Florida Statute 83.49: Deposits, Deductions, and Disputes

Florida security deposit law is set out in Section 83.49 of the Florida Statutes, and it tells landlords exactly where the money has to sit, what they must disclose about it, how quickly it has to come back after you move out, and what has to happen if either side wants to fight over deductions. The rules apply to every residential lease in the state. Missing a deadline has real consequences, especially for the landlord.

The statute covers two kinds of money: the security deposit itself and any advance rent that pays for a period beyond the next immediate month. If you paid first and last month’s rent at signing, the “last month” portion is advance rent and gets the same protection as a deposit. Rent for the coming month is not covered.

How Much a Landlord Can Charge

Florida does not cap security deposits. A landlord can legally ask for any amount. The market is the only real limit, so do not assume a one- or two-month ceiling exists — it does not.

Where Your Deposit Must Be Held

Section 83.49(1) gives the landlord three options, and no others are allowed:

A separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, held for your benefit.
A separate interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution. You are entitled to either at least 75 percent of the account’s annualized average interest rate or 5 percent simple interest per year, at the landlord’s choice.
A surety bond posted with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the property sits, in the amount of the deposits held or $50,000, whichever is less. With this option the landlord must also pay you 5 percent simple interest per year.

Under all three methods, the landlord cannot mix your deposit money with personal or business funds. The money remains your property until the landlord has a legal right to it. A landlord who spends the deposit on repairs, the mortgage, or anything else before the money is actually owed is violating the statute, and one licensed under Florida’s lodging laws can face fines or license suspension.¹

Written Notice About Where the Money Is

Within 30 days of receiving your deposit or advance rent, the landlord must give you written notice of where it is being held. The notice can appear in the lease or come separately by mail, in person, or by email. It has to include the name and address of the financial institution or state that a surety bond has been posted, and it has to say whether the money earns interest.¹

The notice also has to include a statutory disclosure telling you to provide a forwarding address at move-out, explaining the landlord’s 30-day window to make a claim, warning that failing to object within 15 days of receiving a claim notice lets the landlord collect, and noting that the prevailing party in a lawsuit generally recovers costs and attorney’s fees.

If the landlord moves the deposit to a different bank or changes how it is held, a new notice must go out within 30 days. A bank merger, name change, or ownership transfer does not trigger a new notice.

Landlords who rent fewer than five individual dwelling units are exempt from this written notice requirement, though the deposit-holding rules still apply to them.¹

Getting Your Full Deposit Back

If the landlord has no intention of claiming any part of the deposit, the full amount plus any owed interest has to come back to you within 15 days after the lease ends. The clock starts when you vacate and the rental agreement terminates.¹

Advance rent works a little differently. The landlord can move advance rent into their own funds once the rental period that money pays for actually begins, without additional notice to you.

When the Landlord Wants to Keep Part of It

A landlord who wants to keep any portion of the deposit must send you written notice within 30 days after the lease ends. The notice can go by certified mail to your last known address or by email if email delivery complies with Section 83.505. It has to state the specific dollar amount being claimed and the reason.¹

The statute prescribes the wording. The notice must substantially follow this form: “This is a notice of my intention to impose a claim for damages in the amount of [dollar amount] upon your security deposit, due to [reason]. It is sent to you as required by s. 83.49(3), Florida Statutes. You are hereby notified that you must object in writing to this deduction from your security deposit within 15 days after the time you receive this notice or I will be authorized to deduct my claim from your security deposit. Your objection must be sent to [landlord’s address].”

Missing the 30-day deadline has teeth. A landlord who does not send this notice forfeits the right to make any claim against the deposit and cannot offset it against alleged damages. The full deposit has to come back, and the landlord’s only remaining option is to file a separate lawsuit for actual damages.¹

Wear and Tear Versus Damage

Landlords can only deduct for damage beyond normal wear and tear, and this is where most disputes actually live. Wear and tear is the gradual deterioration that comes from living in a place: carpet worn down in high-traffic areas, paint faded from sunlight, minor floor scuffs, small nail holes from hanging pictures. That is the landlord’s cost of doing business.

Tenant damage is a different category. Large stains that professional cleaning cannot remove, pet urine odor soaked into flooring, holes in walls bigger than a nail hole, broken window glass, burn marks on countertops, missing appliance parts — the question is whether the condition came from ordinary living or from negligence, carelessness, or abuse.

One area gets tricky. Neglected maintenance can turn normal wear into a chargeable item. A slow-dripping faucet you never reported can rot out a cabinet. A broken bathroom fan can lead to mold. Report maintenance issues in writing during the lease, and take dated photos at move-in and move-out. Photos are the single strongest piece of evidence either side can have.

How to Dispute a Deduction

Once you receive the landlord’s notice of intent to claim, you have 15 days to send a written objection to the landlord’s address listed in the notice. Certified mail with return receipt creates proof of when it was sent and received.

If you do not object within 15 days, the landlord can deduct the claimed amount and must return any remaining balance within 30 days of the original claim notice. This is where a lot of tenants lose money — by ignoring the notice or missing the response window.¹

Missing the 15-day deadline is not the end of your rights, though. The statute specifically says a tenant who does not object on time can still file a separate lawsuit to recover the deducted amount. The landlord collects from the deposit in the short term, but you can still challenge the deduction in court. The reverse is also true: a landlord who blows the 30-day claim notice must return the deposit but can still sue for actual damages.¹

Attorney’s Fees and Where the Case Goes

If a deposit dispute ends up in court, the party who wins is entitled to recover court costs and a reasonable attorney’s fee from the losing side. The court is also required to advance the case on its calendar, so these matters should not sit for months. That fee-shifting cuts both ways. A landlord who withholds without justification risks paying your legal costs on top of returning the money, and a tenant who sues without a real basis faces the same exposure.¹

Most deposit disputes fall inside small claims court jurisdiction, which covers claims up to $8,000. Larger amounts go to county court.²

If Your Rental Is Sold During the Lease

When the property changes hands during your tenancy, the selling landlord must transfer all deposits and advance rent to the new owner, along with any earned interest and an accounting showing the balance credited to each tenant. Once the new owner gives a written receipt for the transfer, the previous landlord is released from the obligation to hold the money.¹

The statute creates a rebuttable presumption that the new owner received the deposit, but that presumption only covers up to one month’s rent. If your deposit was larger, you may need to prove the new owner actually received the full amount. Keep copies of your lease, the deposit receipt, and any notice you received about where the money was held. The new owner is bound by the same Section 83.49 rules as the original one.¹

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 34.01 – Jurisdiction of County Court