Commercial Eviction Retainer Agreement

You have hired us, the Eviction Law Firm, the Law Firm of Fabrikant & Associates, PLLC, to perform tenant eviction services. For this law firm to commence performing eviction services, we need to receive: (1) this Retainer Agreement signed by the Landlord, or Landlord’s agent, and returned to us along with the Fact Sheet filled out; (2) the applicable Initial Fees and Costs; (3) a copy of the written lease agreement (current or expired), if there is one; and (4) the applicable Notice duly completed and delivered to the tenant(s) to be evicted. By agreeing below means you agree with this Retainer Agreement and the Additional Terms. Unless we otherwise request of you, please send all documents, payments, notices, and other things to the Hollywood Office.

Initial Costs and Fees: the initial costs and fees for our eviction services consist of:

Initial Costs for an Eviction Case:
- $190.00 filing cost paid to the Clerk of Court
- $10 summons issuance cost for each defendant/tenant
- $40 cost to the process server for each defendant/tenant

Initial Legal Fees for an Eviction Case:
- $600.00 for residential eviction case

For most eviction cases, this will be all of the legal fees due.

After we receive the file for processing the eviction, we will begin by reviewing the Eviction Notice, if you have already given the tenant(s) one. If we need to prepare a new Eviction Notice, or prepare an initial Eviction Notice, then we will charge the eviction notice preparation fee. After the new Eviction Notice or initial one has expired and if the tenant(s) has not complied with the subject notice, we will begin the eviction case for filing with the Court and you will be charged automatically the initial legal fees. If we are preparing an Eviction Notice, we will service it on the tenant(s) the way we can do so the fastest, based on the Lease and Florida Law. You will be charged the following costs for the serving of the Notice: $40 for the process server and/or $8 for certified mailing. Otherwise, we will send the Eviction Notice to you to serve it by handing it to the tenant(s) or posting at the rental property (if the Lease allows for it) if the tenant(s) is not there. Eviction Notices that we prepare will generally by completed and provided for service on the tenant(s) within 24 to 48 hours of hiring our law firm. Eviction cases will be filed generally also within 24 to 48 hours of hiring the law firm. The process server typically completes the service on the tenant(s) within 24 to 48 hours. These time frames presume we receive accurate and complete information or documentation from you. An exception will be if you hire us for the Expedited/Rush service as well, in which case the times will be shorter.

Our Help Center is at EvictionLawFirm.com/HelpCenter and has many free forms and documents. By being a client of the law firm, by agreeing to our retainer agreement and paying the retainer fees and such other fees coming due, you will have one access login to our Help Center. We are constantly updating and adding documents. Your use of the Help Center documents and forms is at your own risk, and you agree that the law firm shall not be liable in any way related to your use of the Help Center and any documents and forms therein. You understand that no warranty of any kind, including but not limited to any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, is provided by you use of the Help Center forms and documents. You agree that you may not allow others to access the Help Center as it is only available to you for your business use in association with your rental property(ies). Your access to the Help Center is valid so long as your case is active and for 6 months after you case is over, provided all sums due the law firm have been paid.

When we process a new case, a Complaint for Eviction with Lease (if written lease) and applicable Eviction Notice is filed with the Clerk of Court and served by the process server to the tenant(s). The Tenant(s) have 5 business days thereafter to file a response to the Complaint with the Clerk of Court and/or deposit money into the Court Registry. If nothing is filed by the tenant(s), then we file for default and final judgment by the Judge. If the tenant(s) do file papers or money with the Clerk, which only occurs in a very small number of cases in our experience, then we either file a motion to strike the tenant(s)’ response for one of several legal reasons, or the eviction case is set by the Judge for hearing or possibly mediation. We will then proceed to defeat the tenant(s) at the hearing and seek a final judgment for eviction by the Judge. The Final Judgment gives legal possession of the rental property back to the Landlord. If the tenant(s) does not comply, then the Clerk of Court issues a Writ of Possession. Our goal is that we will get issued the final judgment and writ of possession within 30 days from the date of filing the Complaint for eviction. After we receive the issued Writ of Possession, we deliver it to you along with Writ of Possession Instructions or for you we can process it with the Sheriff for the removal of the tenant(s). Please remember that while evictions are considered summary proceedings, an eviction is a civil litigation action and this process involves a LAWSUIT filed against the tenant(s) in the Court system for the County where the property is located. Only a Judge can enter a Final Judgment for Eviction and return legal possession to you. Accordingly, once a complaint for eviction is filed, we are in an active litigation action and bound to all the rules, procedures, and schedules of the courts/judges with jurisdiction over your case.
The Sheriff Removal involves going to the rental property to post the Notice of Sheriff Removal which advises the tenant(s) that the Sheriff will be back after 24 hours to perform the removal. Thereafter the Sheriff schedules the removal date to remove the tenant(s) from the rental property. During the Removal, the Sheriff stands by to keep the peace while the Landlord changes the locks, if desired by the Landlord, and while the tenant(s)’ personal property are removed by the Landlord from the rental property to the property line, if desired by the Landlord. At the scheduled Sheriff’s Removal, you or someone on your behalf will needs to be present. If for any reason you do not have your writ executed during the time in which the writ is valid, and you request a reopening of a case in order to have issued an Alias (second) Writ issued, you will be responsible for court reopening cost as well as legal fees required for work on reopening the matter as stated in the ensuing additional legal fees section. Note that after the eviction case has started, you should not accept any rent from the tenant(s). If however the tenant(s) has paid you rent such as by making a deposit into your bank account or mailed you a check, then you will need to notify us immediately and we can prepare papers to deposit the rent money into the Court Registry. If you keep the rent, then you could lose the eviction case. Also, we could prepare a settlement agreement for you to settle the eviction case.

