In Florida, a 60 day notice to vacate is required in three situations: statewide for any year-to-year tenancy, and for month-to-month residential tenancies in Miami-Dade County and Broward County under local ordinances. Everywhere else in Florida, a month-to-month tenancy can be ended with 30 days’ written notice. Getting the period wrong can void the termination and force you to start over.
When the 60-Day Rule Applies
Florida ties notice to how rent is paid when a tenancy has no fixed term. A year-to-year tenancy, where rent is payable annually, requires at least 60 days’ written notice before the end of the annual period, no matter where in the state the property sits.1Justia. Florida Code 83.57 – Termination of Tenancy Without Specific Term
Two counties have extended the 60-day requirement to month-to-month residential tenancies by local ordinance:
- Miami-Dade County. Ordinance 22-30 requires at least 60 days’ written notice before the end of any monthly period to terminate a month-to-month residential tenancy. It covers both incorporated and unincorporated areas, and binds both landlords and tenants.2Miami-Dade County. Fair Notice for Rent Increases – Ordinance 22-30
- Broward County. A similar ordinance, effective May 1, 2022, requires at least 60 days’ written notice to terminate a monthly or quarterly residential tenancy. It also binds both sides.
Outside those two counties, a month-to-month tenancy follows the state default: 30 days’ written notice before the end of the monthly period. A quarter-to-quarter tenancy requires 30 days, and a week-to-week tenancy requires 7 days.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.46 – Rent; Duration of Tenancies
These are minimums. A lease can require more notice than the statute, but it cannot require less. Either side can terminate by giving the required written notice, and no reason has to be stated. This is the no-cause termination path, and it is separate from the fixed-term lease situation covered at the end.
How to Count the 60 Days
The notice period runs backward from the end of a rental period, not forward from the day you hand over the paper. If rent is due on the first, the end of the monthly period is the last day of that month.
A Miami-Dade example makes it concrete. A landlord who wants a month-to-month tenancy to end on August 31 must deliver the notice no later than July 1, so the tenant has a full 60 days before August 31. A notice delivered on July 5 cannot terminate the tenancy on August 31, because there are no longer 60 days between delivery and that period end. The earliest termination date pushes to September 30.
The same backward count applies to a year-to-year tenancy anywhere in Florida, measured against the end of the annual period, and to the 30-day notice used for month-to-month tenancies in the rest of the state. Missing the deadline by one day pushes the termination into the next full period.
What the Notice Must Contain
Florida’s landlord-tenant statutes do not prescribe a specific form for a no-cause termination notice, but a vague notice is easy to attack in court. A sound notice includes:
- The full legal name of every tenant on the lease.
- The complete property address, including any unit number.
- A clear statement that the tenancy is being terminated, not a suggestion to consider leaving.
- A specific termination date that satisfies the applicable notice period.
- The date the notice was prepared and the signature of the landlord or an authorized property manager.
A notice saying “you need to leave in about 60 days,” with no specific termination date, invites a challenge. State the date.
How to Deliver the Notice
Florida allows four delivery methods: mailing the notice, hand-delivering a copy, emailing it if the lease permits electronic communication under Section 83.505, or leaving a copy at the tenant’s residence if the tenant is absent.4The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement These delivery requirements cannot be waived by the lease.
Regular mail is permitted but creates no proof of receipt. Certified mail with return receipt produces a paper trail. Hand delivery with a witness is stronger still. If the matter reaches eviction court, the judge will want to know how service happened, and a certified mail receipt or a witness statement answers that question. A mailbox drop with no proof does not.
If the Tenant Does Not Leave
A tenant who stays past the termination date is a holdover tenant. The landlord cannot change the locks, shut off utilities, or remove belongings. Florida prohibits those self-help remedies, and a landlord who uses them can owe the tenant actual damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater.5The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 83.67 – Prohibited Practices
The legal route is an action for possession filed in county court. The filing fee is $185.6Florida Senate. Florida Code 34.041 – Filing Fees Beyond regaining the unit, the landlord can seek double the monthly rent for the holdover period.7Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.58 – Remedies; Tenant Holding Over On a $2,000-per-month unit, a two-month holdover can mean $8,000 in rent liability rather than $4,000.
None of that works if the underlying notice was defective. A notice with the wrong termination date, delivered too late, or served by a method the statute does not recognize will not support an eviction based on that termination. The landlord has to issue a corrected notice and wait out the next full period.
A Note on Fixed-Term Leases
The 60-day rule applies to no-cause terminations of tenancies without a fixed term. A tenant breaking a signed one-year lease early does not use a 60-day notice. In that situation, Florida allows the landlord to charge an early termination fee of up to two months’ rent, but only if the tenant signed a separate addendum agreeing to the fee at the start of the lease.8Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.595 – Choice of Remedies Upon Breach or Early Termination by Tenant Without that addendum, the landlord cannot charge the fee, and may instead hold the tenant liable for rent until the unit is re-rented, reduced by what the landlord recovers through good-faith efforts to relet.
For a month-to-month tenancy, there is no early termination fee question. Give the written notice the location requires, 60 days in Miami-Dade and Broward or 30 days elsewhere, and leave by the stated date.1Justia. Florida Code 83.57 – Termination of Tenancy Without Specific Term