Pompano Beach Landlord Tenant Attorney

In Florida, the dispute that looks like a simple missed rent payment is often decided by whether a notice was written correctly, delivered correctly, and followed by the right waiting period. A Pompano Beach landlord tenant attorney spends much of the work on those details, because a defective notice can undo a case before anyone reaches a courtroom. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles landlord and tenant disputes as part of its business and real estate litigation practice for property owners, investors, and tenants in Pompano Beach and across Broward County and Palm Beach County.

Pompano Beach has a mix of condominium communities, small multifamily buildings, single-family rentals, and commercial storefronts, and each produces a different kind of dispute. A landlord with a unit near the beach is not in the same position as an investor holding a retail space on a commercial corridor, and a month-to-month tenant is not in the same position as one with a signed lease. The sections below walk through how these cases actually unfold, what the notice rules require, and what to do while there is still room to act.

How Landlord and Tenant Disputes Typically Unfold in Broward County

Most of these cases start with a notice, not a lawsuit. Florida’s residential landlord-tenant statute requires a landlord to deliver a written notice before any eviction case can be filed, and the content and timing of that notice depend on what went wrong. If the problem is unpaid rent, the landlord delivers a written demand for payment or possession, and the tenant has three days to pay or leave, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court-observed legal holidays. That last point trips people up. A notice delivered on a Thursday does not expire on Sunday.

If the problem is something other than rent, the path splits. When the violation can be fixed, such as an unauthorized pet or an unapproved occupant, the landlord’s notice must give the tenant seven days from delivery to correct it, and it must say that the rental agreement will be terminated if the problem continues. When the violation cannot be fixed, such as intentional destruction of property or a repeat of the same disturbance, the landlord may instead give a notice of intent to terminate, and the tenant has seven days from delivery to vacate with no chance to cure. The same seven-day vacate notice applies when a tenant repeats a violation within twelve months of a written warning.

Once the notice period runs without payment, cure, or move-out, the landlord can file for possession. In practice, the first hearing is where most of the real work shows up. Judges look closely at whether the notice matched the statute, whether it was delivered properly, and whether the landlord accepted any money afterward that changes the picture. Cases with a clean paper trail tend to move quickly; cases with a defective notice tend to be dismissed and restarted, which costs the landlord weeks.

Tenants have their own side of this. If a landlord materially fails to maintain the unit or breaches the rental agreement, the tenant can send written notice, and if the landlord does not fix the problem within seven days, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement. Tenants who simply withhold rent without following the statute usually end up on the wrong side of the case, so the order of steps matters as much for tenants as for landlords.

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 Pompano Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and the rest of Broward County, along with West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, and Palm Beach County. The firm represents business owners, investors, and families in commercial and residential real estate transactions and litigation, including landlord and tenant matters, failed closings, purchase and sale contract disputes, partition actions, and title disputes. That range matters in landlord-tenant work, because a lease dispute frequently overlaps with a contract question, a co-ownership problem, or a fight over money that has gone missing.

Andrew M. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. 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 where it stands, and it keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court.

On the real estate side, the firm obtained a 32-page final judgment after a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court awarding its client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That is not a landlord-tenant eviction, but it reflects the kind of detailed, document-driven trial work that lease disputes sometimes demand when they grow beyond a simple possession case. The attorneys are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and they look for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than extending a case for its own sake.

Common Landlord and Tenant Disputes We Handle

• Nonpayment of Rent: The three-day notice, excluding weekends and court-observed holidays, is the starting point. Errors in the amount demanded or the delivery method are among the most common reasons these cases stall.
• Lease Violations That Can Be Cured: Unauthorized occupants, pets, or alterations call for a seven-day notice giving the tenant a chance to fix the problem before the lease is terminated.
• Violations With No Cure Period: Intentional damage to the landlord’s or other tenants’ property, or a repeated unreasonable disturbance, can support a seven-day notice to vacate without an opportunity to correct.
• Partial Rent Accepted After Notice: Taking part of the rent after serving a nonpayment notice does not by itself waive the landlord’s right to proceed, but the landlord must follow one of the statute’s safeguards, such as giving a written receipt, depositing the partial payment into the court registry, or serving a new notice for the revised amount.
• Tenant Remedies for Landlord Breach: When a landlord fails to meet maintenance obligations or the lease terms, a written notice starts a seven-day window after which the tenant may terminate the agreement.
• Month-to-Month Tenancies: A tenancy with no fixed end date can be ended by written notice delivered in the manner the statute prescribes, and mistakes in that notice are a frequent source of disputes.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Retail, office, and warehouse leases are governed largely by their own terms rather than the residential statute, so the wording of default, cure, and remedy provisions drives the outcome.
• Co-Owned Rental Property: When owners of a rental property disagree on whether to sell, lease, or hold, the dispute may become a partition action or a claim over where the rent money went.

What to Do Right Now If You Are a Landlord or Tenant in a Dispute

If you are a landlord, stop before serving anything. Pull the lease, the payment history, and every message exchanged with the tenant, and have a lawyer check the notice before it goes out. The most expensive mistakes are the ones made in the first week: demanding the wrong amount, delivering the notice in a way the statute does not allow, or cashing a partial payment without the proper paperwork. If a tenant has already paid part of the rent after your notice, do not assume the case is over or that you have lost your rights. Either deposit the partial payment with the court when you file, give a written receipt noting the date, amount, and balance, or serve a fresh notice.

