[hulvano]

I rented a house where the garage door broke on the first day the tenants occupied it. They claim they did not break it. I was not there to witness, so I do not know. The house was inspected prior to occupancy and everything was found in working order. The tenants agreed to pay for half of the repair using the deposit money. Now that the lease has ended they do not recall agreeing to this and want their deposit back in full. This agreement was verbal and only a copy of the receipt of repair was given to the landlord and tenant. Also in the lease it states that the Landlord and Tenant shall each be responsible for loss, damage, or injury caused by its own negligence or willful conduct. How do I know who is responsible? The tenants do not feel they should have to pay for half of the repair and want the deposit in full. Also they did not give any notice that they were going to leave at the end of the lease. I recall that tenants are supposed to give notice in writing of their intent not to renew. Is this true? I cannot find it in the leasing contract. Is there any Florida Law stating that?

[Cvillecpm]

I rented a house where the garage door broke on the first day the tenants occupied it. They claim they did not break it. I was not there to witness, so I do not know. The house was inspected prior to occupancy and everything was found in working order. The tenants agreed to pay for half of the repair using the deposit money. Now that the lease has ended they do not recall agreeing to this and want their deposit back in full. This agreement was verbal and only a copy of the receipt of repair was given to the landlord and tenant. Also in the lease it states that the Landlord and Tenant shall each be responsible for loss, damage, or injury caused by its own negligence or willful conduct. How do I know who is responsible? The tenants do not feel they should have to pay for half of the repair and want the deposit in full. Also they did not give any notice that they were going to leave at the end of the lease. I recall that tenants are supposed to give notice in writing of their intent not to renew. Is this true? I cannot find it in the leasing contract. Is there any Florida Law stating that?

ALWAYS memorialize such agreements in writing - even if it is via e-mail... charge the tenant for the entire door repair.

[landlord advocate]

Please describe the problem with the door and the repair necessary. It is going to depend on whether it appears to be something that could have been broken due to the tenant's negligence, or is it a repair due to normal wear and tear. If it is normal wear and tear, then it is the landlord's responsibility to keep the door in repair.

The lease is a legal agreement that ends on a specific date. It is customary for the landlord to send a letter asking if the tenant intends to renew the lease. It is often written into the lease that the tenant must give notice of intent to leave at the end of the lease or renew. The problem is, the lease listed a specific date upon which the lease would end. Lawyers for the tenant will argue that the written agreement specified a time frame for the contract. When the time was up, the contract ended and the tenant was free to move out on or before that date. In some courts, that is enough to satisfy the judge.