The majority of tenants under eviction either do not challenge their eviction or if they do, it is not done legally correct. If a tenant does challenge the eviction in Court, we attempt to get the tenant(s)’ response struck or denied by the Court without a hearing or mediation so that the eviction judgment can be entered by the judge, all without any additional legal fees being due. Sometimes though, in our estimation, in about 1 in 5 cases, a hearing, mediation, or additional motions or pleadings are required in the eviction case as a direct part of your eviction action, which typically take 3 hours or less. If so, you shall be responsible for additional legal fees at $250 per hour (called the “Additional Legal Fees”) ($300 for commercial properties) for an attorneys’ appearance at an eviction hearing/mediation/final hearing/trial, including travel, and case or document(s) preparation, and we will notify you in advance that such additional legal fees will be due. All hourly billings are based on an hourly basis only, and time is rounded up to the next whole hour. If there are any legal services required after the Clerk’s issuance of the Writ or Possession, such as if the tenant files an emergency motion to stop the Sheriff from performing the Removal, then these services will also be billed at $250 per hour ($300 for commercial properties). Settlement Stipulations. We can prepare a settlement of the eviction case for the eviction issues with the tenant(s) for you if the tenant(s) and you work out an agreement for the tenant to stay and pay or to move out. We charge an additional flat legal fee between $350 and $600 depending on the complexity of the terms and the amount the settlement agreement involves for the work including getting the settlement agreement entered into and submitted to the Court and accepted; and the firm reserves the right to charge at the hourly rate of $250 in rare situations when a settlement agreement becomes negotiated with the tenant(s) back and forth or involves complex terms or large sums of rent due. Most tenants comply with settlements, but if the tenant does not, then we charge an additional flat legal fee of $350 to prepare the standard settlement default papers and obtain the final judgment and writ of possession from the clerk of court. If we are taking over a pending eviction case (a case that has already been filed with the court), then we first will charge the initial legal fees as if it was a new case, and after our review and determine the next steps, the terms herein shall apply including but not limited to additional legal fees for work to be performed. However, at times, your pending case that the law firm is taking over, already has pending complex issues, and in such a circumstance, the law firm may charge more for the law firm to take over the existing case.

In processing each tenant eviction for you, we are relying upon information and documentation you provide to us, including but is not limited to accounting of rent payments, statements of money due from tenant(s), claims of wrongdoing by tenant(s) or their guests. So if any such information is missing, inaccurate or in error, accidentally or not, and this law firm needs to take some action to correct or deal with same then you shall pay additional fees at the above hourly rates or the law firm may require you to update your information and ensure and represent the accuracy of your information and documentation. You agree to provide payment of additional legal fees in advance of the mediation or hearing, and should you fail to do so, we may withdraw from our representation and/or reschedule the mediation or hearing until payment is received, and you agree that we do not have to appear at any such mediation or hearing until such payment is received and you agree that we do not have to appear at any such mediation or hearing until such payment is received. Also, very infrequently, an eviction case involves complicated legal matters outside of the standard eviction process, such as when a tenant files for bankruptcy, claims to title/ownership of the rental property are in dispute, files counter-claims against the landlord, conducts discovery such as depositions, etc., under those circumstances, the hourly rates charged will be $275 per hour for attorneys ($300 for commercial properties) and $125 per hour for legal assistants, paralegals, and law clerks, billed at one-tenth per hour increments. However, we will notify you in advance of any increase in the billing rate should such a circumstance arise. Further in those circumstances, we have the right to charge retainer fees which are an estimate of the amount of fees to be charged for dealing with certain matters during the case. And all retainer fees and flat fees charged are deemed earned upon receipt and nonrefundable. Usually, we request an initial retainer fee and then may ask for incremental fees and/or provide regular invoices which invoices shall be paid within five days. Please ask us for information about a collection agency or us brining a second count for damages, or post judgment collection work, for which additional fees and costs will apply. However, unless you have selected to include a damages claim to seek money from the tenant(s), and paid an additional legal fee for money damages from the tenant(s), the eviction lawsuit is only for eviction and no money is sought from the tenant(s). Ask us about pursuing a claim for damages for money owed to you.

