Florida Statute 83.49 sets the security deposit rules Florida landlords must follow: how the money is held, when it has to be returned, how a landlord makes a claim against it, and what the tenant can do in response. Miss a deadline or skip a step and the statute shifts the money, and often the attorney’s fees, to the other side.
How the Landlord Must Hold Your Deposit
When a landlord collects a security deposit or advance rent (anything beyond the next month’s rent), the money cannot sit in the landlord’s personal account. Section 83.49 gives the landlord three options.1Justia Law. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
The first is a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution. The second is a separate interest-bearing account, with the tenant paid at least 75 percent of the account’s annualized interest rate or 5 percent simple interest per year, whichever the landlord picks. The third is a surety bond posted with the clerk of the circuit court for the lesser of the total deposits held or $50,000. Landlords operating in five or more counties may file a single bond with the Secretary of State for up to $250,000 instead of posting county-by-county.
Whichever method the landlord uses, the deposit money cannot be commingled with the landlord’s own funds.
The 15-Day and 30-Day Deadlines After You Move Out
Once you vacate, the statute sets two possible timelines, and which one applies depends on what the landlord intends to do with the money.
If the landlord does not intend to keep any of the deposit, the full amount, plus any interest owed, must be returned within 15 days.1Justia Law. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
If the landlord intends to claim any portion of it, a written notice must go out by certified mail within 30 days. The notice tells you how much the landlord is claiming and why.1Justia Law. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
Those deadlines are strict. Certified mail is not a suggestion, and 30 days is 30 days.
Your 15 Days to Object
After you receive the landlord’s claim notice, you have 15 days to object in writing. If you do object, the landlord cannot just take the claimed amount; the dispute has to be resolved before any deduction is final.
If you say nothing during the 15 days, the landlord can deduct the amount claimed and must send you any remaining balance within 30 days of the original claim notice.1Justia Law. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
Staying silent during the objection window does not permanently waive your right to fight the deduction. You can still file a separate lawsuit later to challenge what the landlord kept. The objection process is faster and cheaper than court, but it is not your only shot.
What Happens If the Landlord Misses the 30-Day Notice
This is the most expensive mistake a landlord can make under Section 83.49. A landlord who fails to send the required written claim notice within 30 days forfeits the right to claim any part of the deposit. Not part of it. Any of it.
The landlord also loses the right to use the deposit as a setoff against other amounts the tenant may owe. If the landlord believes the tenant caused damage or owes rent, the landlord can still sue for those amounts separately, but the deposit itself has to be returned in full.1Justia Law. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
The practical effect is that a tenant whose landlord blew the 30-day deadline has a straightforward path to getting the entire deposit back, even if there was legitimate damage to the unit. The landlord’s remedy shrinks from a quick deduction to a full-blown lawsuit.
Court Costs and Attorney’s Fees
If the deposit fight ends up in court, Section 83.49 tips the scales in favor of finishing what you start. The prevailing party recovers court costs and reasonable attorney’s fees from the other side. That cuts both ways. A tenant who wins a wrongful-withholding claim can collect fees; a landlord who wins a legitimate claim can too.
The fee-shifting provision is one reason small deposit disputes sometimes turn into larger fights. Once fees are on the table, the amount at stake is no longer just the deposit.
Section 83.49 Does Not Cover Belongings You Leave Behind
One point of confusion worth clearing up: Section 83.49 is about money, not property. If you leave furniture, boxes, or other belongings in the unit after moving out, a different set of rules applies. The abandoned-property procedures live in Chapter 715 (Sections 715.104 through 715.111), and a separate provision in Section 83.67(5) allows a lease to waive those procedures entirely with the right clause. Storage and disposal costs from that process can end up as a line item in the landlord’s 30-day claim notice under 83.49, which is where the two topics touch, but the deposit statute itself does not govern what happens to your stuff.
Quick Reference: The Deadlines That Matter
- 15 days after you vacate: deadline for the landlord to return the full deposit if no claim is being made.
- 30 days after you vacate: deadline for the landlord to send a written claim notice by certified mail if any portion is being withheld.
- 15 days after you receive the claim notice: your window to object in writing.
- 30 days after the claim notice: deadline for the landlord to send any remaining balance if you did not object.
- 1 year: if you did not object during the 15-day window, you can still sue later to challenge the deduction.
Every one of those deadlines has teeth. The 30-day claim notice is the one landlords miss most often, and the consequence, forfeiting the right to keep any of the deposit, is the single most important thing a tenant should check before assuming the money is gone.