Oakland Park Landlord Tenant Attorney

Getting a tenant out of a unit that is not paying, getting a landlord to fix a unit that is not livable, or getting a lease dispute resolved without burning through the deposit and the rent in legal fees: these are the outcomes people want when they search for an Oakland Park landlord tenant attorney. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles landlord and tenant matters as part of its real estate transactions and litigation practice, representing property owners, investors, business tenants, and individuals in Oakland Park, Broward County, and throughout South Florida.

Landlord-tenant disputes in Florida are governed by timing. The notice you serve, the day you serve it, and what you do with a partial payment can decide whether a case moves forward or has to be restarted. Oakland Park sits in a mix of older apartment buildings, small multifamily properties, single-family rentals, and commercial storefronts along its corridors, and each of these produces its own kind of dispute. Whether you are the one collecting rent or the one paying it, the sections below cover what Florida law actually requires and where cases tend to go wrong.

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 Oakland Park and the rest of Broward County, along with Palm Beach County and communities across South Florida. Firm founder Andrew M. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University and his law degree from the University of Miami. Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts.

The firm represents landlords, tenants, investors, and families in real estate disputes that include failed closings, purchase and sale contract disputes, commercial and residential leasing conflicts, partition actions, and title disputes. That breadth matters in landlord-tenant work, because a lease problem is rarely only a lease problem. It may involve a co-owner who will not agree to a sale, a guaranty signed by a business principal, or a purchase contract that turns on whether a tenant’s lease survives closing. In November 2024, the firm announced a final judgment from a Broward County circuit court granting its client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract after a five-day bench trial, a 32-page ruling that reflects the kind of document-driven, trial-ready work these disputes can require.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on your file knows it, and it keeps a strict 24-hour return call policy when attorneys are in court. Clients are told plainly what a case is likely to cost against what is at stake, and the firm looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget, including mediation and arbitration where they make sense. A significant part of the firm’s practice also comes from referrals by other attorneys.

Common Landlord and Tenant Disputes We Handle in Oakland Park

• Nonpayment of Rent: The most frequent residential dispute. Florida requires a written demand for payment or possession, and the tenant has three days after delivery, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court-observed legal holidays, before the landlord may terminate the rental agreement.
• Lease Violations and Curable Defaults: Unauthorized occupants, pets, or property use that breaks the lease. For violations that can be corrected, the landlord’s notice must give the tenant seven days from delivery to fix the problem or face termination.
• Incurable Violations: Intentional damage to property, repeated unreasonable disturbance of neighbors, or fraudulent entry can support a notice of intent to terminate that gives the tenant seven days to vacate, with no chance to cure.
• Landlord Failure to Maintain the Unit: A tenant who sends written notice of a material failure to keep the unit habitable or comply with the lease may terminate the rental agreement if the landlord does not fix the problem within seven days.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Retail and office tenants and their landlords fight over rent, common area charges, personal guaranties, build-out obligations, and early termination. These cases turn on the exact wording of the lease and the parties’ course of dealing.
• Month-to-Month and Open-Ended Tenancies: A tenancy with no fixed end date can be ended by written notice delivered in the manner Florida’s landlord-tenant statute prescribes, and mistakes in the notice are a common reason an eviction filing stalls.
• Security Deposits and Money Owed After Move-Out: Disputes over withheld deposits, unpaid rent after abandonment, and claims for damage beyond normal wear often end up in county court or small claims depending on the amount.
• Landlord-Tenant Issues Tied to a Sale or Co-Ownership Fight: When owners disagree over a rental property, or a property under contract has tenants in place, the lease questions become part of a larger title, partition, or contract dispute.

What to Do Right Now When a Rental Dispute Starts

The first step for either side is to stop improvising and gather the paper. Pull the lease and every amendment, the payment history, all notices sent or received, texts and emails about repairs or late rent, photographs of the unit’s condition, and any receipts. In Florida, the content and delivery of a notice matter as much as the underlying problem, and a defective notice can force a landlord to start over. A landlord who is owed rent should confirm that the written demand states the correct amount and is delivered properly before counting the three-day period, and should be careful about accepting money afterward. If a landlord accepts partial rent after posting a nonpayment notice, Florida law requires one of three things: a written receipt showing the date, amount received, agreed date for the balance, and the amount still due; depositing the partial rent into the court registry when filing for possession; or serving a new three-day notice reflecting the reduced balance. Taking partial rent does not by itself waive the right to terminate or sue, but sloppy handling gives a tenant an argument.

Tenants should respond in writing and keep proof. If you believe the landlord has failed to maintain the unit, send written notice describing the problem; the seven-day clock on your right to terminate runs from that notice, so a phone call or casual text does not do the job. If you have received a notice of nonpayment, do not assume it is valid or invalid without having it checked. The deadline and the exclusion of weekends and court-observed holidays make the arithmetic easy to get wrong, and ignoring a notice entirely is the single most damaging response.

Cases from Oakland Park are filed in Broward County. Residential eviction and money claims are generally heard in county court, with the monetary line separating small claims, county civil, and circuit civil cases; the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit covers Broward County, and the Broward Clerk handles filings out of the Central Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale and the regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. Larger commercial disputes, claims involving injunctive relief, and cases that fold in title or partnership issues belong in circuit court. If a dispute involves a sudden threat, such as a tenant stripping the property or a landlord locking out a tenant, the question of emergency injunctive relief should be raised immediately rather than after the damage is done.

