West Palm Beach Landlord Tenant Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents landlords, property owners, investors, and tenants in West Palm Beach and across Palm Beach County and Broward County, handling the lease disputes, evictions, and commercial and residential real estate conflicts that business owners and families bring to us. If you are searching for a West Palm Beach landlord tenant attorney, the first thing to know is that Florida’s eviction and lease-termination rules run on short, rigid clocks, and a notice that is defective on its face can cost a landlord weeks.

Nonpayment of rent gives a landlord a three-day window, counted after a written demand for payment or possession is delivered, and Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed legal holidays do not count toward those days. A tenant who violates the lease in some other way may be entitled to seven days to fix the problem before the landlord can terminate. Each of these notices has required content, and an error at this stage can undermine everything that follows. Whether you own a single rental house, a small retail center, or a portfolio of investment property, the quality of that first notice often decides how the case unfolds.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Landlord and Tenant Disputes

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a South Florida business and real estate litigation firm that serves clients in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County. Landlord and tenant conflicts sit at the intersection of the two things the firm does best: real estate transactions and litigation on one side, and contract enforcement on the other. A lease is a contract, and these disputes frequently turn on the exact wording of the document and the history between the parties, which is the kind of detailed work the firm has built its practice around.

Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida since being admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University and a law degree from the University of Miami. Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience handling business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on a file knows its status, and it keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court.

The firm’s recent record in real estate disputes includes a 5-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court that ended in a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That result reflects the preparation the firm brings to contract-driven real estate cases, including leases. The firm also looks for resolutions that fit a client’s goals and budget, through mediation and arbitration where they make sense, rather than prolonging a case for its own sake. Many landlords and tenants simply want possession, payment, or an exit from a lease at a cost that makes sense.

Types of Landlord and Tenant Disputes We Handle

• Nonpayment of Rent: The three-day notice process, partial payments accepted after the notice is posted, and the claim for back rent that often accompanies a possession case.
• Lease Violations: Unauthorized occupants, unapproved alterations, pets, subletting, and other breaches, including the difference between violations the tenant may cure and those that allow termination with no chance to cure.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Rent escalations, common area charges, personal guaranties, use restrictions, and default claims between landlords and business tenants in West Palm Beach and the surrounding commercial corridors.
• Month-to-Month Tenancy Terminations: Ending a tenancy with no fixed term by proper written notice, and the disputes that arise when the notice is late, incomplete, or improperly delivered.
• Tenant Claims for Landlord Failures: Habitability and maintenance problems, written notice to the landlord, and the tenant’s right to terminate if the landlord fails to cure within seven days.
• Property Damage and Intentional Misuse: Deliberate destruction of the premises or repeated unreasonable disturbance, which can allow a landlord to give a seven-day notice to vacate without a cure period.
• Disputes Over Money Owed: Unpaid rent, damages beyond the security deposit, and recovery of funds from tenants or guarantors, including cases where larger sums are at stake.
• Co-Owner and Family Property Conflicts: Rental property owned jointly by partners, siblings, or heirs, where the owners disagree about leasing, collecting rent, or selling, sometimes ending in a partition action.

What a Landlord or Tenant Should Do Right Now

Start with the lease and your paper trail. Gather the signed lease and any amendments, every notice sent or received, rent ledgers, payment records, texts and emails, and photographs of the property. For a landlord, the notice is the foundation. Before posting or delivering one, confirm which kind applies: a three-day demand for rent, a seven-day notice with a chance to cure, or a seven-day notice of termination for a violation that cannot be cured or that repeats within twelve months of a prior written warning. A mistake in selecting or drafting the notice is the most common reason an otherwise strong eviction case stalls.

Be careful about partial rent. A landlord who accepts a partial payment after serving a nonpayment notice does not necessarily lose the right to terminate, but must handle it correctly: give the tenant a dated receipt that states the amount received and the balance due, deposit the partial payment into the court registry when filing for possession, or serve a fresh three-day notice for the reduced amount. Skipping these steps hands the tenant an argument that the notice was waived.

Tenants should read any notice closely and act within the stated deadline rather than ignoring it. If you believe the landlord has failed to maintain the unit, send written notice describing the problem; the right to terminate for a material failure generally depends on the landlord not fixing it within seven days after that written notice. Do not withhold rent or move out on a theory you have not confirmed with counsel, because doing it wrong can create a rent claim against you.

