How to Kick Someone Out Who’s Not on the Lease in Florida

In Florida, how you kick someone out who is not on the lease depends on what they legally are to you: an unauthorized occupant you can remove through the sheriff, a guest or licensee you remove through an unlawful detainer action, or someone who has quietly become a tenant by paying rent and now requires a formal eviction. In none of those cases can you change the locks, shut off utilities, or move their belongings to the curb on your own. The statute treats that as a self-help removal, and it exposes you to real money damages even when the person clearly has no right to be there.

Figure Out What the Person Legally Is First

Before you file anything, be honest about whether the person has acquired tenant rights. In Florida, a person becomes a tenant by paying rent at regular intervals, and it does not matter whether anything is in writing.¹ If an adult child, partner, or friend has been giving you money every month toward the housing costs, a judge may treat that as rent. Sharing grocery costs is different from paying a set amount on the first of each month for the right to live somewhere. If it looks like rent, a court will probably call it rent.

Florida recognizes three categories of occupants who are not on a lease:

Unauthorized occupants: people who entered without permission or have no relationship to you, such as squatters or someone a previous tenant left behind.
Guests and licensees: people you invited to stay who do not pay rent. Their permission to be there exists only because you granted it, and you can revoke it.
Tenants at will: people who pay rent on a recurring basis without a written lease. They have full tenant protections under Florida’s Residential Landlord Tenant Act.¹

The classification controls the whole process. File an unlawful detainer against someone who turns out to be a tenant and the case gets thrown out; you start over with a formal eviction and a second set of filing fees.

Removing an Unauthorized Occupant Through the Sheriff

Florida’s Chapter 82 includes an expedited process that lets a property owner go directly to the sheriff to remove an unauthorized occupant from a residential property, without a court hearing.² You submit a verified complaint to the sheriff of the county where the property sits.

All of the following must be true to use it:

The person entered without authorization or is staying after you withdrew consent.
You directed the person to leave and they refused.
The person is not a current or former tenant under any rental agreement you authorized, written or oral.
The person is not your spouse, parent, child, or sibling.
There is no pending lawsuit between you and the occupant involving the property.

The family-member exclusion ends this route for many people searching for a way to remove an adult child, a parent, or a sibling. If that describes your situation, you cannot use the sheriff process regardless of the circumstances. You will need the standard unlawful detainer, or a formal eviction if they qualify as a tenant.

Unlawful Detainer for Guests and Licensees

When someone had your permission to stay, is not a tenant, and will not leave, the standard unlawful detainer action under Chapter 82 is your remedy. It is a court process, but faster than a traditional eviction because you do not have to prove a lease existed or was violated. The court decides only who has the right to possession.²

Give Written Notice First

Florida law does not set a specific number of days you must give a guest or licensee before filing.³ You choose the deadline. Written notice with a clear date to vacate still strengthens your case, because a judge is more sympathetic when the occupant had a real chance to leave before you went to court. Hand-deliver it and keep a copy.

File the Complaint

File the unlawful detainer complaint in the county court where the property is located. The complaint should say you are the owner or lawful leaseholder, that the person has no legal right to possession, and that you have revoked any permission they previously had. Bring proof of ownership or your lease, any written notice you gave, and any documentation that the person never paid rent.

The court then issues a summons that must be served. If the occupant cannot be found at their usual residence, Florida law allows service by posting the summons in a visible spot on the property.² If the occupant does not respond within the time allowed, you can ask for a default judgment. If they do respond, the court sets a hearing.

Formal Eviction When the Person Has Been Paying Rent

If the person has been paying rent, even informally, they likely have tenant rights under Chapter 83, and you must use the formal eviction process. An unlawful detainer will not work against a residential tenant.

