landlord’s responsibilities regarding maintenance in Florida Statutes 83.51. Landlord’s obligation to maintain premises.

(1) The landlord at all times during the tenancy shall:
(a) Comply with the requirements of applicable building, housing, and health codes; or
(b) Where there are no applicable building, housing or health codes, maintain the roofs, windows, screens, doors, floors, steps, porches, exterior walls, foundations, and all other structural components in good repair and capable of resisting normal forces and loads and the plumbing in reasonable working condition. However, the landlord shall not be required to maintain a mobile home or other structure owned by the tenant. The landlord's obligations under this subsection may be altered or modified in writing with respect to a single-family home or duplex.

(2)(a) Unless otherwise agreed in writing, in addition to the requirements of subsection (1), the landlord of a dwelling unit other than a single-family home or duplex shall, at all times during the tenancy, make reasonable provisions for:

1. The extermination of rats, mice, roaches, ants, wood-destroying organisms, and bedbugs. When vacation of the premises is required for such extermination, the landlord shall not be liable for damages but shall abate the rent. The tenant shall be required to temporarily vacate the premises for a period of time not to exceed 4 days, on 7 days' written notice, if necessary, for extermination pursuant to this subparagraph.

2. Locks and keys.
3. The clean and safe condition of common areas.
4. Garbage removal and outside receptacles therefore.

5. Functioning facilities for heat during winter, running water, and hot water. (b) Unless otherwise agreed in writing, at the commencement of the tenancy of a single-family home or duplex, the landlord shall install working smoke detection devices. As used in this paragraph, the term "smoke detection device" means an electrical or battery operated device which detects visible or invisible particles of combustion and which is listed by Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., Factory Mutual Laboratories, Inc. or any other nationally recognized testing laboratory using nationally accepted testing standards.
(c) Nothing in this part authorizes the tenant to raise a noncompliance by the landlord with this subsection as a defense to an action for possession under s. 83.59.
(d) This subsection shall not apply to a mobile home owned by a tenant.
(e) Nothing contained in this subsection prohibits the landlord from providing in the rental agreement that the tenant is obligated to pay costs or charges for garbage removal, water, fuel, or utilities.
(3) If the duty imposed by subsection (1) is the same or greater than any duty imposed by subsection (2), the landlord's duty is determined by subsection (1).
(4) The landlord is not responsible to the tenant under this section for conditions created or caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of the tenant, a member of his family, or other person on the premises with his consent.

The Letter from the Tenant- What does it look like The letter from the tenant will often be a complaint letter listing one or more items and demanding that the landlord fix these items. In order for the tenant to withhold rent or break the lease, first these items must be those that allow the tenant to withhold rent or terminate, and secondly, the letter must give the landlord 7 days to fix the items and state in the letter that failure to repair will result in rent withholding or the tenant breaking the lease. The letter needs to be in writing, but some judges have held that verbal or actual knowledge by the landlord was enough for the tenant to comply with the tenant’s obligation of putting the landlord on notice. Here is Florida law pertaining to termination of the rental agreement. FS 83.56 (1) If the landlord materially fails to comply with s. 83.51(1) or material provisions of the rental agreement within 7 days after delivery of written notice by the tenant specifying the noncompliance and indicating the intention of the tenant to terminate the rental agreement by reason thereof, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement. If the failure to comply with s. 83.51(1) or material provisions of the rental agreement is due to causes beyond the control of the landlord and the landlord has made and continues to make every reasonable effort to correct the failure to comply, the rental agreement may be terminated or altered by the parties, as follows: (a) If the landlord's failure to comply renders the dwelling unit untenantable and the tenant vacates, the tenant shall not be liable for rent during the period the dwelling unit remains uninhabitable. (b) If the landlord's failure to comply does not render the dwelling unit untenantable and the tenant remains in occupancy, the rent for the period of noncompliance shall be reduced by an amount in proportion to the loss of rental value caused by the noncompliance

For what items can the tenant legally withhold rent or terminate the lease?

A technical reading of Florida Statute 83.60(1), the section of Florida law specifically addressing the tenant’s right to withhold rent, indicates that a tenant’s right to withhold rent is restricted to violations of 83.51(1), which essentially involves the landlord’s failure to maintain the property up to existing building, housing or health codes. The tenant has the right to terminate the lease when an 83.51(1) violation exists, or if the landlord is failing to provide a material provision of the rental agreement. The right to terminate is actually a more expansive right, and what constitutes a material provision of the lease can be subjective. However, many judges allow the tenant to withhold rent for items that would not technically constitute code violations (for example, a refrigerator problem).

The Letter from the Tenant- What does it do? A letter from the tenant in accordance with Florida law will allow a tenant to break the lease if the problem is not repaired within 7 days AND will create a complete defense to an eviction action IF the problem has not been repaired within 7 Days. This is a very powerful tool the tenant has, and if the landlord receives such a letter, it should NOT be taken lightly, and most importantly, it should not be withheld from the attorney who may be filing the eviction action. Here is Florida law showing how the tenant’s letter could be a complete defense to an eviction action and stating the strength of the tenant’s letter to you. FS 83.60(1) …The defense of a material noncompliance with s. 83.51(1) may be raised by the tenant if 7 days have elapsed after the delivery of written notice by the tenant to the landlord specifying the noncompliance and indicating the intention of the tenant not to pay rent by reason thereof. Such notice by the tenant may be given to the landlord, the landlord's representative as designated pursuant to s. 83.50(1), a resident manager, or the person or entity who collects the rent on behalf of the landlord. A material noncompliance with s. 83.51(1) by the landlord is a complete defense to an action for possession based upon nonpayment of rent…

- Failure to disclose to your attorney that you have received a rent withholding letter, or 7 Day Letter as we commonly call it, can be deadly. Your attorney will file the eviction, the tenant will post the rent into the court registry and the judge may look at the letter as a complete defense to the eviction action, throwing the case out of court and holding you liable to pay a substantial amount of money in attorney’s fees to the tenant’s attorney. NEVER hide a letter like this from your attorney.

So you received the letter from the tenant, What should you do? – Notify the property owner, explain the law to the property owner, get the necessary funds and authorization, and get the repair done immediately. Judges are not keen on your excuse that you had no money from the owner to make the repairs, or you had to get 5 bids, or that no one could come out to make the repair. While all repair requests should be taken seriously, a repair request in the form of a 7 Day Letter from a Tenant or a Rent Withholding letter needs to be given the utmost priority.

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