Because mold tends to thrive in warm, damp places, a year-round temperate climate like South Florida’s can provide a haven for its growth – especially in areas like attics and basements that can hold in the humidity due to poor ventilation and low light.
So, as a South Florida rental property owner, what exactly are your responsibilities if mold is detected in one (or more) of your investments?
Presently, there are no Federal laws that cover the responsibility of a landlord if a mold problem should arise. Likewise, the state of Florida also has no specific laws that directly address the duties or the liability of a landlord when it comes to mold remediation or even mold prevention.
That being said, though, by not taking action on a mold problem, South Florida rental property owners could actually make things worse – for both their tenants and for themselves. For instance, if a tenant claims that mold made a unit uninhabitable, they may simply stop paying their rent. Alternatively, a tenant may take care of cleaning up the mold on their own, and then “deduct” the cost of these repairs from their rent payment.
In either case, South Florida landlords are in fact bound by the “implied warranty of habitability.”
This states that legally, landlords are required to provide their tenant(s) with a space that is in “livable condition.”
Mold and a whole host of other issues could make maintaining your rental property a time-consuming endeavor. So, if you want to keep the rental income flowing, but you don’t have time to regularly maintain your investment(s), it could be time to hire a Safe Home Management that can take on these tasks for you.
With that in mind, if you’re the owner of rental units in Boca Raton and/or surrounding South Florida, and you’d like to delegate these tasks, just ask us for more details on how the process works.
Visit our blog page for other helpful home management tips for your South Florida home.