Florida Statute 83: Deposits, Repairs, and Evictions

Florida landlord tenant law lives in Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes, and Part II of that chapter covers residential rentals — apartments, houses, and rented mobile homes.¹ It sets who has to fix what, how security deposits must be handled, how much notice either side owes before ending the tenancy, what a landlord has to do before filing for eviction, and the self-help tactics a landlord is never allowed to use. The sections below walk through the rights and duties that matter most in a residential rental.

Who Is Responsible for Repairs

Section 83.51 requires your landlord to keep the property in compliance with all applicable building, housing, and health codes. Where no specific code applies, the landlord still has to keep the roof, windows, doors, floors, exterior walls, and foundations in good repair and the plumbing in working condition.²

In multi-unit buildings — anything other than a single-family home or duplex — the landlord also has to provide pest control for roaches, ants, rodents, bedbugs, and wood-destroying organisms, along with working heat, running water, and hot water, unless the written lease shifts those duties. In a single-family home or duplex, the landlord’s extra duty is narrower: install working smoke detectors at the start of the tenancy.² That split matters when a landlord tries to pass pest-control costs to the tenant. The statute allows it in writing for a single-family lease, but not for a larger building.

Section 83.52 puts a matching set of duties on you. Keep the unit clean and sanitary, dispose of trash properly, and use the plumbing, electrical, heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems reasonably. Don’t damage, deface, or remove any part of the premises, and expect to be held responsible for damage your guests cause beyond normal wear and tear. You also have to follow the same building, housing, and health codes and must not disturb your neighbors.³ Noise complaints are a frequent trigger for lease-violation notices, and that statutory duty is what the landlord leans on.

Security Deposit Rules and Deadlines

Section 83.49 controls what the landlord does with your deposit from day one. The money has to sit in a separate non-interest-bearing account, a separate interest-bearing account, or be covered by a surety bond posted with the clerk of the circuit court. Within 30 days of receiving the deposit, the landlord has to give you written notice identifying where it’s held and whether you’re entitled to interest. The landlord can’t mix your deposit with personal funds or spend it until the money is actually owed.⁴

Move-out triggers tight deadlines. If the landlord has no claim against the deposit, the full amount plus any interest owed must come back within 15 days. If the landlord does intend to keep any of it, written notice must go out by certified mail within 30 days of the end of the lease, stating the exact dollar amount claimed, the reason, and that you have 15 days from receipt to object in writing.⁴

Miss that 30-day certified-mail window and the landlord forfeits the right to claim any portion of the deposit. The landlord can still sue separately for damages, but the full deposit has to come back first. This is one of the most-litigated pieces of Chapter 83 because the deadline is unforgiving and the delivery method is specific.

Withholding Rent When Repairs Don’t Get Done

If the landlord fails the duties in Section 83.51, you have a legal route to withhold rent, but you can’t just stop paying. Under Section 83.60, you first have to deliver written notice describing the specific problem and stating that you intend to withhold rent because of it. The landlord then has seven days to fix it.⁵

If nothing changes and the landlord files for eviction, you can raise the maintenance failure as a defense. The trap: you have to deposit the full accrued rent into the court registry within five business days of being served, or you lose the defense entirely. When the court finds the landlord was in violation, it can reduce the rent to reflect the unit’s diminished value during the period the problem existed.⁵ Tenants in subsidized housing only have to deposit the portion of rent they personally owe under their program.

Ending the Tenancy

When There’s No Fixed End Date

Section 83.57 sets the notice either side owes to end a periodic tenancy. The required notice tracks the rent cycle:⁶

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

Those periods apply equally to landlords and tenants, and the notice has to be in writing.

Breaking a Fixed-Term Lease Early

Section 83.595 lets the landlord charge an early termination fee, but only under specific conditions. The fee can’t exceed two months’ rent, and you must have signed a separate addendum agreeing to it at the time the lease was made. No addendum, no fee under this provision.⁷

When the landlord accepts that fee, there’s a trade-off: the landlord gives up the right to pursue additional rent beyond the month in which they retake the property. Rent owed through that month and charges for physical damage are still fair game, but the remaining months on the lease are off the table. If a lease demands more than 60 days’ advance notice of early termination, that longer notice requirement is unenforceable.

Notices the Landlord Must Give Before Filing Eviction

Three-Day Notice for Unpaid Rent

Before filing, the landlord must deliver a written three-day notice stating the exact dollar amount owed and demanding either payment or surrender of the property. The three days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed holidays, and the day of delivery doesn’t count.⁸ The amount has to be right. Overstating what’s owed, including by lumping in fees that aren’t properly rent, can get the notice tossed.

Seven-Day Notices for Other Lease Violations

For non-rent violations, the notice depends on whether the problem can be fixed. If it can, the landlord issues a seven-day notice to cure. Common examples: unauthorized pets, parking violations, or failing to keep the unit clean.⁸

For violations serious enough that a fix-after-the-fact wouldn’t make sense, such as intentional destruction of property, the landlord can issue a seven-day notice to vacate with no cure option. The tenant still gets the full seven days to leave, and the notice has to identify the specific lease provision violated.

