A Florida landlord can evict a tenant who never signed a lease, but only by going through the same court-supervised process that applies to written leases. To evict a tenant in Florida without a lease, you deliver the correct written notice for the payment schedule or the reason for eviction, file a complaint in county court if the tenant stays, and let the sheriff carry out the physical removal. Skipping any step, or trying to force the tenant out yourself, can get the case dismissed and expose you to serious financial penalties.
When rent has been paid without a signed agreement, Florida treats the arrangement as a tenancy at will. The length of the tenancy tracks how often rent is paid: weekly rent creates a week-to-week tenancy, monthly rent a month-to-month tenancy, and so on. That classification controls how much notice you owe before the tenancy can end.
Notice Required to End the Tenancy
Before filing anything in court, you have to deliver a written notice telling the tenant the tenancy is ending. The required notice depends on the payment cycle:1Justia. Florida Code 83.57 – Termination of Tenancy Without Specific Term
- Week-to-week: at least 7 days before the end of the weekly period.
- Month-to-month: at least 30 days before the end of the monthly period.
- Quarter-to-quarter: at least 30 days before the end of the quarterly period.
- Year-to-year: at least 60 days before the end of the annual period.
Timing matters more than most landlords expect. A month-to-month tenant who pays on the first has to receive the notice at least 30 days before the first of the following month. Deliver it late, and the effective termination date pushes into the next rental period. Short notice is the most common reason a no-lease eviction gets tossed out early.
Three-Day Notice When Rent Is Unpaid
If the reason you want the tenant out is unpaid rent, there is a faster route. Instead of the 7- or 30-day termination notice, you deliver a three-day notice demanding payment or possession. The three days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and court-observed holidays, so the tenant typically gets five or six calendar days in practice.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement
The notice must state the exact amount owed, the address of the rental property, and a deadline for paying or vacating. If the tenant pays in full within the three-day window, you cannot proceed on that notice. If the tenant neither pays nor leaves, you can file the eviction complaint, and a copy of the three-day notice has to be attached.
How to Deliver the Notice
Florida allows several delivery methods: handing the notice directly to the tenant, mailing it, emailing it if the rental agreement or a separate written agreement authorizes electronic notice, or leaving a copy at the residence when the tenant is not home.2The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement
Certified mail creates a paper trail if the tenant later claims they never received anything. Whatever method you use, keep a copy of the notice and a record of when and how it went out. Judges do ask, and a landlord who cannot show proper delivery may have to start the process over.
Filing the Eviction Lawsuit
If the tenant stays past the notice deadline, the next step is filing an eviction complaint at the county courthouse where the property sits. You’ll file a complaint for eviction and a summons for each named tenant. The complaint spells out who owns the property, who occupies it, what notice was given, and that the tenant has not left.
Costs come in layers. The filing fee for a straightforward possession-only eviction runs $185 in most Florida counties.3Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County. County Civil Court Fees The clerk charges $10 per summons issued.4Lake County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller. County and Circuit Civil Fees The sheriff typically charges around $40 per defendant to serve the summons, and a private process server generally runs $20 to $100 depending on the circumstances. Adding a claim for unpaid rent up to $2,500 keeps the filing fee at $185; larger money claims cost more. If you only want the tenant out, filing for possession alone keeps costs down and you can pursue back rent separately.
What Happens in Court
Once the tenant is served, they have five days, not counting weekends or court-observed holidays, to respond in writing. Florida evictions are summary proceedings, designed to move quickly.5Florida Senate. Florida Code 51.011 – Summary Procedure
If the Tenant Does Not Respond
No answer within five days, and you can request a default judgment. The court can rule for you without a hearing and enter a judgment for possession. This is the fastest path, often wrapping up two to three weeks after filing.
