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Can I rent rooms out in my condo around unknown squatters who refuse to leave and locked me out?

Asked over 2 years ago - Cape Canaveral, FL

I have a condo in FL that currently has squatters. I was told to do an eviction through the court, since I cannot kick them out, nor even enter, because they have changed the locks on me.
Without doing an eviction, which is costly and time consuming, can I leave them in there, and just rent rooms out legally inside the house around them? I am thinking that given a 48 hour notice that I am coming to the unit, and have rented a room to a legal tenant, the Police should grant me legal access to my property, with their escort, and open the doors since they changed the locks.
I am thinking that if I rent the rooms out individually with a lease, these squatters will be forced out on their own, especially since they put the utilities on in their name, and do not want to pay for all.

Additional information
Legally I am not asking them to move, nor evicting them, just renting out my condo around them to" paying tenents "who know they have deadbeat roomies. I am granting them access to all areas of the condo, and a bedroom of their choice, with full use of all furniture and belongings in there (which are the squatters). I feel that if they do not like it, they have the choice to leave, or put their stuff in storage. My last person on lease moved, so I have no idea of who she gave keys to, or who these people are. Will this work? Any lease made to the prior tennant is null and void, since her email gave me a move out date. I am going back in 48 hours with a Police escort and my new tennant to gain entry and change locks if they are not there. Can I do this?

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Attorney answers (1)

W Russell Snyder

Reputation Level 6

Answered about 2 years ago. Litigation Lawyer in Venice, FL.

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The exclusive remedy in Florida for removing tenants is through a county court eviction action. There is no legal means to simply rent space "around" your tenants. By the way, Florida law provides double rent to the landlord that shows a tenant overstaying a lease.
You need to go the Clerks' office of your county and file an eviction action AFTER you have first posted a three day notice. You can learn about these rules by simply googling Florida Statute Chapter 83. All the rules for evictions and tenancies are in that chapter of the statutes. I think it would be a very bad idea to expose new tenants to your old tenants!
W. Russell Snyder
Attorney at Law
Venice Florida

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