Fla. Supreme Court Revises Lease Forms
The Florida Supreme Court approved revisions to a number of lease and property management forms with the changes effective immediately. Realtor® Association of Miami-Dade County members currently using the affected forms should immediately switch to the newly approved ones.
The major changes involve Florida real estate lease forms. The two leases that the Court approved are:
- Residential Lease for Single Family Home or Duplex
(for a term not to exceed one year)
[Replaces “The Residential Lease for Single Family Home and Duplex (RLHD-2x)”] - Residential Lease for Apartment or Unit in Multi-Family Rental Housing
(other than a duplex) including a Mobile Home, Condominium, or Cooperative (for a term not to exceed one year)
[Replaces “Residential Lease for Apartment or Unit in Multi-family Rental Housing including a Mobile Home (RLAU-1x)]
It should also be noted that the Supreme Court added a requirement to attach Chapter 83, Part II, Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to the two newly revised leases – Residential Lease for Single Family Home or Duplex (for a term not to exceed one year) and Residential Lease for Apartment or Unit in Multi-Family Rental Housing (other than a duplex) including a Mobile Home, Condominium, or Cooperative (for a term not to exceed one year). Because use of the attachment is now mandatory, it will automatically be included and print with the two affected lease forms. This increases the total length of each form.
Since the Residential Lease for Apartment or Unit in Multi-Family Rental Housing (other than a duplex) including a Mobile Home, Condominium, or Cooperative is now to be used for rentals involving condominiums and cooperatives (in addition to rentals involving apartments or unit in multi-family rental housing), the Court deleted “Residential Lease for Unit in Condominium or Cooperative (RLCC-1x).” Members who use the RLCC-1x for rentals in a condominium or cooperative should now use the Residential Lease for Apartment or Unit in Multi-Family Rental Housing (other than a duplex) including a Mobile Home, Condominium, or Cooperative.
In addition to other changes, the approved leases include a new addendum, the Early Termination Fee/Liquidated Damages Addendum.
The Court also deleted the use of one contract:
“Residential Lease for Unit in Condominium or Cooperative (for a term not to exceed one year) (RLCC-1).” The Supreme Court rolled this contract into one of the new forms. Members who use this form should immediately switch to the Residential Lease for Apartment or Unit in Multi-Family Rental Housing (other than a duplex) including a Mobile Home, Condominium, or Cooperative (for a term not to exceed one year).
The Realtor® Association of Miami-Dade County will soon have the newly approved forms on TransactionDesk and other usual online formats. In the meantime, copies of the Supreme Court approved forms are available online at the Florida Realtors® website, www.floridarealtors.org, in the Forms Basic Online section. A login and password is required. Forms Online Basic has the final version of the forms without strike-outs and underlines. In addition, the companies that host Florida Realtors’ other form software – Forms Online Gold and TransactionDesk – were supplied with the new forms.
The final, fully functional versions should be an active part of the form software programs no later than Tuesday, April 27. Until the forms become fully interactive, the cleaner version of the contract – without strike-outs and underlines – will be available and printable through Forms Online Gold and TransactionDesk; but Realtors® cannot fill them out online. They must be printed and filled in by hand.
In addition to the lease forms, other property management forms have also changed. As with the lease forms, the following property management forms will be available with the Court’s strikeouts and underlines for additions until the final version of the forms without the additions and strikeouts are ready for use. The name of one of these forms has changed. All the old forms have been deleted.
- Notice from Landlord to Tenant – Notice of Noncompliance for Matters Other Than Failure to Pay Rent – Slight name change: Formerly “Notice from Landlord to Tenant-Termination for Non-Compliance Other than Failure to Pay Rent (TNC-3)”
- Notice of Intention to Impose a Claim on Security Deposit (CSD-4) – name has not changed
- Notice from Landlord to Tenant /Termination for Failure to Pay Rent (FPR-3) – name has not changed
- Notice from Tenant to Landlord-Termination for Failure of Landlord to Maintain Premises as Required by Florida Statute 83.51(1) or Material Provisions of the Rental Agreement (TFMP-3) – name has not changed
- Notice from Tenant to Landlord-Withholding Rent for Failure of Landlord to Maintain Premises as Required by Florida Statute 83.51(1) or Material Provisions of the Rental Agreement (WFMP-4) – name has not changed.
Realtors® using forms not offered by Florida Realtors® should refer to the original Supreme Court decision for updates, including examples of the updated forms’ language. The decision and all approved form wording is posted in a single PDF file on the Florida Supreme Court’s website. It can be downloaded directly at: SC09-250 – In Re: Revisions To Simplified Forms Pursuant To Rule 10-2.1(A) Of The Rules Regulating The Florida Bar http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/decisions/2010/sc09-250.pdf