I had a 2 year lease in Lake County, FL and after we moved into the place we found that we were mislead and that the neighborhood was not the family neighborhood we were told by the real estate agent. After someone tried to break into our house and many other issues in the neighborhood we sent a certified letter giving a notice that we will be leaving the property. It was sent 2 months prior to us leaving the property. We of course received no security deposit back. We are now being sued for the remaining rent in a town almost 4 hours away. We filed for a change of venue and had it approved to be moved back to where we lived (It's also where the lease was entered into) We assumed now we wait for a new date for a hearing and we just received another letter from the landlord for a change of venue back to where he lives. His letter stated that we failed to pay the filing fee. We were told by the clerk of courts that he is suing he has to pay. Now that we are calling back with receiving this letter the clerk of court is telling us they really don't know the answer and I would need to consult a layer to find out... Can anyone help!
Thanks

With the change of venue issue, I don't know. If the court clerk doesn't know, I don't know who would.

But with the issue of the landlord suing you, you will likely lose. What's worse is you are in the worst state when it comes to breaking a lease. In Florida landlords are not required to make a reasonable effort to re rent the premises. So they can sit on the rental and force you to pay until the end of your lease.

Sorry, but nature of the neighborhood will NOT be grounds to break your lease.

I would urge you to try and settle this without going to court.

If you are requesting a change in Venue, it would be your responsibility to pay for the filing of that document.

If the fee was not paid, the court will not process it, so, you do not have a change in Venue.

While he has to pay all the normal fees, he is not required to pay the fee for you to move the case to a more convenient location, for your benefit.

Also, FL law is totally pro landlord, he is not even required to attempt to re-rent the property, and can charge you the full rent, up to the end of the term you signed for, plus any other fees as stated in the lease, regarding default or early termination.

If you cannot pay to file the change of venue soon enough, you may have to attend the scheduled hearing in order to avoid a default judgment. If you feel that your evidence could prevent them from winning this case, you have to go to the hearing.

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Originally Posted by JohnF

Now that we are calling back with receiving this letter the clerk of court is telling us they really don't know the answer and I would need to consult a layer to find out...Can anyone help!!
Thanks

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They may not be able to answer your question, but they should be able to verify if they still have you down for a hearing or not, and if so when and where.

Just don't miss your hearing. If you do you'll automatically lose and have a judgement entered against you.

I agree with ScottGem. Try to settle with the landlord. You'll likely lose in court.

I do have one bit of advice regarding what he said. While it's true that the landlord doesn't have to attempt to re-rent the property during the original term of your lease (mitigate damages, in other words), most landlords will re-rent the property asap anyway. Find out of the property is occupied, and if so, find out when they moved in. (Ask a neighbor, or just go knock on their door and ask them when they moved in.) That will give you a bargaining chip to use with the landlord if you attempt to settle. You can say, "I know that the new people moved in on XXX day, so you lost rent for XXX days." Or, if you do go to court you can present that. Most judges won't award the landlord monetary damages past the time when someone new moved in.

Rockinmommy is correct. Its certainly possible the landlord didn't initiate his suit until he re-rented the property so he could know the amount of his losses. On the other hand, he could just be suing for the balance of the lease.