Riviera Beach Landlord Tenant Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents landlords, property investors, business tenants, and residential tenants in Riviera Beach and across Palm Beach County, handling lease disputes, evictions, and the larger business and real estate conflicts that tend to sit behind them. A Riviera Beach landlord tenant attorney is often called in at the point where a notice has been posted, a rent check has bounced, or a lease has been violated and one side needs to know exactly what the next seven days look like.

Florida’s landlord-tenant rules run on short clocks. A three-day rent demand, a seven-day cure notice, and a seven-day termination notice can each be defective in ways that cost a landlord weeks, or cost a tenant a home, if the paperwork is not handled correctly from the first page. The firm also works with out-of-state owners in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold rental property in the Riviera Beach area and want a Florida litigator handling the local proceedings.

How Eviction and Lease Termination Actually Unfold in Florida

Almost every residential possession case begins with a written notice, and the type of notice depends on what went wrong. For unpaid rent, the landlord delivers a written demand for payment or possession. The tenant then has three days to pay or leave, and Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed legal holidays do not count toward those three days. If the default continues past that window, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement and move toward filing for possession.

Other lease violations follow a different path. When the problem can be fixed, such as an unauthorized pet or a lease term being ignored, the landlord’s notice must tell the tenant that the rental agreement will be terminated if the noncompliance is not corrected within seven days of delivery. Some conduct gets no chance to cure. Intentional destruction or misuse of the landlord’s property or another tenant’s property, and a repeated or continuing unreasonable disturbance, can support a seven-day notice of intent to terminate with no opportunity to fix the problem. The same seven-day notice applies when a violation repeats within twelve months of a written warning.

Month-to-month and other tenancies without a fixed end date can be ended by written notice delivered the way the landlord-tenant statute prescribes. A landlord who skips the correct form of notice, or sends the wrong one for the situation, gives the tenant a defense and usually has to start over.

Tenants have their own termination right. If a landlord materially fails to meet his or her obligations under the statute or the lease, and does not fix the problem within seven days after receiving the tenant’s written notice, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement. As with landlord notices, the written step and the timing are what make the right enforceable.

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 serving Riviera Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and communities throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County. The firm represents business owners, investors, and families in commercial and residential real estate disputes, including failed closings, purchase and sale contract disputes, and landlord and tenant matters. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, with a career built around contract disputes and conflicts between co-owners. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989.

He is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on a matter knows the file, and it keeps a strict 24-hour return call policy when an attorney is in court. That matters in lease disputes, where a day can decide whether a notice is timely.

The firm’s record in real estate litigation 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. For landlords and tenants, the relevance is practical: many lease conflicts are really contract cases, and they turn on the exact wording of the agreement and the history between the parties. The firm also resolves disputes through mediation and arbitration when that serves the client better than a courtroom, and it pursues the outcome that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Landlord and Tenant Situations the Firm Handles

• Nonpayment of Rent: Handling the three-day demand, including the rules on partial payments. A landlord who accepts partial rent after posting the notice does not give up the right to terminate or sue, but must either issue a receipt noting the date, amount, and balance, deposit the partial payment with the court registry when filing, or serve a new notice reflecting the reduced amount.
• Lease Violations and Seven-Day Notices: Drafting or defending notices for curable violations, uncurable misconduct such as intentional property damage, and repeat violations within twelve months of a written warning.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Business tenants and commercial landlords in Riviera Beach face disputes over rent, build-out obligations, personal guaranties, and default provisions, which are decided largely by the written lease terms.
• Tenant Claims Against Landlords: Uninhabitable conditions or a landlord’s failure to meet statutory maintenance duties, where the tenant’s written notice and the seven-day period set up the right to terminate.
• Month-to-Month and Holdover Tenancies: Ending a tenancy with no fixed term through proper written notice, and dealing with tenants who stay after a lease expires.
• Disputes Between Co-Owners of Rental Property: When partners, siblings, or heirs own a rental together and disagree about leasing, collecting rent, or selling, the dispute can move into partition or business-divorce litigation.
• Emergency Relief: Temporary and permanent injunctions to protect property or stop a tenant or co-owner from diverting rents or damaging the premises while the case is pending.

What to Do in the First Days After a Notice or Lease Default

Start with the paper. Whether you received a notice or are about to send one, gather the signed lease, every amendment, the payment history, and every text, email, or letter exchanged about the problem. In these cases the sequence of events is the case. A notice delivered on the wrong day, or one that demands the wrong amount, can undo a landlord’s position, and a tenant who ignores a valid notice loses time he or she cannot get back.

Do not treat the three-day or seven-day period as a suggestion. The count begins on delivery, and for rent demands it skips weekends and court-observed holidays. A landlord who is unsure how to deliver the notice should get that answered before sending it. A tenant who thinks the notice is wrong, because the amount is inflated or the lease allows a cure, should respond in writing and keep a copy rather than relying on a phone call.

Be careful with money after a notice has gone out. A landlord taking partial rent without following the statute’s receipt or registry steps can muddy the case. A tenant who stops paying because of a repair dispute, without having given the proper written notice first, can end up in default even when the landlord is also at fault.

