Florida Landlord-Tenant Law: Rights, Leases, and Notices

Florida landlord-tenant law for homes and apartments lives mainly in one place: Part II of Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes, the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. It governs deposits, the condition of the rental, the notices each side must give, and the only lawful path to remove a tenant. This article orients renters and landlords to that framework and points to the detailed procedures covered in the linked articles below.

What Chapter 83 covers and who it applies to

The Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act covers the rental of a dwelling unit, a house, apartment, condominium, or mobile home rented as a residence. Its provisions run from Fla. Stat. § 83.40 through § 83.683, the second part of Chapter 83. A separate Part I of the same chapter handles non-residential and commercial tenancies, and a separate Chapter 723 handles mobile home lot rentals, so the residential rules described here do not automatically apply to those arrangements.

Some living situations fall outside the Act entirely. Transient occupancy in a hotel or motel, occupancy by a buyer under a contract for deed, and stays in a facility that provides medical or other services as part of the rent are treated differently. For most month-to-month and fixed-term apartment and house rentals, though, Part II is the controlling Florida landlord-tenant law.

The Act sets a floor, not a ceiling. A written lease can add terms the statute does not require, but it cannot waive the protections the statute guarantees to tenants. The notice requirements for ending a tenancy or demanding a repair, for example, may not be waived in the rental agreement under Fla. Stat. § 83.56(4).

Key terms in a Florida residential tenancy

A few terms recur throughout Chapter 83 and across the articles in this section.

A rental agreement is the contract, written or oral, that creates the tenancy. A dwelling unit is the structure or part of a structure rented as a home. Advance rent is rent paid for a period beyond the next immediate rental period, and a security deposit is money held to secure the tenant’s performance. The two are treated together under the deposit rules.

A tenancy with a specific duration is a lease for a set term, such as a one-year lease. A tenancy without a specific duration is open-ended, week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter, or year to year, and renews automatically until one side gives notice. The notice each side must give to end an open-ended tenancy depends on which of these periods applies, as set out in Fla. Stat. § 83.57.

Possession is the legal right to occupy the unit. A landlord who wants possession back from a tenant who will not leave must obtain it through a court eviction, not by changing the locks or removing the tenant’s belongings.

Security deposits and advance rent

The deposit rules are the most litigated part of Florida landlord-tenant law, and they are set out in detail in Fla. Stat. § 83.49. A landlord who holds a deposit or advance rent must keep it in one of three ways: a separate non-interest-bearing Florida account, a separate interest-bearing account, or by posting a surety bond and paying the tenant 5 percent simple interest per year. When an interest-bearing account is used, the tenant is entitled to at least 75 percent of the average annualized rate or 5 percent simple interest, whichever the landlord chooses.

A landlord who rents five or more dwelling units must also give the tenant written notice, within 30 days of receiving the deposit, stating where the deposit is held and whether it earns interest, under Fla. Stat. § 83.49(2).

The return deadlines turn on whether the landlord wants to keep any of the money. If the landlord does not intend to impose a claim, the deposit (plus any required interest) must be returned within 15 days after the tenancy ends. If the landlord does intend to impose a claim, the landlord has 30 days after the tenancy ends to send the tenant written notice by certified mail to the tenant’s last known address, stating the amount and the reason. A landlord who misses the 30-day notice deadline forfeits the right to claim against the deposit, though the landlord may still sue separately for damages.

If either side goes to court over the deposit, the statute directs the court to award court costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party and to advance the case on the calendar.

Repairs, maintenance, and landlord access

Chapter 83 splits responsibility for the condition of the rental between the two sides. The landlord’s maintenance duties, compliance with building, housing, and health codes, and upkeep of structural elements, plumbing, and common areas, are set in Fla. Stat. § 83.51. The tenant’s duties, keeping the unit clean and sanitary, using fixtures reasonably, and not destroying or defacing the premises, are in Fla. Stat. § 83.52.

When a landlord fails to meet the maintenance obligations, the tenant’s remedy starts with written notice. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.56(1), a tenant delivers written notice of the noncompliance and of an intent to terminate; if the landlord does not fix the problem within 7 days, the tenant may end the rental agreement. If the failure makes the unit uninhabitable and the tenant moves out, the tenant is not liable for rent while it stays that way.

Landlord access is governed by Fla. Stat. § 83.53. For a repair, the landlord must give at least 24 hours’ notice and enter at a reasonable time, defined by the statute as between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. The landlord may enter without notice only in an emergency or to protect the premises, and may not use the right of access to harass the tenant.

Notices that end a tenancy or demand a fix

Florida landlord-tenant law runs on written notices, and the required notice period depends on what is happening.

For an open-ended tenancy with no fixed end date, either side may end it under Fla. Stat. § 83.57: at least 30 days’ notice before the end of a monthly period for a month-to-month tenancy, at least 60 days before the end of an annual period for a year-to-year tenancy, and at least 7 days for a week-to-week tenancy.

When the problem is unpaid rent, the landlord’s first step is the 3-day notice. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.56(3), if rent is unpaid when due, the landlord delivers a written demand for the rent or possession, and the tenant has 3 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed legal holidays, to pay or leave before the landlord may terminate.

When the problem is a lease violation other than rent, the notice depends on the nature of the violation. For a violation the tenant can fix, the landlord delivers a 7-day notice to cure; if the same conduct recurs within 12 months, the landlord may move to terminate without another chance to cure. For serious conduct that cannot be cured, such as intentional destruction of property, the landlord may deliver a 7-day notice of termination. Both forms appear in Fla. Stat. § 83.56(2).

Eviction and the limits on landlord self-help

A landlord who wants a tenant out, and the tenant will not leave, must file an eviction action in county court. The eviction process, and the tenant’s duty to deposit disputed rent into the court registry to contest it, flows from Fla. Stat. § 83.59 and § 83.60. Only a sheriff acting on a court-issued writ of possession may physically remove a tenant.

Florida law specifically prohibits “self-help” eviction. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.67, a landlord may not shut off utilities, change the locks, remove doors or the tenant’s personal property, or otherwise force a tenant out without going through the courts. A landlord who does so can be liable to the tenant for actual or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus court costs and attorney fees. These protections sit alongside the consumer-rights overview in the Florida Bar’s pamphlet on the rights and duties of tenants and landlords.