Tenant Gets the Keys but Then Wants Out
In a residential multi-family apartment community, the tenant wants to rent a two-bedroom unit. The tenant signs a lease and pays all the initial move-in money owed. After getting the keys and just a few days later before bringing any of their property into the rental unit, the tenant decides they do not want to stay there. Is the tenant allowed out of their lease and a refund?
That is not an easy question because it depends on the facts including the language in the lease. If the tenant is making claims about the rental property and for example, it being different than what the lease said the property was, then it is possible that the tenant could get out. But if the tenant simply is arguing that there are cosmetic issues with the rental property, then generally, the tenant should not be allowed out of the lease. The landlord would likely have to make the appropriate remedial changes and improvements to the property to the extent required under the lease and Florida law. But is long as the landlord takes reasonable steps in doing so, generally, the tenant is bound to the lease.
What if the lease does not say anything about changing the method of service? For a commercial space, the safer method, in that case, would be to make a lease addendum that changes the way notices are sent to the tenant. That would, of course, require the tenant’s consent.