We can prepare the Eviction Notice to be served on the tenant(s) for you. We charge a flat fee of $199 for residential Eviction Notices, however, for Section 8 and other governmental housing properties it is an additional $50. For Notice preparation we will need the Lease (if one is in writing) and accurate information from you for the Eviction Notices.

You agree that we may provide you with information for or use a third party service provider (e.g., locksmith, process server) as a courtesy to you. You agree that we shall not be liable to you or any third party, including any of your tenants, for any claim, demand or judgment made or entered against you or us in any way related to the services provided from said third-party businesses, and you shall indemnify, defend and hold this law firm harmless (including for attorneys fees and costs) from any such claim, demand or judgment.

The Sheriff charges $90 in most Florida counties and $115 in Miami-Dade County to remove the tenant(s) pursuant to the Eviction Judgment and issued writ of possession. We will deliver the issued writ of possession to you to deliver to the Sheriff or we will coordinate the Sheriff removal for you and the total charges for that will be $150.

Our intention is to provide high quality tenant eviction legal services through licensed and experience legal counsel and staff, and to evict your defaulting tenant(s) expeditiously. Should information you provide us be inaccurate or you attempt to use our services for any illegitimate or improper purpose, we reserve the right to immediately withdraw and terminate the representation or to charge you additional legal fees and costs in order to amend or refile your actions, or provide an adequate defense. You shall indemnify, defend and hold this law firm harmless (including for attorneys fees and costs) from and with respect to any claims, demands, or judgments made or entered against us relating to any legal services provided to you hereunder. You agree to pay all fees, collection fees, legal fees, and other costs related to any attempt by this law firm to collect any and all sums due hereunder. In the event this law firm has to institute legal proceedings to enforce any term herein, then this law firm shall be entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs related to same. The person signing this retainer on behalf of a corporate or business entity or on behalf of another individual agrees to personally guarantee all sums due hereunder. This retainer signed by a managing agent or representative of any other represents that they have authority to do so and do enter into this retainer on behalf of the principal. A facsimile, electronic copy, or digitally approved copy hereof shall be considered an original and binding. Should you pay the legal fees and /or costs with a credit or debit card, your signature to the retainer agreement represents your consent to such charges. We use verbal authorizations when charging a charge card provided by you or on your behalf. We may also send you a written confirmation of charge card authorized for you to confirm and send back to us, however, should we not receive the signed written confirmation, your verbal authorization shall be used by the law firm as your authorization of charge card. You may also receive a paid invoice confirming the charge. We are not responsible for delays due to force majeure events (for example due to hurricanes, sudden weather events, armed conflicts), staffing shortages, governmental shutdowns, court, court clerks, and sheriff delays, technology glitches or unexpected computer/technological delays, pandemics, and such other circumstances that occur that are not intentionally caused by the law firm with the intent to slow down or delay the eviction case, including but not limited to any loss rents you may sustain due to delays, inability to collect any money damages from a tenant or defendant.
In the event you cancel your eviction request prior to the filing of the eviction lawsuit, then notwithstanding anything herein, there will be a $150 non-refundable fee for residential evictions for all pre-suit work including property searches, document review, case fact analyses, as well as attorney review of the case. Additional legal fees paid are non-refundable and deemed earned upon receipt. If your case has been filed with the Clerk of Court prior to a cancellation of the case, there will be no refundable fees or costs as they would have already been incurred. Our attorneys will not be scheduled to attend hearings, mediations, final hearings, etc… should the appropriate fees not be paid in advance of such hearings, mediations, final hearings, etc… and you agree to this firm’s motion to withdraw from your representation should legal fees in advance of hearings, mediations, final hearings, etc… not be paid. Also, costs by third parties (such as court filing costs, Sheriff Removal costs) are set by third parties and we have no control over same. Thus, any such costs are subject to change at any time without advance notice to you as we likely will have little or no advance notice. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, any legal action between you and this law firm shall solely be brought in the state or federal courts of Florida, county of Broward, and for any action brought by you that includes a claim for professional malpractice shall first be brought to a non-binding arbitration proceeding situated in Broward County, Florida. The waiver of any provision hereof shall not be deemed a permanent modification. We have the right to retain other lawyers to assist us with your case, provided that the legal fees charged to you will not be more than those set forth herein. We request that you provide us with a facsimile number and/or email address for you. Any notices, papers, and requests that we send to you will be sent to said fax number and/or email address, and you agree that our sending any correspondence, notices, papers and requests to the fax and/or email address you provide shall be deemed proper and due notice to you.