The most common mistakes are self-help measures and timing errors. A landlord who changes the locks, shuts off utilities, or removes a tenant’s belongings without a court order creates liability that can outweigh the rent owed. A tenant who withholds rent without following the statutory notice process risks eviction on the nonpayment ground. Both sides lose ground by failing to put things in writing, by missing the delivery requirements, or by waiting until a notice period has run and then discovering the paperwork was defective.

Commercial Leases, Guaranties, and Disputes That Reach Beyond the Lease

Residential eviction follows a tightly prescribed statutory path. Commercial leases do not. A retail or office lease is a negotiated contract, and disputes are resolved largely by reading what the parties actually signed. Rent acceleration clauses, default and cure provisions, personal guaranties, and attorney fee clauses drive outcomes. A written lease also triggers a five-year limitations period for claims founded on the written instrument, while claims not founded on a written instrument have a four-year period, so a landlord chasing unpaid rent or a tenant pursuing a breach claim should not let years slip by assuming there is no deadline.

Landlord-tenant problems also tend to spill into other areas of real estate law. When co-owners of a rental property cannot agree on managing, selling, or dividing it, a partition action in circuit court may be the way out, and Florida law gives the court the option of dividing the property or ordering a sale and splitting the proceeds. When a business tenant’s owners fall into a dispute of their own, the lease and the company’s survival become entangled. And when a sale falls through or a buyer and seller disagree over occupied property, specific performance and contract remedies come into play. Because the firm handles business divorce, partition, title, and contract litigation alongside landlord-tenant work, these overlapping problems can be addressed together instead of passed between lawyers.

Questions Oakland Park Landlords and Tenants Ask

How long does a tenant have to pay after a three-day notice in Florida?

The tenant has three days after delivery of the written demand, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court-observed legal holidays. If rent is not paid within that period, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement and pursue possession in court.

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

For a curable violation, the landlord’s notice must give the tenant seven days from delivery to correct the problem before termination. For violations that cannot be cured, such as intentional destruction of property or repeated unreasonable disturbance, the landlord may deliver a notice of intent to terminate giving the tenant seven days to vacate.

Can a landlord accept partial rent after serving a notice?

Yes, but it must be handled correctly. Accepting partial rent does not waive the right to terminate or sue, but the landlord must provide a written receipt with the date, amount, and agreed balance, place the money in the court registry when filing, or serve a new three-day notice for the reduced amount.

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

If the landlord materially fails to meet its obligations under the statute or the rental agreement and does not cure within seven days after the tenant’s written notice, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement. The written notice is what starts the clock.

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

A tenancy with no specific duration is ended by written notice delivered in the manner Florida’s landlord-tenant statute requires. Getting the notice period and delivery method right is important, because a defective notice can undo an eviction filing.

Which court handles an eviction or lease dispute from Oakland Park?

These cases are filed in Broward County. Residential possession cases and many money claims go to county court, while larger commercial disputes and cases involving injunctions, title, or business entities belong in circuit court in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit.

How much can I sue for in small claims versus county court versus circuit court?

Small claims covers disputes up to the small claims limit, county civil court covers the range above that up to the county court ceiling, and circuit court hears larger claims. These thresholds are adjusted periodically, so confirm the current limits before choosing where to file.

What if my tenant’s business partners are fighting and the rent stopped?

That is common. When a commercial tenant’s owners are deadlocked or one is diverting company money, rent often stops. You may need to pursue the tenant entity and any personal guarantor under the lease while recognizing that a judicial dissolution or ownership fight may affect who can actually pay. Acting early on a guaranty claim matters.

Can a landlord lock out a tenant or shut off utilities to force them out?

No. Eviction must go through the court process. Self-help measures such as changing locks, removing belongings, or cutting off services can expose a landlord to liability, and they often make a straightforward possession case far more expensive.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a single-unit eviction or a deposit dispute?

Often, yes, particularly when notice defects, a counterclaim, or a lease with attorney fee provisions are involved. A short consultation can tell you whether the notice is sound, whether the amount justifies litigation, and whether negotiation or mediation would get you to the same place faster.

What if my landlord-tenant dispute is really part of a larger fight over the property?

Disputes over who owns, controls, or can sell a rental property often include lease issues. The firm handles partition actions, title disputes, and contract litigation, so the lease question can be addressed alongside the ownership question instead of in isolation.

Do out-of-state landlords need to appear in person for Florida proceedings?

Not generally for every step. The firm regularly represents owners who live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and handles the local court appearances, keeping the client informed so they do not have to travel for each hearing.

Serving Landlords and Tenants From Oakland Park Across Broward and Palm Beach Counties

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents clients in Oakland Park and the surrounding Broward County communities, including Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, Tamarac, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Lighthouse Point, Deerfield Beach, Sunrise, Plantation, Hollywood, and Davie. Our reach extends north into Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and the communities in between.

Landlord and tenant clients come to us from apartment complexes, small multifamily buildings, single-family rentals, and commercial centers throughout this region. We also work with property owners and investors who live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and own rental property or commercial space in South Florida, as well as with attorneys who refer matters involving Florida property. Whether the dispute belongs in Broward County’s courts or crosses into Palm Beach County, the team handles the proceedings locally and keeps you informed.

Talk to an Oakland Park Landlord Tenant Lawyer Before the Notice Clock Runs Out

Rental disputes are decided by deadlines, notices, and documents, and the earlier those are reviewed, the more options remain. If you are a landlord weighing an eviction or a lease claim, or a tenant who has received a notice or has a landlord who will not fix the unit, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review the lease, check the notices, and explain where you stand. Call to schedule a consultation with an Oakland Park landlord tenant lawyer who can tell you what the statute requires, what your claim is worth, and whether negotiation, mediation, or court is the right path.