Q: Who do I file a Small Claims court case against for Violating FS 83.49(3) the Property Manager or Property Owner?
It's been 75 days since we vacated our last rental property. We received no notice and no itemized list against our security deposit. We vacated the property and I mailed our keys on May 12, 2018, certified return receipt, and he DELIBERATELY delayed delivery of that package for almost TWO MONTHS!!!! I thought that the package was "lost in the mail". I found an extra key, I forgot I had, and I HAND DELIVERED the property manager, whom we have only ever dealt with, the final key on MAY 24, 2018 BUT he is refusing to acknowledge that and only wants to go by when our lease was "officially" over which was JULY 02, 2018. He LIED in a BBB complaint stating he only received "possession" on July 10th, 2018 when the package was finally delivered and not back on MAY 24, 2018 when I hand delivered him that key I found. So who do I file the small claims case against the property manager or the property owner? Or can I list both in the same case? Thank you for your help.
A: You likely don't and wait for 30 days from July 2nd. The first few words of the statute section regarding deposits reads "Upon the vacating of the premises for termination of the lease..." Your lease was not "terminated" until July 2 as it ended July 2. I assume you also paid rent from May 12 to July 1 after all (or would have been sued for breach of the lease), and you moving your stuff out early means little to the lease "termination" date. The landlord has 30 days to MAIL the letter (not you receive) so you have another 10-14 days or so.
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