As a tenant, the law protects you from illegal eviction. Your landlord cannot wake up one day and decide to evict you from their premises without valid reasons.
Your landlord needs to follow the law when evicting you, even if they have justifiable reasons such as failure to pay rent or violating the lease agreement. Below is a brief explanation of the eviction process in Florida.
Your landlord should give you notice of termination
Usually, the landlord must give you a written notice of their intention to evict you from the premises. Such notice may come with conditions that will prevent the eviction or not, which means that you will have to vacate from their premises.
The time frame for the eviction notice depends on their reasons for terminating the lease. For instance, if you fail to meet your rent obligations, you may be issued a three-day notice to pay up or ship out, while you may have seven days to correct a violation of the lease agreement.
What next?
After you are issued the notice, your landlord will then file a summons and complaint with the court, whereby you will be allowed to respond and defend yourself. The court will then deliberate on the matter, and it may either grant or deny the eviction.
If the eviction is allowed, the judge will issue a writ of possession which, in essence, is a ruling in favor of the landlord requiring you to vacate the premises.
Safeguarding your legal rights
Your landlord cannot make you move out by frustrating your stay in their property. Actions such as turning off utility services or changing the locks to your residence are illegal, and you can sue them for that.
Knowing your rights will prevent any form of injustice, a situation many tenants find themselves in at the hands of rogue landlords.