[RPPTL LandTen] Renovations and Pricing Issues

[Leonard Cabral]

I don’t think they have a case.  I don’t think a violation would occur if you gave a discount to those who reserved early or paid in full up front.  If these are true dorms type dwelling then they should be licensed by Florida Division of Hotels.  So it may depend on the regulations set by Florida Division of Hotels.  Check with them. Maybe they can shed some light on the question.

Leonard P. Cabral, Esq.
Leonardcabral at lenslaw.com
Please disregard inadvertent misspellings.



From: landten-bounces at lists.flabarrpptl.org [mailto:landten-bounces at lists.flabarrpptl.org] On Behalf Of Jariel Bortnick
Sent: Wednesday, August 19, 2015 3:55 PM
To: RPPTL Landlord Tenant Committee
Subject: [RPPTL LandTen] Renovations and Pricing Issues

Group:
An interesting question arose today that I think I know the answer for but wanted to pose to the group first. I apologize for the somewhat lengthy fact pattern.
The landlord purchased an older student-oriented apartment complex next to a college campus and is renovating units in bunches as they become vacant. When the landlord purchased the complex over the summer, several units were vacant (as students leave town for the summer) but already had been pre-leased for the 2015-2016 school year.

Despite the fact that all of the units were already pre-leased for the 2015-2016 school year at prices that wouldn't reflect the market rate for renovated units, the landlord went ahead and renovated the vacant units over the summer and turned them over to the new tenants that moved in this month (this was done so that the landlord would have some "model units" to show future prospects what the renovated units would look like). The new tenants of those renovated units that just moved in are paying the rent amount that they had agreed on with the prior owner, before any renovations were contemplated.
Now, other tenants with unrenovated units are seeing that some of their friends are paying the same price for renovated units and are complaining to the landlord. The landlord has given some of these complaining tenants the option of signing a new lease at a slight discount to market rent, temporarily vacating the unit for the 2-3 months that the renovations would take to complete and then moving back in (at which time the new lease would commence). Now, the complaining tenants are trying to raise the Fair Housing Act and claiming discrimination to force the landlord into doing the renovations but only charging them the "unrenovated" price afterwards.
Any thoughts on this slightly unusual fact pattern would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

--
Jariel Bortnick, Esq.
561.703.1155
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