Duval County Eviction Process: Notices, Filing, and Writ of Possession

The Duval County eviction process is a court-driven sequence: the landlord delivers a written notice, waits out the notice period, files a complaint with the Clerk of Courts, has the tenant served, and — if the tenant does not pay, cure, or respond correctly — obtains a judgment and a Writ of Possession that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office executes after posting a 24-hour notice on the door. Every step is governed by Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes, and skipping any of them is what causes most cases to get thrown out.

Step 1: Deliver the Right Written Notice

Nothing can be filed in court until the tenant has received the correct written notice for the correct reason. The reason dictates the form.

Nonpayment of rent: a 3-day notice demanding payment or surrender of the property. The three days do not count Saturdays, Sundays, or court-observed holidays, and the notice must state the exact dollar amount owed and the deadline.¹
A first-time, curable lease violation: a 7-day notice describing the problem and giving the tenant seven days to fix it. If the tenant corrects the issue in time, the eviction cannot move forward.¹
A non-curable or repeat violation: a 7-day unconditional notice terminating the lease. Intentional property destruction, ongoing disturbances after a prior written warning, and repeat violations within 12 months of a written warning fall here. The tenant gets seven days to vacate, with no option to cure.¹

Florida law allows four delivery methods: handing the notice to the tenant, mailing it, emailing it if the tenant previously agreed to electronic communications under Section 83.505, or leaving a copy at the residence if the tenant is not home.¹ The statute says “leaving a copy at the residence,” not taping to the door. Posting on the door is common when the tenant is absent, but the delivery method should be documented. Using the wrong notice, miscounting days, or skipping notice entirely will end the case before it starts.

Step 2: File the Complaint with the Duval County Clerk

Once the notice period expires with no payment, cure, or move-out, the landlord files a formal eviction complaint. Filing happens at the Duval County Clerk of Courts in person or through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal.²

The Clerk’s eviction packet includes Form 61 (complaint for nonpayment of rent), Form 62 (complaint for other lease violations), and Form 63 (eviction summons). Form 61(A) combines possession with a money-damages claim, and Form 64 adds a damages summons.³ The complaint must list the full legal name of every adult tenant on the lease and the correct property address, and it must either state the exact rent owed or spell out the lease terms violated. A complaint that misstates the rent or misses a tenant creates delays measured in weeks.

The standard eviction filing fee is $185. Adding a money-damages claim raises the fee based on the amount sought.⁴

Step 3: Serve the Tenant

After the Clerk issues the summons, the tenant has to be formally served. In Duval County this is done by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office or a private certified process server. The sheriff’s fee is $40 per person.⁵

Under Florida law, the server hands the documents to the tenant personally or leaves them with someone at least 15 years old who lives at the property.⁶ If no one answers, the server may post the documents on the property. The proof of service goes back to the court file, and the tenant’s response clock begins.

Step 4: The Five-Day Response and the Rent Deposit

This is the step that decides most cases. After being served, the tenant has five days — not counting the day of service, weekends, or court-observed holidays — to file a written response with the Clerk.⁷

In a nonpayment case, raising any defense other than “I already paid” requires the tenant to deposit the full accrued rent claimed in the complaint into the court registry within the same five-day window. A tenant who thinks the rent figure is wrong can instead file a motion arguing the correct amount, but the motion needs documentation. Missing both the deposit and the motion within five days is treated as an absolute waiver of defenses: the landlord gets an immediate default judgment and a Writ of Possession, no hearing required.⁷ Tenants in public housing or receiving a rent subsidy only have to deposit the portion they personally owe.

The court charges a registry fee to accept the deposit: 3% on the first $500, then 1.5% on each additional $100. On a $2,000 deposit that works out to roughly $37.50 on top of the rent itself.

Step 5: Hearing or Default Judgment

If the tenant files a timely answer and deposits the rent, the case is set for a hearing at the Duval County Courthouse. A county court judge reviews the lease, the notice, the proof of service, and any defenses. The judge checks the procedure closely: whether the notice was worded correctly, delivered correctly, and followed by the full waiting period before filing.