When the dispute reaches court, the forum depends on what is being claimed. For Riviera Beach, Palm Beach County’s courts sit in and around West Palm Beach, and the county civil court handles money claims within its jurisdictional limit while the circuit court takes larger claims. Possession and damages claims can be tied together or separated, and a lease dispute that involves business ownership or substantial sums often belongs in circuit court. Larger commercial lease and property disputes may also involve federal court, which holds sessions in West Palm Beach for Palm Beach County. An attorney can tell you which forum fits the amount, the parties, and the relief you need.

Waiting is the most common error on both sides. Landlords lose leverage by delaying notices, and tenants lose defenses by missing deadlines. Call early, bring the documents, and get the timeline mapped before the first deadline runs.

When a Lease Dispute Is Really a Business or Property Dispute

Many of the matters this firm sees begin as a rent problem and turn out to be something bigger. A tenant operating a business may be the same person in a partnership dispute with the landlord’s other owners. An LLC that owns a rental building may be deadlocked, with one member collecting rents and not accounting for them. Florida’s LLC statute lets a court consider dissolution when members are deadlocked and the company faces irreparable injury, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or when it is no longer reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement. A court may also appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing, or order a buyout of a petitioning member’s interest.

Shareholders in corporations have comparable remedies, including an election by the corporation or other shareholders to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value, and courts can issue injunctions and preserve assets while the case proceeds. When co-owners of rental real estate simply cannot agree, Florida’s partition statute lets an owner ask the court to divide the property or order a sale and split the proceeds, and quiet title actions can clear competing ownership claims that complicate leasing and selling. These overlapping problems are where the firm’s business divorce and real estate experience matters most, because the lease dispute cannot be resolved well without addressing the ownership conflict behind it.

Common Questions About Landlord and Tenant Cases in Riviera Beach

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

Three days after delivery of the written demand, not counting Saturdays, Sundays, or court-observed legal holidays. If the default continues past that period, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement.

Can a landlord evict a tenant without going to court?

No. The notice only starts the process. If the tenant does not leave, the landlord must file for possession and obtain a court order. Self-help measures such as changing locks are not a substitute for that process.

What happens if a landlord accepts part of the rent after posting a notice?

Accepting partial rent does not waive the landlord’s right to terminate or sue for the period. The landlord must, however, either give the tenant a receipt showing the date, amount, agreed payment date, and balance, place the partial rent in the court registry when filing, or post a new three-day notice for the reduced amount.

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

For curable violations, the notice gives the tenant seven days to correct the problem or face termination. Some conduct, such as intentional destruction of property or a continuing unreasonable disturbance, allows a seven-day notice of intent to terminate with no chance to fix it. A repeat violation within twelve months of a written warning is treated similarly.

How can a tenant end a lease if the landlord is not making repairs?

The tenant must first give written notice of the material failure. If the landlord does not fix the problem within seven days of receiving it, the tenant may terminate the rental agreement. Skipping the written notice weakens the tenant’s position considerably.

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

A tenancy with no set duration is ended by written notice delivered in the manner the landlord-tenant statute prescribes. The right form and timing depend on the type of tenancy, so confirm both before sending anything.

Is a commercial lease dispute handled differently from a residential eviction?

Yes. The statutory notice scheme for residential tenancies is built around dwellings. Commercial disputes are driven mostly by the lease itself, including its default, cure, acceleration, and guaranty provisions, and they are often litigated as contract cases with larger sums at stake.

Which court hears a landlord-tenant money dispute in Palm Beach County?

That depends on the amount claimed. County civil court handles disputes up to its jurisdictional limit, small claims handle the smallest amounts, and the circuit court hears claims above the county court ceiling as well as matters needing injunctive or equitable relief.

How long do I have to sue over a breach of a written lease?

Florida allows five years for an action founded on a written instrument. A claim on an oral or implied agreement has a shorter period of four years. Practically, delay hurts evidence and leverage long before a limitations period expires.

I live in New York and own a rental in Riviera Beach. Can you handle a tenant dispute for me?

Yes. The firm regularly represents owners from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with property in South Florida. The firm handles the local court appearances and keeps you informed so you are not traveling for each hearing.

What if my tenant and I are also business partners or family?

Those cases carry added weight because the lease dispute is tangled up with ownership, money, or family relationships. The firm handles family business and co-owner disputes with discretion, and a negotiated resolution is often possible before litigation hardens positions.

Serving Landlord and Tenant Clients Around Riviera Beach and Palm Beach County

The firm’s landlord-tenant work starts in Riviera Beach and extends through the surrounding Palm Beach County communities, including Singer Island, Palm Beach Shores, Lake Park, North Palm Beach, Juno Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens. Clients also come from West Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton, along with Belle Glade and the western communities of the county.

To the south, the firm serves Broward County owners and tenants in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, and Hollywood. Whether the property is a small residential rental, a retail suite, or an investment building held through an entity, the firm handles the dispute in the court where it belongs and represents out-of-state owners who need someone local on the ground.

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

If a notice has been served, a tenant has stopped paying, or a lease dispute is spilling into a fight between owners, speak with a Riviera Beach landlord tenant lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team before the next deadline arrives. The firm will review the lease and the paper trail, explain where you stand, and recommend the most practical path, whether that is a notice, a negotiation, mediation, or a filing. Call the firm to schedule a consultation.