If the Tenant Fights the Eviction
A tenant who wants to contest has to do more than file an answer. When the complaint includes unpaid rent and the tenant raises any defense other than already having paid, the tenant must deposit the disputed rent into the court’s registry within the same five-day window. Rent that comes due while the case is pending also has to go into the registry. Missing that deposit is treated as waiving all defenses, and you become entitled to an immediate default judgment.6Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 83.60 – Defenses to Action for Rent or Possession
This is where most contested no-lease evictions collapse for the tenant side. Even a legitimate defense goes nowhere without the deposit. If the tenant does deposit rent on time, the court schedules a hearing where both sides present evidence, and the judge decides whether to enter a final judgment for possession.
Writ of Possession and Removal
Winning the judgment does not give you the right to show up with a locksmith. The clerk issues a writ of possession to the county sheriff, who handles removal. You pay a sheriff’s fee for this step, starting at $90 in most counties.4Lake County Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller. County and Circuit Civil Fees
A deputy posts a 24-hour notice at the property, and that clock runs through weekends and holidays. If the tenant is still there after 24 hours, the deputy returns and physically removes them. At that point, you or your agent can move any remaining personal property to or near the property line and change the locks. You can also ask the sheriff to stand by during the lockout, though the sheriff can charge an hourly rate for it.7The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.62 – Restoration of Possession to Landlord
Once the writ has been executed, neither the sheriff nor the landlord is liable for loss or damage to property removed from the unit.
Belongings Left Behind
Sometimes a tenant leaves things behind after the tenancy ends but before the writ is executed, or simply abandons the unit. Florida has separate rules for handling that property, and a landlord who tosses it without following them can face liability.
You send the former tenant a written notice describing the property and explaining where it can be picked up. Delivered in person, the tenant has at least 10 days to claim it. Mailed, the deadline is at least 15 days from the mailing date. You have to store the property with reasonable care during that period. If you reasonably believe the belongings are worth less than $500, you can keep, sell, or dispose of them once the notice period runs. Property valued at $500 or more has to go to public auction, with notice published in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks first. Any proceeds left after storage and sale costs go to the county, where the former tenant can claim them for up to a year.8The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Chapter 715 – Property: General Provisions
What You Cannot Do
Florida flatly prohibits self-help evictions. You cannot shut off utilities, change the locks, remove doors or windows, take the tenant’s belongings, or otherwise block access as a way to force someone out. That’s true whether or not there’s a written lease, whether or not the tenant owes rent, and whether or not you’ve served a termination notice.9The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.67 – Prohibited Practices
The penalty is steep. A tenant who proves the landlord used any of these tactics can recover actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus court costs and attorney’s fees. Separate violations at different times count as separate offenses, each with its own damages award. A court can also enter an injunction ordering the conduct to stop, since the statute treats any violation as causing irreparable harm.9The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.67 – Prohibited Practices
When the Occupant Never Paid Rent
Everything above assumes some rent has changed hands, even informally. If someone is living in your property and there was never any agreement to pay rent, verbal or written, you probably have a different kind of case. A houseguest who overstays is not a tenant and does not fall under the standard eviction process.
Florida handles those situations through an unlawful detainer action under Chapter 82 instead of an eviction under Chapter 83. Unlawful detainer applies when the occupant originally had permission to be on the property but has no landlord-tenant relationship with the owner, meaning there was never an agreement to pay rent.1012th Judicial Circuit Court. Unlawful Detainer Instructions
The mechanics look similar. You start with a written notice asking the person to leave, commonly giving three days. If they refuse, you file an unlawful detainer complaint and summons with the county court clerk. The occupant has five business days to respond. No response, and you can get a default judgment and a writ of possession. If they respond, the court sets a hearing. When the owner prevails, the sheriff posts a 24-hour notice and removes the person if they don’t leave voluntarily.1012th Judicial Circuit Court. Unlawful Detainer Instructions
The key question is whether any rent was ever exchanged. Even informal or irregular payments will likely lead a court to treat the occupant as a tenant, which puts you back into the Chapter 83 eviction process. Filing the wrong type of case wastes time and money, so getting the classification right at the start matters.