Broward County Landlord Tenant Attorney

Florida’s eviction clock runs in days, not months, and a single defective notice can send a landlord back to square one. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team works with commercial and residential landlords, tenants, and investors on lease disputes and real estate litigation across Broward County and Palm Beach County. If you are searching for a Broward County landlord tenant attorney, the first thing to know is that the notice you serve or receive, and the timing around it, often decides the outcome before anyone steps into a courtroom.

Most landlord-tenant fights in Broward start with one of three events: rent that stops arriving, a lease violation that one side says is serious and the other says is trivial, or a property that has deteriorated to the point where a tenant stops paying. Each path has its own notice requirements under Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes, and mixing them up is the most common way a case goes sideways.

The decisions come fast. Whether to accept a partial payment, whether to give a cure period, whether to terminate or negotiate, and whether to file in county court or somewhere else all carry consequences. Getting advice before you make the move is worth far more than getting advice after.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving clients in Broward County, Palm Beach County, and throughout South Florida, including Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, and West Palm Beach.

Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. His career has centered on contract disputes, which matters here because a lease is a contract, and most landlord-tenant cases turn on its exact wording and on what the parties actually did under it. Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on your matter knows the file. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when someone is in court and cannot pick up. In November 2024, the firm announced a result relevant to real estate clients: after a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That is the kind of trial work that stands behind a lease dispute that cannot be settled.

The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and it looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget. In many lease disputes, a negotiated move-out or payment schedule beats a contested judgment, and the firm will tell you when that is the smarter path.

Common Landlord-Tenant Disputes in Broward County

• Nonpayment of Rent: The most frequent dispute. A landlord must deliver a written demand for payment or possession, and the tenant then has three days, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court-observed legal holidays, to pay or leave before the landlord may terminate.
• Lease Violations Other Than Rent: Unauthorized occupants, pets, subletting, or use of the unit contrary to the lease. For violations that can be fixed, the notice must give the tenant seven days to correct the problem before the landlord can terminate.
• Incurable Violations: Intentional destruction or damage to property, fraudulent entry into a dwelling, and repeated unreasonable disturbances can support a notice of intent to terminate with a seven-day deadline to vacate and no chance to cure.
• Landlord Failure to Maintain the Unit: When a landlord materially fails to meet statutory maintenance duties or lease obligations, the tenant may send written notice and, if the problem is not fixed within seven days, terminate the rental agreement.
• Commercial Lease Defaults: Shopping center, office, and industrial leases in Broward often involve personal guarantees, percentage rent, common area charges, and holdover provisions that sit outside the residential statute and are governed mainly by the lease terms.
• Month-to-Month and Periodic Tenancies: A tenancy without a fixed end date can be ended by written notice delivered in the manner the statute requires, and defects in that notice are a common source of dismissed cases.
• Partial Payments and Waiver Problems: Accepting some rent after a nonpayment notice does not by itself waive the landlord’s right to terminate, but the landlord must follow specific steps, such as issuing a receipt or posting a new notice, to keep the case clean.
• Co-Owner and Investor Property Conflicts: When the landlord side is itself a dispute among owners, the lease fight can turn into a partnership dispute or a partition action over the building.

What to Do When a Lease Dispute Reaches the Notice Stage

If you are a landlord, stop and read your lease before you send anything. Confirm who the tenant of record is, what the lease requires for notices, and whether the problem is curable. Then match the notice to the problem. A rent default calls for the three-day demand; a curable lease violation calls for the seven-day cure notice; a repeated or incurable violation may call for a seven-day termination notice. Sending the wrong form is the single most common reason a Florida eviction gets thrown out and restarted.

Keep a clean paper trail: the lease, the payment ledger, photographs, texts and emails, and proof of how and when each notice was delivered. If you take a partial payment after serving a nonpayment notice, do not just deposit it and move on. Either issue a written receipt stating the date, the amount, and the balance due, deposit the money into the court registry when you file, or serve a new notice reflecting the lower balance.

If you are a tenant, do not ignore a notice and do not assume a verbal promise from the landlord will protect you. Write down the date you received it, gather your rent receipts and any written communications, and respond in writing. If your complaint is that the unit is not being kept habitable, send the landlord a written notice describing the problem; the seven-day clock for your termination rights starts from that written notice, not from a phone call. Tenants who stop paying without following the statutory process often hand the landlord a case that is easy to win.

Where the case is filed depends on the claim and the amount. Eviction cases and money claims within the county court limits are heard by the county court in Broward County, which holds sessions at the Central Judicial Complex in Fort Lauderdale and at the North Regional Courthouse in Deerfield Beach, the South Regional Courthouse in Hollywood, and the West Regional Courthouse in Plantation. Claims above the county court ceiling belong in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit’s circuit civil division. Small claims for modest unpaid amounts are handled separately from the larger county civil docket. Because limits are adjusted periodically, confirm the current thresholds before filing.

Large commercial lease disputes sometimes qualify for the Seventeenth Circuit’s complex business division, which handles major business and construction litigation. A case may be filed directly into that division only by following the circuit’s administrative order and submitting the required form with the clerk at filing, after which the clerk randomly assigns it. Federal court in Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach may come into play when the parties are from different states and the amount at stake supports federal jurisdiction.

When a Landlord-Tenant Fight Is Really a Business or Ownership Dispute

Many Broward lease cases are not simple. The landlord may be an LLC whose members disagree about whether to evict a tenant who is also a relative or a business associate. The tenant may be a company whose owners are deadlocked over whether to pay rent at all. A building may be owned by siblings who inherited it and cannot agree on a lease renewal.

