Florida Pet Deposit Laws: Limits, Refunds, and Disputes

Florida pet deposit laws don’t set a dollar limit on what a landlord can charge, but they do control how the money is held and when it has to come back to you. Any pet deposit collected on a residential lease is treated as part of your security deposit under Section 83.49 of the Florida Statutes, which means the same holding rules, the same return deadlines, and the same dispute procedures apply.¹

How Florida Treats a Pet Deposit

There is no separate pet deposit statute in Florida. Whatever you pay as a pet deposit folds into the security deposit framework in Section 83.49. The landlord must hold the money one of three ways: in a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, in a separate interest-bearing account that pays you at least 75 percent of the annualized interest rate or 5 percent simple interest, or secured by a surety bond posted with the clerk of the circuit court. The money cannot be mixed with the landlord’s personal funds and cannot be spent until it is actually owed.¹

Within 30 days of receiving the deposit, the landlord has to give you written notice telling you where the money is held, whether you earn interest, and a summary of your rights. Landlords who rent fewer than five units are exempt from the notification requirement, but every landlord still has to follow the deposit-handling rules.¹

No Legal Cap on the Amount

Florida does not limit security deposits the way some states do. A pet deposit of $200 to $500 per animal is typical, but a landlord can charge more, and often will for larger animals, restricted breeds, or multiple pets. For high-risk breeds or several animals, the deposit can equal a full month’s rent or more.

Because the amount is unregulated, it is negotiable. You can push back on a figure that seems high, offer to carry renter’s insurance with pet liability coverage, or walk away. Whatever you agree to should appear in writing in the lease, with the amount and the label (deposit, fee, or rent) spelled out plainly.

Deposit, Fee, or Rent: Which Is Refundable

Florida leases can use three different pet charges, and only one of them comes back to you.

Pet deposit. Refundable. Held by the landlord to cover damage beyond normal wear and tear, and returned under the Section 83.49 timeline if the property is in acceptable condition.¹
Pet fee. One-time and non-refundable. The landlord keeps it whether or not any damage occurs. It is not governed by the deposit return rules.
Pet rent. A recurring monthly charge, usually $25 to $75, added to your base rent. It is treated as rent, not a deposit, and is not refundable.

A lease can combine any of the three. Before signing, read exactly how each charge is labeled, because the label controls whether you ever see that money again. If anything is ambiguous, ask the landlord to clarify in writing.

Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals

A landlord cannot charge a pet deposit, pet fee, or pet rent for a service animal. Section 413.08 prohibits imposing any deposit or surcharge as a condition of allowing a service animal, even where the property normally charges pet deposits. Under that statute, a service animal means a dog or miniature horse individually trained to perform tasks related to a person’s disability; comfort alone does not qualify. You remain responsible for any actual damage the animal causes.²

Emotional support animals have been covered by Section 760.27, which bars landlords from requiring extra compensation for an assistance animal. That protection applies “to the extent required by federal law, rule, or regulation.”³ In May 2026 HUD issued an enforcement memo canceling its prior guidance on emotional support animals and adopted a trained-animal standard, meaning HUD will only pursue Fair Housing Act complaints involving animals individually trained for disability-related work. The federal Fair Housing Act itself has not been amended, so courts may still require reasonable accommodation for ESAs, but federal enforcement at HUD is gone and the practical reach of Section 760.27 in Florida is now uncertain. If you rely on an ESA, talk to a Florida housing attorney before assuming your landlord cannot charge a deposit.

Misrepresenting a pet as an assistance animal is a second-degree misdemeanor under Section 817.265, punishable by up to 60 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, and 30 hours of community service to be completed within six months of conviction. Buying an ESA letter from an online service without a legitimate clinical relationship is a common route to this charge.

