Florida Unlawful Detainer PDF: Packet, Filing, and Service

Florida does not publish a single statewide unlawful detainer PDF. Each county clerk of court posts its own packet — complaint, summons, and usually a short instruction sheet — as a downloadable PDF on the clerk’s website.¹ Once you have the correct county’s packet, you fill it out, e-file it, pay the filing fee, and have the occupant served. The whole process runs on Florida’s summary procedure, which gives the occupant just five days to answer and no pre-suit notice is required.²

Where to Download the PDF Packet

Search your county clerk’s website for “unlawful detainer packet.” Most Florida clerks keep the forms on a self-help or civil forms page, and the file opens as a fillable or print-and-sign PDF. Some judicial circuits also publish step-by-step instruction pages that explain each blank on the complaint, how many copies to prepare, and where to deliver them.³

If your county clerk’s site has no packet listed, call the clerk’s office directly. They will tell you which forms their court accepts and whether a self-help guide is available at the courthouse. Using another county’s PDF is usually fine for the substance of the complaint, but check that the caption, case style, and local cover sheet match the court where you plan to file.

Make Sure Unlawful Detainer Is the Right Form

Chapter 82 applies to someone who possesses your property without your consent, or who had permission and then lost it.⁴ The common scenario is a houseguest, romantic partner, or family member who was invited to stay temporarily and now refuses to leave.

It is not the right form in two situations. If the person pays rent, signed a written or oral lease, or has any pattern of paying for housing, Chapter 82 explicitly excludes them — you need a standard eviction under Chapter 83.² If the person claims an ownership interest or title to the property, like a co-owner or someone asserting an equitable claim, you need an ejectment action under Chapter 66, which runs on ordinary civil timelines and can take months. Filing the wrong one costs you time and may force a conversion later.

Filling Out the Complaint

The complaint is where the court decides whether your case belongs under Chapter 82. Three things have to be clear on the face of it: you are the person entitled to possession, the occupant is on the property, and the occupant is there without your consent or after you withdrew it.²

List the full legal name of every adult occupant you want removed. If you name only one person but two adults live there, the court’s final order will not reach the unnamed one. For the property description, the pre-printed PDF usually has a blank for the street address; adding the legal description from your deed or the county property appraiser’s site removes any ambiguity about which parcel the order covers.

One point to get right: for a standard unlawful detention case, you only need to allege that the occupant possesses the property without consent or after consent was withdrawn.⁴ The “peaceable entry” language on some forms relates to a separate forcible entry claim and does not need to be alleged in a typical case. Get the core allegation wrong and the court may treat the filing as defective.

If you want money damages in addition to possession, state the dollar amount and the factual basis in the complaint. Chapter 82 allows recovery of actual damages for the unlawful occupation, and where the court finds the detention was willful and knowingly wrongful, damages equal to double the reasonable rental value of the property for the entire period of unlawful occupation.²

How to File and What It Costs

Florida requires electronic filing for most civil cases through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal. First-time users create an account and select “Self-Represented Litigant” as the filer role.⁵ File in the county where the property is located.

Filing fees depend on what you are claiming. A possession-only case in county court starts at $50. If you also claim damages, the fee scales with the amount, and claims over $15,000 carry a filing fee of $395.⁶ The clerk will not issue a case number or summons until the fee is paid.

You do not have to give the occupant any written notice before filing. The statute expressly states no pre-suit notification is required.² Even so, keeping proof that you asked the person to leave — a text, an email, a witness — helps establish that consent was withdrawn if the occupant later denies it.

Getting the Occupant Served

After the clerk processes the filing and issues the summons, the papers have to be formally delivered to the occupant. You cannot do this yourself. Florida requires service through the local sheriff’s office or a certified process server.³

The sheriff charges $40 per summons served, as set by statute.⁷ Private certified process servers typically charge $50 to $150 and may be faster if the sheriff has a backlog. Whoever serves the papers files a return of service with the court proving the occupant was legally notified.

If the occupant avoids the process server, Florida allows limited substituted service. A spouse living at the same address can accept service for the person being served, as long as the lawsuit is not between the two spouses.⁸ Beyond that, options narrow quickly, and if standard service fails after repeated attempts, you may need to ask the court for permission to serve by alternative means such as posting on the property.

The Five-Day Response Window

Unlawful detainer runs under Florida’s summary procedure, which gives the occupant five days after service to file a written answer with the court.⁹ Ordinary civil cases give 20 days. The count starts the day after service and excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays under Florida’s general rule for time periods shorter than seven days.

Every defense the occupant wants to raise has to go into that answer. Claims that they are actually a tenant, that they have permission to be there, or that you are not the rightful owner all need to be in writing and filed within the five days. Anything not raised is waived.

If no answer is filed in time, you can move for a clerk’s default. The occupant is then treated as having admitted the complaint, the judge reviews the file, and if the pleading is proper, enters a Final Judgment for Unlawful Detainer. Even when an answer is filed, Chapter 82 requires the court to advance the case on its calendar, so hearings get scheduled quickly rather than sitting for months.²

Once the judge enters final judgment in your favor, the court issues a Writ of Possession, which the statute directs be executed without delay.² The sheriff’s fee for executing the writ is $90, which is a $40 service fee plus $50 for the seizure component.⁷ The sheriff posts the writ on the property; if the occupant does not leave, the sheriff returns to physically remove them.

If the Occupant Claims to Be a Tenant

This is the most common defense and the one most likely to slow you down. The occupant tells the court they paid rent, had a verbal agreement, or otherwise had a landlord-tenant relationship, which would push the case out of Chapter 82 and into the eviction statutes.

Florida’s statute handles this without dismissing your case. If the court finds the occupant is actually a tenant governed by Part II of Chapter 83, the court allows you to provide the notice required under the eviction statutes and amend your complaint to proceed as an eviction.¹⁰ You do not start over, but the conversion costs weeks because eviction requires pre-suit notices and longer response deadlines.

Before filing, pull together whatever supports the non-tenant characterization: no written or oral lease, no history of rent payments, no utility bills in the occupant’s name, and messages where the person acknowledges being a guest. Attach what you can to the complaint and keep the rest ready for the hearing.

Do Not Try to Remove the Occupant Yourself

Changing the locks, shutting off utilities, or hauling someone’s belongings to the curb can look like the fastest fix when the person refuses to leave your own home. Florida treats it as a serious violation even when the occupant has no lease. Chapter 82 lets the removed occupant be restored to possession and recover actual damages, court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and statutory damages equal to triple the fair market rent of the property.²

The occupant does not have to prove they had a right to be there, only that the removal happened outside the court process. The PDF packet, filing fee, and sheriff’s service together run a few hundred dollars and typically resolve the situation in weeks. A wrongful-removal lawsuit against you can cost thousands and run far longer. Use the forms.

1
Seminole County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. Unlawful Detainer Packet
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer
3
12th Judicial Circuit Court. Unlawful Detainer Instructions
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 82.01 – Definitions
5
Florida Courts. Filing Your Forms
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 34.041 – Filing Fees for Civil Actions in County Court
7
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 30.231 – Sheriffs Fees for Service of Summons, Subpoenas, and Executions
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 48.031 – Service of Process
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 51.011 – Summary Procedure
10
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer