Florida Bar Lease Agreement: Disclosures, Deposits, and Termination

The Florida Bar lease agreement is a free, Supreme Court of Florida–approved residential rental template published in two versions: one for single-family homes and duplexes, and one for apartments, condominiums, cooperatives, and mobile homes.¹ Both are designed for terms of one year or less and let a landlord and tenant put a legally sound arrangement in writing without hiring an attorney. The Florida Bar cautions that the forms are not a substitute for legal advice, because the law changes and specific situations can raise issues a template cannot anticipate.

Which Form to Use

Pick the version that matches the property:¹

The Residential Lease for Single Family Home or Duplex covers standalone houses and duplexes.²
The Residential Lease for Apartment or Unit in Multi-Family Rental Housing covers apartments, condominiums, cooperatives, and mobile homes other than duplexes.³

Both are free PDFs on the Florida Bar’s website and the Florida Supreme Court’s form library. Neither form is meant for commercial, agricultural, or other non-residential property, and neither works for a term longer than one year. A longer arrangement calls for a new agreement or an attorney-drafted lease.

Filling Out the Lease

Start with the parties. List the full legal name of every landlord and every tenant. Someone who lives in the unit but is not named on the lease generally has no enforceable rights or obligations under it.

The property description asks for the street address and zip code, not a formal legal description from a deed.² There’s a line for furniture and appliances included with the rental. If none are provided, write “none” instead of leaving it blank. A blank space invites a later argument about what was agreed to.

Enter exact start and end dates. These dates fix when the tenant may occupy the property and when rent obligations begin and end. Because the forms are capped at one year, anything longer needs a different document.

Record the rent amount and the payment frequency in the dedicated fields. Under Florida law, rent is due at the beginning of each payment period without the landlord sending a bill or reminder, and if the lease doesn’t state a specific duration, the payment schedule sets the tenancy type: monthly rent creates a month-to-month tenancy, weekly rent a week-to-week tenancy, and so on.⁴

Florida does not set a statutory cap on late fees for standard residential rentals under Chapter 83, Part II, but courts look at whether a late fee is a reasonable estimate of actual damages or an unenforceable penalty. A fee wildly disproportionate to a few days of delay will not hold up. State a specific dollar amount or percentage so both sides know what to expect.

Required Disclosures

Florida law requires several disclosures in every residential lease. Leaving them out is more than a technical slip; it can undermine the landlord’s ability to enforce the agreement or keep a security deposit.

Radon Gas Notice

Section 404.056(5) of the Florida Statutes requires every rental agreement to include a specific radon gas notification.⁵ The notice uses prescribed language explaining that radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas, that levels exceeding federal and state guidelines have been found in Florida buildings, and that more information is available from the county health department. Landlords are not required to test for radon; the disclosure just ensures tenants know the risk exists. Both Florida Bar forms already include this language. If you use a different template, confirm the notice appears verbatim.

Lead-Based Paint Disclosure

For any property built before 1978, federal law requires the landlord to disclose known information about lead-based paint hazards before the lease is signed.⁶ The landlord must share all available records and reports about lead in the property, give the tenant the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home,” and include a lead warning statement either in the lease or as an attachment. The rule applies in every state and under every form.

Security Deposit Rules

Florida’s security deposit statute is one of the most detailed in the country and trips up landlords regularly. Section 83.49 lets the landlord handle deposit money in one of three ways:⁷

Hold the full amount in a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, with no commingling of the landlord’s own funds.
Hold the full amount in a separate interest-bearing account and pay the tenant at least 75 percent of the annualized average interest rate, or 5 percent simple interest per year, at the landlord’s choice.
Post a surety bond with the clerk of the circuit court for the total of all deposits held or $50,000, whichever is less, and pay the tenant 5 percent simple interest annually.

Within 30 days of receiving the deposit, the landlord must give the tenant written notice of how the money is being held, the name and address of the financial institution, and whether interest will accrue.⁷ Skipping the notice doesn’t forfeit the deposit outright, but it weakens the landlord’s position in a later dispute.

Returning the Deposit

When the tenancy ends, the landlord has 15 days to return the full deposit if no deductions are being made. If any portion will be withheld, the landlord has 30 days to send written notice by certified mail, or by email where the tenant has consented to electronic notices, explaining the specific reasons for the claim.⁷ The tenant then has 15 days to object. If no objection comes in, the landlord may deduct the claimed amount and must return any remaining balance within 30 days of the original notice. Missing these deadlines can cost a landlord the right to make any deductions at all.