SECURITY DEPOSIT CLAIMS – Keeping the Tenant’s Security Deposit
After the tenant(s) vacates the rental property, you may need to serve the tenant(s) with a Security Deposit Claim Letter to lawfully make a claim on all or a part of the security deposit to cover unpaid rent, damages to the property, and costs, depending on the lease and the situation. We can prepare the Security Deposit Claim Letter and serve it upon the tenant(s). Note that in order for us to proceed with preparing the Security Deposit Claim Letter, we will need you written consent or a confirmation with you confirming us to proceed with same, legal fees of $350 paid for the preparation and service on the tenant(s) of the Security Deposit Claim Letter, written notice from you of any new address for the tenant(s) that you are made aware of, and a statement of the amount of your claim on the security deposit. There are time periods that the law says you must make a claim on the tenant(s)’ security deposit, otherwise you must return all of it, if you have to make a written claim for the security deposit. Note that unless and until the $350 fee for the Security Deposit Claim Letter is paid and our performing of this work is confirmed with our office in writing, we will not be preparing any claim letter and it will be your responsibility to do so.

CLAIM FOR DAMAGES
A claim for damages is where you ask the Judge to enter a judgment against the tenant(s) for a specific amount of money based on damages that include, but are not limited to, unpaid rent, unjust enrichment, and physical damages caused to the rental property. If you want a count for Damages also brought in the eviction case, then for residential cases, an addition initial legal fee of $400 is charged for the preparation and filing of the complaint claim for damages. If you desire to file a complaint for damages after the eviction action has been filed as a separate lawsuit, legal fees for a claim for preparation of the complaint for damages is $600 plus costs ($304 County Court filing cost or $401 Circuit Court filing cost, $40 Process Server (or the amount the process server chares if it is greater) for each tenant, and $10 summons issuance cost we pay to the Clerk of Court for each tenant). Summons for money damages claims need to be personally served on the tenant(s), which can be complex because the tenant(s) needs to be located and a process server personally serve them (or provide legal substitute service). This may require the process server to go to locations more than once which means the process server may charge additional costs which you will be responsible for, and sometimes require background reports and private investigators, which will incur third party costs due from you, however, we will notice you in advance of those costs being incurred for your approval. Whether the damages claim is brought with the eviction case or as a separate lawsuit, an hourly rate will be charged for work performed after the filing of the complaint for damages for work performed related to the damages claim in the amount of $275 per hour ($300 for commercial properties), and $125 per hour for legal assistants, paralegals, and law clerks, billed at one-tenth per hour increments. Further, in those circumstances, we have the right to charge retainer fees which are an estimate of the amount of fees to be charged for dealing with certain matters during the case, and all retainer fees and flat fees charged are deemed earned upon receipt and nonrefundable. Usually we request an initial retainer fee and then may ask for incremental fees and/or provide invoices to you which invoices shall be due within five days. We may also request that a new litigation retainer agreement be entered into in some circumstances.

EXPEDITED / RUSH EVICTION
We can place your Eviction Case or Eviction Notice preparation on a Rush or Expedited track. That means we will make sure your Eviction Case or Eviction Notice is ready to be filed or served the same day you hire us if that is before 2 pm, otherwise the following business day, and all the information and documents we are given are complete and accurate. The fee for this Rush Expedited track is $200 for Eviction Cases and $100 for Eviction Notices, and the process server cost for rush services is an additional $40 for each tenant to be served by the process server (subject to the procedures and rules of the process server). If you are only paying the process server rush fee, then the documents will be prepared by the law firm in its standard time. However, if the information or documentation you provide to us in incomplete or inaccurate, then such could cause a delay in our proceeding, however, there will not be a reimbursement of the rush fee as we would have already begun the process and work.

Thank you, and we will make every effort to provide you with efficient and professional legal representation and achieve the goals requested. By signing below you agree to the terms and conditions of this retainer agreement.