Under the heading of "no good deed goes unpunished" I have the following problem:

•    Tenant leaves premises in office building at end of lease term
  

•    At the end of the same calendar year, Landlord does OP EX reconciliation and ends up owing the former Tenant money (a few thousand dollars - not a big number)
  

•    Landlord makes diligent effort to find Tenant but the entity has been administratively dissolved and it can't find principals of the now dissolved company
  

•    After not being able to find anyone to send the refund to, Landlord fills out the form required by the Unclaimed Property Act (F.S. Chapter 717) and sends it in, with a check, to the Department of Financial Services
  

•    The Department now wants to come in and do and extensive audit of Landlord's financial records, saying that Landlord is an entity that holds other people's monies and may not be in compliance with the Act.
  

•    Landlord really does not want to undergo the audit and just wants this to go away (regretting that it tried to do the right thing in sending the unclaimed funds into the State).
  

Does anyone have any relevant experience with a similar situation?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

George A. Pincus, Esq.
Shareholder
Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler
Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A.
New River Center, Suite 2100
200 East Las Olas Boulevard
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301
Telephone: 954-766-9705
Facsimile:    954-766-9719
E-mail: gpincus@stearnsweaver.commailto:gpincus@swmwas.com
www.stearnsweaver.com

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Hey all, have a question about liability for tenant property, hopefully someone can give me some help.
 
Here are the facts:  Landlord evicted residential Tenant.  Sheriff executed Writ.  Tenant left personal property in the unit and landlord threw it out on the street.  Now tenant is suing landlord for destruction of property.
 
I know the statute allows the landlord to throw out the property after the Writ is executed.  Does anyone have any case law on the issue?  Or any other suggestions on defenses?

Much appreciated.
 
Cary Sabol

Cary P. Sabol, Esq.
P.O. Box 15981
West Palm Beach, Florida 33416 
Phone: (561) 281-2744
 
Confidentiality Notice: This email transmission and any attachments are confidential and may be legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 

--- On Thu, 3/25/10, George Pincus GPincus@stearnsweaver.com wrote:

From: George Pincus GPincus@stearnsweaver.com
Subject: [RPPTL LandTen] Florida Unclaimed Property Act Issue
To: "RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee" landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010, 11:03 AM

Under the heading of “no good deed goes unpunished” I have the following problem:
 
·        Tenant leaves premises in office building at end of lease term
·        At the end of the same calendar year, Landlord does OP EX reconciliation and ends up owing the former Tenant money (a few thousand dollars – not a big number)
·        Landlord makes diligent effort to find Tenant but the entity has been administratively dissolved and it can’t find principals of the now dissolved company
·        After not being able to find anyone to send the refund to, Landlord fills out the form required by the Unclaimed Property Act (F.S. Chapter 717) and sends it in, with a check, to the Department of Financial Services
·        The Department now wants to come in and do and extensive audit of Landlord’s financial records, saying that Landlord is an entity that holds other people’s monies and may not be in compliance with the Act.
·        Landlord really does not want to undergo the audit and just wants this to go away (regretting that it tried to do the right thing in sending the unclaimed funds into the State).
 
Does anyone have any relevant experience with a similar situation?
 
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks.
 
George A. Pincus, Esq.
Shareholder
Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler
  Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A.
New River Center, Suite 2100
200 East Las Olas Boulevard
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301
Telephone: 954-766-9705
Facsimile:    954-766-9719
E-mail: gpincus@stearnsweaver.com
www.stearnsweaver.com
 
 

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this E-mail message is attorney privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual(s) named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copy of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please contact the sender by reply E-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. Thank you.

CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: To ensure compliance with recently-enacted U.S. Treasury Department Regulations, we are now required to advise you that, unless otherwise expressly indicated, any federal tax advice contained in this communication, including any attachments, is not intended or written by us to be used, and cannot be used, by anyone for the purpose of avoiding federal tax penalties that may be imposed by the federal government or for promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax-related matters addressed herein.

