Seven clauses you need to add to your Florida residential lease
Abandoned property agreement. This allows the landlord to dispose of any of the tenant’s property that is left behind as they see fit. You can get this on the forms page.
Jury Waiver: A jury trial for an eviction ! You will be very sorry if you do not have a jury waiver in your lease.
Month to month. Take the end date off of the lease and voila, its month to month. This enables the landlord to terminate the tenancy of a troublesome tenant for no cause upon 30 days written notice.
Late fees. Complete unregulated in Florida. Charge anything you want. I recommend a daily late fee.
Tenant identity. Put the tenant’s date of birth, social security number, and military status on the lease. That way you can track them down if you want to recover damages. Also if you file an eviction and the tenant does not file a response, the law requires you to prove to the court that the tenant is not active duty military. You can get a certificate from the Department of Defense ( see helpful links page) but it requires the tenant’s date of birth or SSN.
No repairs. If the leased premises is less than three units, the landlord can put in the lease that the landlord is not obligated to make any repairs §83.51(1)(b). Say goodbye to lawsuits for slip & fall or mold.
No assignment of interest. Opportunist law firms have been acquiring the tenant’s right to recover their security deposit and suing landlord’s to get the mandatory attorney’s fees. So add a clause to your lease that the tenant may not assign any rights under the lease to third parties.