These situations call for more than an eviction filing. Florida provides a partition action when co-owners cannot agree about a property, either dividing it or ordering a sale with proceeds shared among the owners. Chapter 605 allows a court to dissolve an LLC when members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or when it is no longer reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the operating agreement. The court may also appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of a petitioning member’s interest. When money is missing from rent collections, claims for an accounting and breach of fiduciary duty may belong in the same case, and emergency injunctive relief can freeze assets while the dispute is pending.

The firm’s work in business divorce, partition, quiet title, and injunctions is the reason a landlord-tenant call sometimes turns into a broader strategy conversation. Fixing the ownership problem first can make the lease problem disappear.

Time Limits That Apply to Lease and Real Estate Claims

The eviction notice periods are short, but the lawsuit deadlines for money claims are much longer. A claim founded on a written lease generally must be filed within five years under Florida’s limitations statute. A claim on an oral or implied agreement has a four-year period. A claim founded on negligence, such as certain injury-related premises claims, is now limited to two years for causes of action accruing after the 2023 amendments. Fraud claims have their own four-year period running from discovery, capped at 12 years, and an action for specific performance of a contract has a one-year period.

Longer deadlines are not a reason to wait. Evidence disappears, witnesses move, and unpaid rent compounds. A landlord who sits on a default for years usually loses leverage, and a tenant who waits to assert a habitability complaint can undermine the claim.

Questions Broward Landlords and Tenants Ask

How much notice does a Florida landlord have to give before filing an eviction for unpaid rent?

The landlord must deliver a written demand for payment or possession. If the tenant fails to pay and the default continues for three days after delivery, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed legal holidays, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement and proceed to court.

What is the difference between a curable and an incurable lease violation?

A curable violation is one the tenant can fix, such as an unauthorized pet or clutter in violation of the lease. The landlord’s notice must give seven days from delivery to correct it. An incurable violation, such as intentional property destruction or a repeated unreasonable disturbance, can support a notice that terminates the tenancy with seven days to vacate and no chance to cure.

If I accept part of the rent after serving a notice, do I lose my right to evict?

Not automatically. Accepting partial rent does not waive a landlord’s right to terminate or sue, but the landlord must follow the statute’s steps: give a receipt stating the amount, date, and balance due; place the partial payment in the court registry when filing; or serve a new notice for the reduced amount.

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

If the landlord materially fails to meet its statutory or lease obligations and does not fix the problem within seven days after the tenant’s written notice, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement. The written notice matters; calls and verbal complaints do not start that clock.

How do I end a month-to-month tenancy in Broward County?

A tenancy with no specific duration is ended by written notice delivered in the manner the statute requires. A notice that is late, undelivered, or improperly delivered can be challenged, so confirm the method and timing before relying on it.

Which court handles my landlord-tenant case?

Broward County’s county court hears eviction and money claims within its jurisdictional limit, which is adjusted periodically, while the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit’s circuit civil division handles larger claims. Small claims are for the lowest-dollar disputes. The right court depends on what you are asking for.

Can I sue for unpaid rent after the tenant has moved out?

Yes. A claim on a written lease generally has a five-year limitations period. Collecting a judgment is a separate question, so it is worth assessing whether the tenant or any guarantor has assets before spending money on litigation.

My co-owner and I disagree about how to handle a tenant. What are our options?

That depends on how title and the business are structured. Depending on the facts, options include a negotiated buyout, a partition action, judicial dissolution of the owning entity, or the appointment of a receiver. Operating agreements often contain deadlock or buyout provisions that must be considered first.

Do I need a lawyer for a commercial lease dispute?

Often yes. Commercial leases are governed mainly by their own terms, not the residential statute, and they frequently include personal guarantees, acceleration clauses, and attorney fee provisions. A misstep in notice or interpretation can be expensive.

I live in New York or New Jersey and own a rental property in Broward. Can I handle this from afar?

Yes, with local counsel. The firm represents out-of-state owners in South Florida, handles the court appearances, and keeps clients informed, so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if my landlord-tenant dispute is small?

It can be, especially when a defective notice could cost weeks or a missed deadline could cost the case. A short consultation often clarifies whether the cost of a lawyer is justified or whether a negotiated resolution is realistic.

Can mediation resolve a lease dispute?

Often. Many landlord-tenant and commercial lease disputes settle through negotiation or mediation, particularly when both sides want a clean exit more than a judgment. The firm has experience in mediation and arbitration as well as trial.

Serving Landlord and Tenant Clients Across Broward County

From Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Pompano Beach, through Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, and Plantation, the firm represents landlords, tenants, and property owners throughout Broward County. We also serve clients in Davie, Sunrise, Weston, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Coconut Creek, Margate, Tamarac, Lauderhill, Oakland Park, Dania Beach, and Hallandale Beach. Whether the property is a downtown Fort Lauderdale office suite, a retail space along a commercial corridor, a multi-family building near the coast, or a single-family rental inland, the same notice rules and court procedures apply.

Just north, the firm serves Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and the rest of Palm Beach County, and it works with owners and investors from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold property in South Florida.

Talk to a Broward County Landlord Tenant Lawyer Before the Deadline Passes

Notice periods in Florida are measured in days, and mistakes at the start of a case are hard to undo. If you need a Broward County landlord tenant lawyer to review a lease, draft or respond to a notice, or take a dispute to court, call the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team. We will review the facts, explain the realistic paths, and tell you whether the case calls for a quick negotiated resolution or a full filing. Call to schedule a consultation.