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Isn’t the last sentence of 83.62 (2) an absolute defense?  Statute says “remove” so I would imagine you can’t just “throw” the stuff on the curb in a manner that will deliberately damage stuff, but absent a smoking gun videotape of the LL tossing TVs up in the air I’d be surprised if the Tenant could overcome 83.62 (2).

Regards,

Greg

Greg Hass, Senior Counsel

Office of Law & Policy | FloridaRealtors®
7025 Augusta National Drive, Orlando, FL 32822
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From: landten-bounces@lists.flabarrpptl.org [mailto:landten-bounces@lists.flabarrpptl.org] On Behalf Of Cary Sabol
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 12:34 PM
To: RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee
Subject: [RPPTL LandTen] Disposal of Tenant's property

Hey all, have a question about liability for tenant property, hopefully someone can give me some help.

Here are the facts:  Landlord evicted residential Tenant.  Sheriff executed Writ.  Tenant left personal property in the unit and landlord threw it out on the street.  Now tenant is suing landlord for destruction of property.

I know the statute allows the landlord to throw out the property after the Writ is executed.  Does anyone have any case law on the issue?  Or any other suggestions on defenses?

Much appreciated.

Cary Sabol

Cary P. Sabol, Esq.

P.O. Box 15981

West Palm Beach, Florida 33416

Phone: (561) 281-2744

Confidentiality Notice: This email transmission and any attachments are confidential and may be legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

--- On Thu, 3/25/10, George Pincus GPincus@stearnsweaver.com wrote:

From: George Pincus GPincus@stearnsweaver.com
Subject: [RPPTL LandTen] Florida Unclaimed Property Act Issue
To: "RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee" landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010, 11:03 AM

Under the heading of “no good deed goes unpunished” I have the following problem:

·        Tenant leaves premises in office building at end of lease term

·        At the end of the same calendar year, Landlord does OP EX reconciliation and ends up owing the former Tenant money (a few thousand dollars – not a big number)

·        Landlord makes diligent effort to find Tenant but the entity has been administratively dissolved and it can’t find principals of the now dissolved company

·        After not being able to find anyone to send the refund to, Landlord fills out the form required by the Unclaimed Property Act (F.S. Chapter 717) and sends it in, with a check, to the Department of Financial Services

·        The Department now wants to come in and do and extensive audit of Landlord’s financial records, saying that Landlord is an entity that holds other people’s monies and may not be in compliance with the Act.

·        Landlord really does not want to undergo the audit and just wants this to go away (regretting that it tried to do the right thing in sending the unclaimed funds into the State).

Does anyone have any relevant experience with a similar situation?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

George A. Pincus, Esq.

Shareholder

Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler

Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A.

New River Center, Suite 2100

200 East Las Olas Boulevard

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301

Telephone: 954-766-9705

Facsimile:    954-766-9719

E-mail: gpincus@stearnsweaver.com http://us.mc578.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=gpincus@swmwas.com

www.stearnsweaver.com

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this E-mail message is attorney privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual(s) named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copy of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please contact the sender by reply E-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. Thank you.

CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: To ensure compliance with recently-enacted U.S. Treasury Department Regulations, we are now required to advise you that, unless otherwise expressly indicated, any federal tax advice contained in this communication, including any attachments, is not intended or written by us to be used, and cannot be used, by anyone for the purpose of avoiding federal tax penalties that may be imposed by the federal government or for promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax-related matters addressed herein.

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http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/landten http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/landten

There is no liability as long as the eviction was proper and the owner followed the statute.

Often there are missing facts like the owner agreed to hold the stuff for the tenant to pick up, he failed to pick up, the owner only threw out some of the stuff, the owner tried to hold the stuff hostage for a while to get money from the tenant  etc.

