Florida Statutes 723.0615 – Retaliatory conduct
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(1) It is unlawful for a mobile home park owner to discriminatorily increase a home owner’s rent or discriminatorily decrease services to a home owner, or to bring or threaten to bring an action for possession or other civil action, primarily because the park owner is retaliating against the home owner. In order for the home owner to raise the defense of retaliatory conduct, the home owner must have acted in good faith and not for any improper purposes, such as to harass or to cause unnecessary delay or for frivolous purpose or needless increase in the cost of litigation. Examples of conduct for which the park owner may not retaliate include, but are not limited to, situations where:
(a) The home owner has in good faith complained to a governmental agency charged with responsibility for enforcement of a building, housing, or health code of a suspected violation applicable to the mobile home park;
Terms Used In Florida Statutes 723.0615
- Litigation: A case, controversy, or lawsuit. Participants (plaintiffs and defendants) in lawsuits are called litigants.
- Lot rental amount: means all financial obligations, except user fees, which are required as a condition of the tenancy. See Florida Statutes 723.003
- Mobile home: means a residential structure, transportable in one or more sections, which is 8 body feet or more in width, over 35 body feet in length with the hitch, built on an integral chassis, designed to be used as a dwelling when connected to the required utilities, and not originally sold as a recreational vehicle, and includes the plumbing, heating, air-conditioning, and electrical systems contained therein. See Florida Statutes 723.003
- park: means a use of land in which lots or spaces are offered for rent or lease for the placement of mobile homes and in which the primary use of the park is residential. See Florida Statutes 723.003
- park owner: means an owner or operator of a mobile home park. See Florida Statutes 723.003
- rental agreement: means any mutual understanding or lease, whether oral or written, between a mobile home owner and a mobile home park owner in which the mobile home owner is entitled to place his or her mobile home on a mobile home lot for either direct or indirect remuneration of the mobile home park owner. See Florida Statutes 723.003
(b) The home owner has organized, encouraged, or participated in a homeowners’ organization; or
(c) The home owner has complained to the park owner for failure to comply with s. 723.022.
(2) Evidence of retaliatory conduct may be raised by the home owner as a defense in any action brought against him or her for possession.
(3) In any event, this section does not apply if the park owner proves that the eviction is for good cause. Examples of such good cause include, but are not limited to, good faith actions for nonpayment of the lot rental amount, violation of the rental agreement or of park rules, or violation of the terms of this chapter.