How the Eviction Lawsuit Works

If the notice period runs out without resolution, the landlord files an eviction complaint in the county court where the property sits, and the court issues a summons that gets served on the tenant by a sheriff or certified process server.⁹

The tenant has five business days after service to file a written answer. If unpaid rent is at issue, the tenant also has to deposit the disputed rent into the court registry inside that same five-day window. Skipping the deposit is fatal: the court treats it as an absolute waiver of every defense except proof of payment.⁵

If the tenant doesn’t respond or deposit the funds, the landlord can ask for a default judgment. Once the judge signs a final judgment for possession, the clerk issues a writ of possession. The sheriff posts it on the property and the tenant has 24 hours to leave. If they don’t, the sheriff returns to physically remove them and the landlord changes the locks.¹⁰

When the Landlord Can Enter the Unit

Section 83.53 sets the entry rules. For routine repairs, the landlord has to give at least 24 hours’ written notice and can only enter between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. The tenant can’t unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, agreed-upon repairs, or showings to prospective buyers or tenants.¹¹

The landlord may enter without notice in a genuine emergency or to protect the property from damage. If you’re absent for a period equal to half the rental cycle (15 days on a monthly lease, for example) without telling the landlord, the landlord may also enter. If the rent is current and you did notify the landlord of the planned absence, entry is limited to emergencies and property preservation. The statute explicitly bars using the right of access to harass a tenant.¹¹

What a Landlord Is Never Allowed to Do

Section 83.67 draws hard lines, no matter what the tenant has done. A landlord cannot shut off or interrupt any utility service to the unit, including water, electricity, gas, heat, or garbage collection. A landlord cannot change the locks or install any blocking device to keep the tenant out, and cannot remove the doors, windows, roof, or walls of the unit except for legitimate maintenance.¹²

The penalty is steep. A tenant can recover actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees and court costs. The eviction process is the only legal path to remove someone, and shortcuts can produce a claim that dwarfs whatever rent was owed.¹²

Retaliation Protections

Section 83.64 makes it illegal for a landlord to raise your rent, reduce services, or threaten eviction primarily in retaliation for exercising your rights. Protected activities include:

Reporting suspected building, housing, or health code violations to a government agency.
Organizing or participating in a tenant organization.
Complaining to the landlord about maintenance failures under the statute.
Exercising rights under local, state, or federal fair housing laws.
Paying rent directly to a homeowners’ or condominium association after it demands payment to cover the landlord’s unpaid obligations.
Terminating a lease as a servicemember under Section 83.682.

You must have acted in good faith to raise retaliation as a defense. The list isn’t exhaustive, and courts can extend the protection to other rights under Chapter 83 or the lease.¹³

Servicemember Lease Termination

Florida gives military servicemembers their own termination route under Section 83.682, which sits alongside the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. A servicemember can end a residential lease with at least 30 days’ written notice, with a copy of official military orders or a signed verification from the commanding officer, under any of these circumstances:¹⁴

A permanent change of station requiring a move 35 or more miles from the rental.
Premature or involuntary discharge from active duty or state active duty.
Release from active duty after signing the lease while on active duty, where the property is 35 or more miles from the servicemember’s pre-service home.
Orders into government or privatized military housing, or becoming eligible and choosing to move in.
Temporary duty or state active duty orders to an area 35 or more miles away for a period exceeding 60 days.
New orders to an area 35 or more miles away received after signing the lease but before moving in.

Termination under this section leaves the servicemember owing prorated rent through the effective date and nothing beyond. An adult family member can terminate on behalf of a servicemember who dies during active duty, using the same 30-day notice with a copy of the death certificate.¹⁴ Section 83.67 also bars discrimination against servicemembers in offering rental units or in the terms of a lease.¹²

Lease Clauses That Don’t Hold Up, and Attorney Fees

Section 83.47 voids any lease provision that waives or limits rights, remedies, or requirements set by Chapter 83, and voids any provision that tries to cap either party’s legal liability. A clause saying you give up the right to withhold rent for maintenance failures, or limiting the landlord’s liability for negligence, is unenforceable. Either side can recover actual damages caused by the inclusion of such a void provision.¹⁵

Section 83.48 lets whoever wins a lawsuit brought under Chapter 83 or to enforce a rental agreement recover reasonable attorney fees and court costs from the loser, and that right applies equally to landlords and tenants. A lease cannot waive it. The one carve-out: attorney fees are not available in claims for personal injury based on a landlord’s failure to maintain the premises. Those claims proceed as separate personal injury actions with their own fee rules.¹⁶

1
Florida Legislature. Florida Code Chapter 83 – Landlord and Tenant
2
Florida Statutes. Florida Code 83.51 – Landlords Obligation to Maintain Premises
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Florida Legislature. Florida Code 83.52 – Tenants Obligation to Maintain Dwelling Unit
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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 83.60 – Defenses to Action for Rent or Possession; Procedure
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 83.57 – Termination of Tenancy Without Specific Term
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 83.595 – Choice of Remedies Upon Breach or Early Termination by Tenant
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement
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Okaloosa County Clerk of Court and Comptroller. Evictions
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Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.62 – Restoration of Possession to Landlord
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 83.53 – Landlords Access to Dwelling Unit
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 83.67 – Prohibited Practices
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 83.64 – Retaliatory Conduct
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 83.682 – Termination of Rental Agreement by a Servicemember
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Florida Statutes. Florida Code 83.47 – Prohibited Provisions in Rental Agreements
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 83.48 – Attorney Fees