Harry

LAW OFFICES OF
HEIST, WEISSE & DAVIS, P.A.
PH: 1 800 253 8428
FAX: 1 800 367 9038
"Serving the Property Management Professional"
Website:  http://www.evict.com/ www.evict.com
Email:  mailto:harry@evict.com harry@evict.com

THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE IS CONFIDENTIAL, ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGED, AND INTENDED FOR THE PERSONS NAMED ABOVE ONLY.  ALL OTHER USE, COPYING, OR DISTRIBUTION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

From: landten-bounces@lists.flabarrpptl.org [mailto:landten-bounces@lists.flabarrpptl.org] On Behalf Of Cary Sabol
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 12:34 PM
To: RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee
Subject: [SPAM?] [RPPTL LandTen] Disposal of Tenant's property
Importance: Low

Hey all, have a question about liability for tenant property, hopefully someone can give me some help.

Here are the facts:  Landlord evicted residential Tenant.  Sheriff executed Writ.  Tenant left personal property in the unit and landlord threw it out on the street.  Now tenant is suing landlord for destruction of property.

I know the statute allows the landlord to throw out the property after the Writ is executed.  Does anyone have any case law on the issue?  Or any other suggestions on defenses?

Much appreciated.

Cary Sabol

Cary P. Sabol, Esq.

P.O. Box 15981

West Palm Beach, Florida 33416

Phone: (561) 281-2744

Confidentiality Notice: This email transmission and any attachments are confidential and may be legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein is STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

--- On Thu, 3/25/10, George Pincus GPincus@stearnsweaver.com wrote:

From: George Pincus GPincus@stearnsweaver.com
Subject: [RPPTL LandTen] Florida Unclaimed Property Act Issue
To: "RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee" landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010, 11:03 AM

Under the heading of “no good deed goes unpunished” I have the following problem:

·        Tenant leaves premises in office building at end of lease term

·        At the end of the same calendar year, Landlord does OP EX reconciliation and ends up owing the former Tenant money (a few thousand dollars – not a big number)

·        Landlord makes diligent effort to find Tenant but the entity has been administratively dissolved and it can’t find principals of the now dissolved company

·        After not being able to find anyone to send the refund to, Landlord fills out the form required by the Unclaimed Property Act (F.S. Chapter 717) and sends it in, with a check, to the Department of Financial Services

·        The Department now wants to come in and do and extensive audit of Landlord’s financial records, saying that Landlord is an entity that holds other people’s monies and may not be in compliance with the Act.

·        Landlord really does not want to undergo the audit and just wants this to go away (regretting that it tried to do the right thing in sending the unclaimed funds into the State).

Does anyone have any relevant experience with a similar situation?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

George A. Pincus, Esq.

Shareholder

Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler

Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A.

New River Center, Suite 2100

200 East Las Olas Boulevard

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301

Telephone: 954-766-9705

Facsimile:    954-766-9719

E-mail:  http://us.mc578.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=gpincus@swmwas.com gpincus@stearnsweaver.com

www.stearnsweaver.com

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this E-mail message is attorney privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual(s) named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copy of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please contact the sender by reply E-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. Thank you.

CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: To ensure compliance with recently-enacted U.S. Treasury Department Regulations, we are now required to advise you that, unless otherwise expressly indicated, any federal tax advice contained in this communication, including any attachments, is not intended or written by us to be used, and cannot be used, by anyone for the purpose of avoiding federal tax penalties that may be imposed by the federal government or for promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax-related matters addressed herein.

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

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http://us.mc578.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org
http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/landten http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/landten

Thanks for the responses and suggestions.  Much appreciated.

Cary P. Sabol, Esq.
P.O. Box 15981
West Palm Beach, Florida 33416 
Phone: (561) 281-2744
 
Confidentiality Notice: This email transmission and any attachments are confidential and may be legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 

--- On Thu, 3/25/10, harry@evict.com harry@evict.com wrote:

From: harry@evict.com harry@evict.com
Subject: Re: [RPPTL LandTen] [SPAM?] Disposal of Tenant's property
To: "'RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee'" landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010, 12:44 PM

There is no liability as long as the eviction was proper and the owner followed the statute. 
 
