Waiver As An Affirmative Defense To A Florida Residential Eviction Action

Florida Statute § 83.56(5) provides, in pertinent part, that:  “If the landlord accepts rent with actual knowledge of a noncompliance by the tenant or accepts performance by the tenant of any other provision of the rental agreement that is at variance with its provisions, … the landlord … waives his or her right to terminate the rental agreement or to bring a civil action for that noncompliance, but not for any subsequent or continuing noncompliance.”

Essentially, this statutory provision means that if a landlord accepts rent knowing that the tenant is in default of the lease, the landlord will be deemed to have waived the right to terminate the residential lease as a result of that default.

LANDLORD RIGHTS TIP:  It is unclear whether this waiver provision applies in situations where the tenant has defaulted in rent.  It is, nonetheless, probably a distinction without a difference because the landlord is unlikely to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent when the tenant pay the rent, albeit late, before the institution of the eviction lawsuit.

In any event, Florida Statute § 83.56(5) does not apply if the default by the tenant is repeated or continued.

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