To remove someone occupying your Florida property without a lease, you file a Florida unlawful detainer action under Chapter 82 of the Florida Statutes. It is a summary court proceeding designed to move faster than a standard eviction, and you are not required to give the occupant any notice before filing.1Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer The statute covers three situations: forcible entry, unlawful entry, and unlawful detention, meaning someone who was once allowed to stay but whose permission has been withdrawn.2Online Sunshine. Florida Code 82.01 – Definitions
The last of those, unlawful detention, is what most property owners are dealing with. The houseguest who won’t leave. The relative you told to move out weeks ago. The friend of a friend who moved in and stayed. If there’s no lease and no rent, Chapter 82 is the path.
When Chapter 82 Is the Wrong Tool
The single question that decides whether you file under Chapter 82 or use a standard eviction is whether a landlord-tenant relationship exists. Chapter 82 explicitly does not apply to residential tenancies governed by Part II of Chapter 83.3Florida Senate. Florida Code 82.02 – Applicability If there is a lease, a rent agreement (even oral), or a pattern of accepted rent payments, you have a tenant. Tenants are removed through Chapter 83 eviction, not Chapter 82.
Getting this wrong is expensive. Filing an unlawful detainer against someone a court later finds was actually a tenant can trigger wrongful-removal liability discussed below, and even without that, the court will not let the case proceed as an unlawful detainer. Under Section 82.035, if the court determines the defendant is really a tenant under Chapter 83, it allows the owner to give proper notice and amend the complaint to move forward as an eviction rather than dismissing outright.4Online Sunshine. Florida Code Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer – Section 82.035 That course-correction still costs you weeks.
Any rent paid, or any promise to pay rent, points toward a tenancy. So can contributions toward utilities or groceries in some cases. When the facts are close, treat the situation as a tenancy and use Chapter 83.
Who Can File
The right to file suit under Chapter 82 belongs to the person entitled to possession. That includes the record titleholder asserting constructive possession, so you don’t have to be physically living on the property to have standing to bring the action.5Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer – Section 82.03 A landlord dealing with a squatter in a vacant property, an heir dealing with a relative refusing to leave an inherited home, and an owner returning to a home occupied by a former houseguest all fit within Chapter 82.
How the Case Moves
You start by filing a complaint for unlawful detainer with the Clerk of Court in the county where the property is located. The complaint identifies the property, names the occupant, states your right to possession, and explains why the occupant’s presence is unauthorized. Filing fees in Florida circuit courts are typically around $400, though the exact amount varies by county, so confirm with your clerk before filing.
Chapter 82 requires the case to proceed under the summary procedure statute, Section 51.011, and the court is required to advance the case on its calendar.5Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer – Section 82.03 Summary procedure compresses every deadline in the case.
Once the occupant is served, they have five days to file a written answer stating all their defenses.6Florida Senate. Florida Code 51.011 – Summary Procedure Because the deadline is less than seven days, the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure exclude intermediate weekends and legal holidays from that count. No further pleadings beyond the complaint and answer are permitted, which means the occupant must raise every defense they have in that one filing or lose it.
If the occupant doesn’t answer within five days, you can ask the clerk to enter a default, and the court can then enter a final judgment for possession without a trial. This is where most unlawful detainer cases end. People occupying property without a legal right often don’t respond, and the compressed timeline is what makes the process work.
Serving the Occupant, Including by Posting
After the complaint is filed, the clerk issues a summons that must be formally served on the occupant by the sheriff or a certified process server. Personal service comes first. Unauthorized occupants are not always easy to serve at the door, so Section 82.05 provides a fallback.
After at least two failed service attempts separated by a minimum of six hours, and if the defendant cannot be found in the county and either has no usual place of residence there or no one age 15 or older is present at their residence, the sheriff can post the summons and complaint on a visible part of the property. If you anticipate posting will be needed, give the clerk two additional copies of the summons and complaint per defendant and two pre-stamped envelopes addressed to the defendant’s residence and last known business address. The clerk mails the copies by first-class mail and dockets the mailing. Service takes effect on the date of posting or mailing, whichever is later, and the court must wait at least five days after that effective date before entering a final judgment for removal.7Online Sunshine. Florida Code Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer – Section 82.05
Should You Send a Written Demand First?
The statute does not require you to notify the occupant before filing.5Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer – Section 82.03 A written demand to vacate is still often a good idea. It creates a paper trail showing the occupant knew they were unwelcome, which supports the argument that their continued presence was willful and knowing. That distinction directly affects damages.
What the Judgment Gets You
An unlawful detainer judgment does more than restore possession. Under Section 82.03, if the court finds the occupant’s entry or continued presence was willful and knowingly wrongful, it must award the property owner damages equal to double the reasonable rental value of the property, calculated from the start of the unauthorized occupation through the date possession is actually returned.5Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer – Section 82.03 The statute says “must,” not “may.” When the willfulness threshold is met, the doubled award is not discretionary. Additional damages, including waste (physical damage to the property), can also be recovered.
Getting Them Out: The Writ of Possession
After the final judgment, you ask the clerk to issue a Writ of Possession. This is the document that authorizes the sheriff to physically remove the occupant. The sheriff executes the writ by posting a 24-hour notice on the property. If the occupant hasn’t left after that 24 hours, the sheriff removes them.8The Florida Bar. Form 11 – Writ of Possession
You can also ask the sheriff to stand by while you change locks and remove personal property from the premises. The sheriff may charge a reasonable hourly rate for that standby service, and the person requesting it pays.8The Florida Bar. Form 11 – Writ of Possession
The Cost of Removing the Wrong Person
Chapter 82’s speed cuts both ways. If you remove someone who turns out to have had a legitimate right to be there, they have a cause of action for wrongful removal. For residential property under Section 82.036, the wrongfully removed person can recover actual costs, compensatory damages, statutory damages equal to triple the fair market rent, court costs, and reasonable attorney fees. The same framework applies to commercial property under Section 82.037, with triple the commercial fair market rent as the statutory measure.9Online Sunshine. Florida Code Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer – Section 82.037 Triple fair-market-rent damages are substantial, particularly on commercial property. This is the concrete reason to be certain, before filing, that you’re not actually dealing with a tenant.
Don’t Try to Remove Them Yourself
Property owners facing an unwanted occupant are often tempted to skip court and handle it directly: change the locks, cut the utilities, or move belongings to the curb. Even when the person clearly has no legal right to be there, self-help creates real legal exposure.
If the occupant later persuades a court they were a tenant, Florida’s prohibited-practices statute applies. Under Section 83.67, a landlord who interrupts utility service, changes locks, or removes personal property outside of a lawful eviction is liable for actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees and court costs.10Justia Law. Florida Code 83.67 – Prohibited Practices Whether someone qualifies as a tenant isn’t always obvious. Courts have found tenancy based on informal arrangements, sporadic payments, or contributions toward household expenses.
Chapter 82 exists precisely to remove that gamble. The filing fee and the wait for a sheriff-executed writ cost far less than defending a wrongful-removal claim exposing you to triple rent and attorney fees. Let the court decide whether the occupant is a tenant or an unauthorized occupant, and let the sheriff carry out the removal.