Often there are missing facts like the owner agreed to hold the stuff for the tenant to pick up, he failed to pick up, the owner only threw out some of the stuff, the owner tried to hold the stuff hostage for a while to get money from the tenant  etc.
 
Harry
 
LAW OFFICES OF
HEIST, WEISSE & DAVIS, P.A.
PH: 1 800 253 8428
FAX: 1 800 367 9038
"Serving the Property Management Professional"
Website:  www.evict.com
Email: harry@evict.com
THIS E-MAIL MESSAGE IS CONFIDENTIAL, ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGED, AND INTENDED FOR THE PERSONS NAMED ABOVE ONLY.  ALL OTHER USE, COPYING, OR DISTRIBUTION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
 
 
 

From: landten-bounces@lists.flabarrpptl.org [mailto:landten-bounces@lists.flabarrpptl.org] On Behalf Of Cary Sabol
Sent: Thursday, March 25, 2010 12:34 PM
To: RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee
Subject: [SPAM?] [RPPTL LandTen] Disposal of Tenant's property
Importance: Low
 

Hey all, have a question about liability for tenant property, hopefully someone can give me some help.

Here are the facts:  Landlord evicted residential Tenant.  Sheriff executed Writ.  Tenant left personal property in the unit and landlord threw it out on the street.  Now tenant is suing landlord for destruction of property.

I know the statute allows the landlord to throw out the property after the Writ is executed.  Does anyone have any case law on the issue?  Or any other suggestions on defenses?

Much appreciated.

Cary Sabol

Cary P. Sabol, Esq.

P.O. Box 15981

West Palm Beach, Florida 33416 

Phone: (561) 281-2744

Confidentiality Notice: This email transmission and any attachments are confidential and may be legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the information contained herein is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. 

--- On Thu, 3/25/10, George Pincus GPincus@stearnsweaver.com wrote:

From: George Pincus GPincus@stearnsweaver.com
Subject: [RPPTL LandTen] Florida Unclaimed Property Act Issue
To: "RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee" landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010, 11:03 AM

Under the heading of “no good deed goes unpunished” I have the following problem:
 
·        Tenant leaves premises in office building at end of lease term
·        At the end of the same calendar year, Landlord does OP EX reconciliation and ends up owing the former Tenant money (a few thousand dollars – not a big number)
·        Landlord makes diligent effort to find Tenant but the entity has been administratively dissolved and it can’t find principals of the now dissolved company
·        After not being able to find anyone to send the refund to, Landlord fills out the form required by the Unclaimed Property Act (F.S. Chapter 717) and sends it in, with a check, to the Department of Financial Services
·        The Department now wants to come in and do and extensive audit of Landlord’s financial records, saying that Landlord is an entity that holds other people’s monies and may not be in compliance with the Act.
·        Landlord really does not want to undergo the audit and just wants this to go away (regretting that it tried to do the right thing in sending the unclaimed funds into the State).
 
Does anyone have any relevant experience with a similar situation?
 
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks.
 
George A. Pincus, Esq.
Shareholder
Stearns Weaver Miller Weissler
  Alhadeff & Sitterson, P.A.
New River Center, Suite 2100
200 East Las Olas Boulevard
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301
Telephone: 954-766-9705
Facsimile:    954-766-9719
E-mail: gpincus@stearnsweaver.com
www.stearnsweaver.com
 
 
 

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in this E-mail message is attorney privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the individual(s) named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copy of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please contact the sender by reply E-mail and destroy all copies of the original message. Thank you.

CIRCULAR 230 DISCLOSURE: To ensure compliance with recently-enacted U.S. Treasury Department Regulations, we are now required to advise you that, unless otherwise expressly indicated, any federal tax advice contained in this communication, including any attachments, is not intended or written by us to be used, and cannot be used, by anyone for the purpose of avoiding federal tax penalties that may be imposed by the federal government or for promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any tax-related matters addressed herein.

-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

landten mailing list
landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org
http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/landten
 
-----Inline Attachment Follows-----

landten mailing list
landten@lists.flabarrpptl.org
http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/landten