I have a serious situation here and anyone who works in real estate in Florida I need you to chime in. I work in the tri state area of Ky, OH, and IN. The laws in Florida are lost on me and my grandmother in law just got herself in a situation. She went through and agent to find someone to rent her house only. No purchase just renters. Well these people moved in, my grandmother paid the agent 10k which is insane to me for just renting the property. But that’s not even the worst part. These people moved in, and 3 days later the man died! Now they are trying to sue my grandmother saying “he was perfectly healthy and moved in this house and died” What do we do?! She’s 75 years old and trust me when I tell you there is nothing wrong with this house I’ve stayed in it multiple times myself with my children. But because she went through a broker I don’t know what the contracts said if there was a clause to protect her etc. Please help!
Posted by MoMmA_DiNo6
3 Comments
That 10k fee sounds sketchy as hell for just finding renters, that’s like buying a house commission levels
For the lawsuit though – they’re gonna have a really hard time proving the house caused his death unless there’s like carbon monoxide or something obvious. Most likely just grieving family looking for someone to blame but definitely get her a lawyer ASAP to review whatever contracts she signed
It will end up being fine. Just let the system work. It does work
In Florida, a landlord is generally not liable for a tenant’s sudden death unless they can prove a known, unaddressed hazardous condition in the property directly caused it (and that’s a very high bar).
What to do immediately: Do not communicate directly with the tenants or their attorney.
Notify her homeowners/landlord insurance right now—they will usually provide legal defense.
Pull the brokerage agreement and lease to see what disclosures and liability clauses exist (the broker may have exposure here too).
If they’ve actually filed suit (not just threatened), hire a Florida real estate or premises-liability attorney ASAP.
Also, paying $10k just to place a tenant is a huge red flag unless this included long-term management or multiple months’ rent—worth reviewing with an attorney and possibly the DBPR.