Breed and Weight Restrictions

A private landlord can refuse to rent to you based on your pet’s breed, size, or weight. Florida law stops local governments and public housing authorities from enacting breed-specific bans, but that limit does not apply to private landlords or management companies.⁴ Common exclusions include pit bull terriers, Rottweilers, Doberman pinschers, German shepherds, chow chows, Akitas, and wolf hybrids. The restrictions usually track what the landlord’s insurance policy excludes, so there is often no room to negotiate. Ask about breed limits before paying any application fee.

What Counts as Pet Damage

A landlord can only deduct from the pet deposit for damage beyond normal wear and tear. Florida statutes do not define that phrase, but the line falls between deterioration from ordinary use and deterioration from negligence or misuse.

Carpet flattening, minor wall scuffs, and small scratches on hard flooring usually read as normal wear. Urine soaked into carpet padding, chewed door frames, deep gouges in hardwood, and holes dug in landscaping do not. Odor is where fights happen most often. A faint smell that standard cleaning fixes is arguably wear; urine saturated into subfloor that requires enzymatic treatment and pad replacement is damage. Professional pet cleaning and deodorizing runs roughly $100 to $700 depending on severity, and that cost comes out of your deposit when the problem is clearly from your animal.

Document the Unit Before and After

Photos are the single best thing you can bring to a deposit dispute. Before your pet enters the property, take timestamped pictures of every room, with close shots of flooring, baseboards, door frames, and any surface an animal could damage. Capture every pre-existing stain, scratch, and worn spot from several angles. If the landlord gives you a move-in checklist, fill it out carefully and keep a signed copy.

Repeat the whole exercise the day you hand back the keys. Side-by-side move-in and move-out photos are what wins deposit cases. Without them, a stain that was there when you arrived can easily be charged to your pet.

Getting the Deposit Back

The return timeline in Section 83.49 runs on strict deadlines. Give the landlord a forwarding address in writing when you leave so required notices actually reach you.

No claim against the deposit. If the landlord does not intend to keep any portion, the full deposit plus any interest owed must be returned within 15 days after the lease ends.¹
Landlord plans to make a claim. The landlord has 30 days after the lease ends to send written notice stating the intent to claim and the reason, by certified mail to your last known address, or by email if you agreed to electronic communication under Section 83.505.¹
Your response window. You have 15 days from receiving that notice to object in writing. If you don’t respond, the landlord can collect on the claim and must send you whatever is left.

A landlord who misses the 30-day notice deadline forfeits the right to deduct anything from the deposit and has to return it in full. That forfeiture does not stop the landlord from suing you separately for actual damages, so getting the deposit back is not always the end of the matter.¹

Disputing the Deductions

If the landlord withholds money you believe you are owed, you can sue in county court. Florida small claims handles disputes up to $8,000, which covers nearly every pet deposit fight.⁵

Bring the lease, your move-in and move-out photos, any written exchanges with the landlord about the deposit, and the landlord’s notice of claim if you got one. Ask for receipts and invoices supporting any repair charges. Vague claims without documentation tend not to survive in front of a judge. Section 83.49 provides that the losing party in a deposit dispute generally pays the other side’s court costs and attorney fees, which gives landlords a reason to settle reasonable claims rather than risk a judgment.¹

One Thing a Pet Deposit Doesn’t Cover

Your pet deposit protects the landlord’s property. It does nothing if your dog bites a neighbor or your cat scratches a guest. Pet liability insurance, often bundled into renter’s insurance, covers third-party injuries and property damage caused by your animal, though restricted breeds are commonly excluded from coverage. Some landlords require a minimum amount of pet liability coverage as a separate condition of allowing animals, on top of the deposit.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 413.08 – Rights of an Individual With a Disability; Use of a Service Animal; Discrimination in Public Employment, Public Accommodations, and Housing Accommodations
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 760.27 – Prohibited Discrimination in Housing Provided to Persons With a Disability or Disability-Related Need for an Emotional Support Animal
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 767.14 – Additional Local Restrictions Authorized
5
Florida Courts. Small Claims – Other Resources