If you are a tenant, read the notice carefully and count the days. A three-day notice for rent skips weekends and court-observed holidays, and a seven-day notice runs from delivery. Do not ignore a notice, and do not assume that talking to the landlord informally has stopped the clock. Keep proof of every payment, photos of any condition problems, and copies of any written repair request. If you plan to terminate because the landlord has not made repairs, the written notice and the seven-day period are what protect you, so send the notice in writing and keep a copy.

Where a case lands depends on the dollar value and the type of claim. Possession cases are filed in the county where the property sits, so a Pompano Beach rental is heard in Broward County. County court handles claims between $8,000.01 and $50,000, small claims cover amounts up to $8,000, and circuit court takes larger cases. Broward’s Seventeenth Judicial Circuit sits in and for Broward County, with courthouses in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. A landlord with a Palm Beach County property would be in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, with the main courthouse in West Palm Beach. Disputes that involve parties in different states and sufficient money at stake can also reach the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Do not try to resolve a possession dispute by changing locks, removing belongings, or cutting off utilities. Self-help of that kind exposes a landlord to liability that can dwarf the unpaid rent. If the situation involves missing funds, a business partner who collected rent and did not remit it, or a tenant who is also a co-owner, call early, because emergency relief such as an injunction may be available to freeze assets or protect the property while the dispute is pending.

When a Lease Dispute Is Really a Co-Ownership or Money Dispute

Some landlord-tenant cases are not about the tenant at all. Two partners own a building, one collects the rent, and the other never sees a distribution. A family inherits a duplex, one sibling lives in a unit rent-free while another expects a share of the income. An investor holds a rental in an LLC and the managing member will not account for the money. These disputes arrive looking like lease problems but are really claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, or recovery of diverted funds.

Florida law gives co-owners tools for these situations. A co-owner of real estate can ask the court for partition, which either divides the property or orders it sold with the proceeds split among the owners. Where the owners hold through an LLC, a court may dissolve the company on specific grounds, including deadlock between owners that threatens irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of company assets, or a situation in which 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. The firm’s partnership dispute and partition work often runs alongside the lease issues in cases like these.

Landlord Tenant Questions We Hear in Pompano Beach

How much notice does a landlord have to give before filing an eviction?

It depends on the reason. For unpaid rent, the notice gives the tenant three days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed legal holidays. For a curable lease violation, the tenant gets seven days from delivery to correct the problem. For violations that cannot be cured, or repeats within twelve months of a written warning, the notice gives seven days to vacate.

Does a weekend count toward the three-day rent notice?

No. Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays are excluded, and for this purpose only court-observed holidays count. A notice delivered late in the week will run into the following week.

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

Not automatically. Accepting partial rent does not waive the right to terminate or sue, but the landlord must either give the tenant a written receipt with the date, amount, and the balance and agreed due date, deposit the partial payment in the court registry when filing, or serve a new three-day notice for the reduced amount. Skipping these steps creates problems.

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

A tenant can terminate if the landlord materially fails to comply with the statutory maintenance duties or the rental agreement within seven days after the tenant gives written notice. The notice should be in writing and the tenant should keep proof of delivery.

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

A tenancy with no specific duration can be ended by written notice delivered in the manner the statute provides for termination notices. The details of timing and delivery matter, and a defective notice can force a landlord to start over.

Which court handles my case, and how much money decides that?

Small claims covers disputes up to $8,000, county court covers claims above that up to $50,000, and circuit court handles larger amounts. The threshold is adjusted periodically, so confirm the current limit before filing. A dispute over a Pompano Beach property is heard in Broward County.

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

Often yes, because the case turns on technical notice rules. A notice that looks fine but misstates the amount or is delivered improperly can cost weeks. A lawyer reviewing the paperwork before it is served is usually cheaper than restarting after a dismissal.

What if the person collecting my rent will not turn it over?

That is a money dispute, not a lease dispute. Depending on the facts, you may have claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and recovery of the funds. In urgent situations a court can issue injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved while the case proceeds.

Can a co-owner force the sale of a rental property in Florida?

Yes. A co-owner can file a partition action asking the court to divide the property or, when division is not practical, order a sale at public auction with proceeds divided according to ownership interests. Special rules apply when the property qualifies as heirs property, which generally involves tenants in common who acquired title from a relative.

I live in New York or New Jersey and own a rental in Broward County. Can you handle the case?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in South Florida. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

Does a landlord-tenant dispute always end in court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, a payment arrangement, or mediation. The attorneys have experience in mediation and arbitration as well as litigation and will pursue the path most likely to reach your goal efficiently.

Serving Landlord and Tenant Clients From Pompano Beach Across South Florida

The firm’s work begins in Pompano Beach and extends through the rest of Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Lighthouse Point, Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Margate, Tamarac, Sunrise, Plantation, Davie, Hollywood, Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, Parkland, and Lauderhill. Heading north, the firm also represents owners and tenants in Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and the communities between them.

Because many landlords and investors in these markets live elsewhere, the firm also serves clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own rental property or hold business interests in South Florida and need a local litigator to appear in court on their behalf. Other attorneys also refer matters to the firm when their clients have real estate or business disputes in Florida.

Talk With a Pompano Beach Landlord Tenant Lawyer Before the Deadline Runs

Notice periods in landlord-tenant cases are short, and the first document served often decides how the rest of the case goes. If you are a property owner preparing to serve a notice, or a tenant who has just received one, speaking with a Pompano Beach landlord tenant lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can help you act on the right timeline. Call the firm to schedule a consultation and talk through the lease, the notice, and the options available to you.