Common tenant defenses include disputing the rent amount, arguing the landlord failed to maintain the property in habitable condition, or claiming the eviction is retaliatory. Florida law prohibits a landlord from filing an eviction primarily in retaliation for a tenant reporting code violations in good faith, participating in a tenant organization, complaining to the landlord about habitability under Section 83.56(1), terminating a lease under the servicemember provisions of Section 83.682, or exercising fair housing rights. The retaliation defense requires good faith and does not apply if the landlord shows a legitimate cause such as real nonpayment or a real lease violation.⁸

The landlord carries the initial burden of proving the violation and proper notice. If the judge finds a procedural defect, the case can be dismissed, though the landlord can usually fix the error and refile.

If the tenant did not respond or did not deposit the rent, there is no hearing. The judge enters a default judgment on the papers.

Step 6: Writ of Possession and the 24-Hour Removal

When the court rules for the landlord, it enters a Final Judgment for Possession, which ends the tenant’s legal right to remain. The Clerk then issues a Writ of Possession for a $7 fee.⁴ The landlord takes the writ to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and pays a $90 non-refundable execution fee.⁵

The sheriff posts a 24-hour notice on the property warning the tenant to vacate. Weekends and holidays do not pause the 24-hour countdown. After that, if the tenant is still there, the sheriff returns and physically removes the occupants. The landlord or the landlord’s agent may then remove any personal property left inside to or near the property line. The landlord can also ask the sheriff to stand by while the locks are changed, for an hourly fee.⁹

One narrow situation can delay this final step: a tenant who files for bankruptcy after judgment can potentially push removal back up to 30 days by depositing the next month’s rent with the bankruptcy court and filing the required certification. A bankruptcy filing cannot undo an eviction judgment that has already been entered.¹⁰ Moving quickly from judgment to writ execution narrows that window.

What a Landlord Cannot Do

Everything above has to go through the court. Florida law draws a hard line against self-help removals. A landlord cannot shut off water, electricity, gas, or any other utility, even if the landlord is the one paying the bill. A landlord cannot change the locks, add a padlock, or use any device to block the tenant’s access. A landlord cannot remove doors, windows, roof, or walls except for genuine maintenance. And a landlord cannot remove the tenant’s personal belongings unless there has already been a lawful eviction, a voluntary surrender, or an abandonment.¹¹

The penalty for violating any of these is severe. The tenant can sue for actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus court costs and attorney fees. Each separate violation that is not part of the same initial incident triggers its own damages award.¹¹ A midnight lockout is almost always more expensive than a court filing.

What the Process Costs

For an uncontested Duval County eviction without a money-damages claim, the fixed court and sheriff costs look like this:

Filing fee: $185⁴
Sheriff service of process: $40 per tenant served⁵
Writ of Possession issuance: $7⁴
Sheriff writ execution: $90⁵
Sheriff standby if needed: $46 per hour, per officer, after the first hour⁵

That puts the floor at roughly $322 for a single-tenant case, before any attorney fees and before the rent lost while the case is pending. A contested case that goes to a hearing typically adds $500 to $1,500 or more in attorney fees. Filing with a damages claim means a higher filing fee scaled to the amount sought, and an incorrect address on the summons adds another $40 sheriff’s fee per person for re-service.⁵ Accurate paperwork the first time is the cheapest part of the process.

How Long It Takes

The statutory minimum timeline is short, but real-world cases run longer. For nonpayment, the three-day notice period plus five days for the tenant to respond plus clerk and sheriff processing means an uncontested eviction can resolve in roughly three to five weeks from notice to removal, assuming the tenant does not deposit rent and the paperwork is clean. A contested case with a hearing can run six to eight weeks or more. Any procedural defect that forces a refile effectively restarts the clock on that step. The 24-hour sheriff posting at the end runs on a strict count that ignores weekends and holidays, so once the writ is in the sheriff’s hands the final removal is the fastest part of the entire process.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement
2
Florida Courts. Filing Your Forms
3
Duval Clerk of the Circuit Court. County Civil
4
Duval Clerk of the Circuit Court. Fee Schedules
5
Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Civil Process
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 48.031 – Service of Process Generally
7
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 83.60 – Defenses to Action for Rent or Possession
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.64 – Retaliatory Conduct
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.62 – Restoration of Possession to Landlord
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
11
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.67 – Prohibited Practices