Who Maintains What

Florida draws a meaningful line between single-family rentals and multi-family units for maintenance. For every rental, the landlord must comply with applicable building, housing, and health codes throughout the tenancy. Where no such codes apply, the landlord must keep roofs, windows, doors, floors, exterior walls, foundations, and plumbing in working condition.⁸

For apartments, condos, and other multi-family housing, the landlord has additional responsibilities unless the lease says otherwise in writing. These include pest control for roaches, rodents, ants, wood-destroying organisms, and bedbugs; providing and maintaining locks and keys; keeping common areas clean and safe; handling garbage removal; and ensuring heat, running water, and hot water work.⁸ If pest extermination requires the tenant to vacate temporarily, the landlord must give seven days’ written notice, the tenant cannot be displaced for more than four days, and rent is abated during the displacement.

For single-family homes and duplexes, the obligations are narrower and can be modified by written agreement. The landlord must install working smoke detectors at the start of the tenancy.⁸ Beyond that, the lease can shift certain repair responsibilities to the tenant in ways that would not be permitted for apartment rentals.

If the landlord fails to meet these obligations and does not correct the problem within seven days of receiving written notice from the tenant, the tenant may terminate the lease.⁹ If the failure makes the unit uninhabitable, the tenant owes no rent while it stays that way. If the unit is still livable but less valuable, rent is reduced proportionally.

Ending the Lease and Giving Notice

When a Florida Bar lease reaches its stated end date, the tenancy expires. No notice is required from either party for a fixed-term lease unless the lease itself includes a renewal or notice clause. Section 83.575 does allow a lease to require between 30 and 60 days’ notice from either party before the end of the term when the lease will not be renewed.¹⁰ If a tenant fails to give required notice, the landlord may charge liquidated damages as specified in the agreement.

If a lease has no fixed end date, it becomes a periodic tenancy and either party must give written notice to terminate. The required notice depends on how rent is paid:¹¹

Year-to-year: at least 60 days before the end of the annual period.
Quarter-to-quarter: at least 30 days before the end of the quarterly period.
Month-to-month: at least 30 days before the end of the monthly period.
Week-to-week: at least 7 days before the end of the weekly period.

Early Termination Fees

Section 83.595 governs what happens when a tenant breaks the lease early. The lease may include an early termination fee, but it cannot exceed two months’ rent, and the tenant cannot be required to give more than 60 days’ notice before the proposed early termination date.¹⁰ A fee that exceeds the cap is unenforceable.

Nonpayment and Eviction Notices

If a tenant falls behind on rent, the landlord cannot change the locks or remove belongings. Florida requires a three-day written notice demanding payment or return of the premises before the landlord can take further action.⁹ The three days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed holidays, so in practice the tenant often has five or six calendar days. The notice must state the amount owed, the property address, and the deadline. If the tenant does not pay within the notice period, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement and file for eviction.

For lease violations other than nonpayment, the landlord must give seven days’ written notice for curable issues, which gives the tenant a chance to fix the problem. Violations that are not curable, such as intentional property destruction, allow the landlord to deliver a seven-day termination notice with no opportunity to cure.⁹

Signing the Lease

Florida no longer requires witnesses for any residential lease. A 2020 amendment to Section 689.01 eliminated the subscribing witness requirement for all leases of real property.¹² The Florida Bar forms include acknowledgment lines at the bottom of each page where the landlord and tenant confirm they received that page.¹³ Completing those acknowledgments on every page isn’t legally required, but it creates a record that no pages were swapped after signing.

Electronic signatures are valid in Florida under the Uniform Electronic Transaction Act, Section 668.50, as long as the signer intended to sign and the electronic process is logically associated with the record.¹⁴ Both parties should receive a complete, fully executed copy. Keep the original somewhere secure, since in an eviction or small claims case the lease is the primary evidence of the terms. Digital backups in a separate location protect against loss.

Clauses That Won’t Hold Up

Florida law voids any lease provision that tries to waive the rights established under Chapter 83, Part II.¹⁰ A clause purporting to eliminate the landlord’s maintenance obligations, strip the tenant’s right to proper notice before eviction, or limit either party’s legal liability beyond what the statute allows is unenforceable. If a void provision causes actual damages, the injured party can recover them in court. The Florida Bar forms are drafted to comply with these restrictions. Landlords who add custom clauses or riders should check them against the statute before relying on them.

1
The Florida Bar. Landlord Tenant Forms
2
The Florida Bar. Residential Lease for Single Family Home or Duplex
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The Florida Bar. Residential Lease for Apartment or Unit in Multi-Family Rental Housing
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.46 – Rent; Duration of Tenancies
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Justia Law. Florida Code 404.056 – Environmental Radiation Standards and Projects
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United States Environmental Protection Agency. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule – Section 1018 of Title X
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
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Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.51 – Landlord’s Obligation to Maintain Premises
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement
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Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 83 – Landlord and Tenant
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Justia Law. Florida Code 83.57 – Termination of Tenancy Without Specific Term
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 689.01 – How Real Estate Conveyed
13
Florida Supreme Court. Residential Lease for Single Family Home or Duplex
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 668.50 – Uniform Electronic Transaction Act