Where a case lands depends mostly on the amount in controversy. Small claims cover disputes up to $8,000, county civil court handles claims from there up to the county court ceiling, and circuit court takes larger cases. In Palm Beach County, both circuit civil and county civil divisions sit in the main courthouse in West Palm Beach, and the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit serves the county. Broward County matters are heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which operates a complex business division for larger commercial disputes. Some disputes involving diverse parties or federal questions can end up in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

Residential and Commercial Leases Are Not Treated the Same

Florida’s statutory notice scheme for termination and eviction is written primarily around residential tenancies. Commercial leases lean much more heavily on the contract itself. A commercial landlord’s remedies, the tenant’s cure rights, acceleration of rent, attorney fee provisions, and guaranty obligations are typically spelled out in the lease, and courts enforce those terms closely. That is why commercial lease cases reward careful reading of the document and its negotiating history, rather than reliance on a standard form.

Limitations periods matter too. A claim founded on a written lease generally must be filed within five years, while a claim based on an oral or implied agreement has a four-year period. Those deadlines run separately from the quick procedural clocks in an eviction, so a landlord chasing unpaid rent after a tenant has left still needs to watch the calendar.

Disputes also overlap with other areas of the firm’s practice. A landlord whose business partner has been diverting rent, or co-owners who cannot agree about a leased property, may need an accounting, an injunction to prevent funds or assets from being moved, or a partition of the property. The firm handles those claims alongside the lease dispute itself.

Landlord Tenant Questions We Hear From West Palm Beach Clients

How long does a tenant have to pay after a nonpayment notice?

A tenant has three days after delivery of the written demand to pay or vacate, and weekends and court-observed legal holidays are excluded from the count. If the tenant does not pay within that window, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement and file for possession.

Can a landlord evict without giving the tenant a chance to fix a violation?

Sometimes. For violations that can be cured, the landlord’s notice must give seven days to correct the problem. For certain conduct, such as intentional destruction or misuse of property or repeated unreasonable disturbance, the landlord can serve a seven-day notice of termination without a cure opportunity. A repeat violation within twelve months of a written warning is also treated this way.

What happens if I accept partial rent after serving a notice?

Accepting partial rent does not automatically waive your right to terminate, but you must follow one of three paths: give the tenant a receipt showing the amount received, the balance owed, and the agreed date for payment; place the money in the court registry when you file; or serve a new three-day notice for the lower amount.

How do I end a month-to-month tenancy?

A tenancy with no set end date is terminated by written notice delivered in the manner the statute requires. Defective delivery or timing is a frequent reason these terminations are challenged, so confirm the requirements before sending the notice.

Can a tenant break a lease if the landlord does not make repairs?

A tenant may terminate if the landlord materially fails to meet his or her obligations and does not correct the problem within seven days after receiving written notice from the tenant. The notice should be in writing and should describe the problem specifically.

What is the difference between a landlord tenant case in county court and circuit court?

The amount in dispute drives the answer. Small claims handle amounts up to $8,000, county civil court covers the middle range, and circuit court hears larger claims. The court ceilings are adjusted periodically, so confirm the current thresholds before choosing where to file.

How long do I have to sue over unpaid rent under a written lease?

Claims founded on a written instrument generally have a five-year limitations period, while oral or implied agreements fall under four years. Waiting is rarely wise, because evidence and tenant whereabouts become harder to track over time.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a single-tenant eviction?

Often yes, because the process is technical and a flawed notice can force a landlord to start over. Counsel also helps when the tenant raises defenses, counterclaims, or disputes the amount owed, and when a personal guaranty or business owner is involved.

What if my co-owner collected the rent and will not share it?

That can support claims for an accounting and breach of fiduciary duty, and where money is being moved, a court can be asked for emergency injunctive relief. If the owners can no longer work together on the property, a partition action may be the right route.

I live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut and own rental property here. Can you handle a tenant dispute for me?

Yes. The firm regularly represents out-of-state owners with South Florida real estate, handles the local court appearances, and keeps clients informed at each stage so they do not have to travel for hearings.

Does a landlord tenant dispute have to end in court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, a payment arrangement, a negotiated move-out, or mediation. The firm pursues the route most likely to reach your goal efficiently, and litigates when that is what the situation demands.

Serving Landlord and Tenant Clients Across West Palm Beach and South Florida

From downtown West Palm Beach and the Flamingo Park and El Cid neighborhoods through Northwood, Grandview Heights, and the Clematis Street corridor, our team represents property owners and tenants across the city. We also serve clients in Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Riviera Beach, and Greenacres throughout Palm Beach County.

The firm’s work extends south into Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, and Hollywood. Whether the property is a rental home, a multifamily building, or a commercial space, we handle the dispute in the court where it belongs. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own property in these communities can rely on us to manage local proceedings for them.

Talk With a West Palm Beach Landlord Tenant Lawyer Before the Deadline Passes

Landlord and tenant disputes reward quick, accurate action. If you need a West Palm Beach landlord tenant lawyer to review a lease, draft or defend a notice, pursue possession or unpaid rent, or resolve a conflict with a co-owner or business tenant, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is ready to talk through your situation. Call the firm to schedule a consultation and get a clear picture of your options before the next deadline arrives.