Notice Periods for a Tenant at Will

For a tenant with no written lease, the required written notice depends on how often they pay:⁴

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

If the issue is unpaid rent, you can serve a 3-day notice demanding payment or possession. If the tenant neither pays nor leaves after 3 days (not counting weekends and holidays), you can file the eviction. For other violations, a 7-day notice to cure is required before filing.⁵

File in County Court

After the notice period runs out and the tenant has not left, file an eviction complaint in county court. You still have to go through the court even if the tenant is committing a crime on the property or damaging it.¹ The court schedules a hearing, and if you win, the clerk issues a writ of possession.

The Writ of Possession and the Actual Lockout

Whether you went through unlawful detainer or eviction, the ending is the same. The court issues a writ of possession directing the sheriff to put you back in control. The clerk sends the writ to the sheriff’s office, which posts a 24-hour notice on the premises.⁶ Weekends and holidays do not pause the 24-hour clock.

Once that period passes, sheriff’s deputies execute the writ. You or your agent can then move the occupant’s personal property to or near the property line. You can ask the sheriff to stay on-site while you change the locks and clear out belongings, though the sheriff’s office charges an hourly rate for that. Neither you nor the sheriff is liable for damage or loss to the property after it has been moved out.⁶

Why You Cannot Just Change the Locks

Changing the locks, cutting off water or electricity, removing doors, or hauling someone’s belongings to the curb before you have a court order are all illegal. The statute bars a landlord from interrupting utility service or blocking a tenant’s access to the property by any means.⁷

A landlord who does any of this is liable for actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus the tenant’s attorney fees and court costs.⁷ The occupant can also pursue other claims. Even where the person looks like a clear guest to you, if a court later classifies them as a tenant, the statutory penalties still apply.

Domestic Violence Situations Have a Faster Path

If the person you need out is a current or former intimate partner who has committed domestic violence, you can petition for an injunction under Florida Statute 741.30, which can grant you exclusive use and possession of the shared home. The court can issue a temporary injunction on an emergency basis, without the other person present, and a law enforcement officer can accompany you to the home to take possession.⁸ A full hearing is then set. This route bypasses the unlawful detainer and eviction frameworks because it is grounded in safety, not property rights.

Federal Rules That Can Override State Procedure

Two federal laws can block or delay a removal that otherwise looks fine under Florida law. The Fair Housing Act prohibits removing someone because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.⁹ Following the correct state procedure does not shield you if the real reason was discriminatory.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects active-duty military members from eviction when their ability to pay is materially affected by service. If the occupant is on active duty, the court must either delay the case by 90 days or adjust the obligations by agreement.¹⁰ This protection applies even if the service member is not on the lease.

What to Do About Belongings Left Behind

After a lawful removal, you will often find personal property in the home. Florida law requires written notice to the former occupant with a chance to reclaim it. The notice must describe the property, state where it can be claimed, and explain that you may charge reasonable storage costs.¹¹ The deadline you set cannot be fewer than 10 days after personal delivery of the notice, or 15 days after mailing it.

Perishable food you can dispose of immediately. If the notice period passes without a response, you have more flexibility to dispose of or sell the rest. Skipping the notice step creates the same kind of liability that self-help removal does.

Costs and How Long This Takes

Court filing fees for an unlawful detainer in Florida typically run around $300, though the exact amount varies by county. Service of process is extra, ranging from roughly $20 to $100 depending on whether the sheriff or a private process server handles it. An attorney will add several hundred dollars or more for a straightforward case.

Timing depends mostly on whether the occupant fights. An uncontested unlawful detainer can wrap up in a few weeks from filing to writ. A contested case adds a hearing and can stretch to a month or longer. Formal evictions of tenants at will run longer because of the mandatory notice periods; a month-to-month tenant gets 30 days’ notice before you can even file.⁴ Add the court process and you are looking at roughly two months from start to finish in a best-case scenario.

The costliest mistake is filing the wrong type of action. If you pursue an unlawful detainer and the occupant successfully argues they are a tenant, the case is dismissed and you start over. When the status is ambiguous, a consult with a Florida landlord-tenant attorney before filing is worth what it costs.

1
The Florida Bar. Rights and Duties of Tenants and Landlords
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Chapter 82 – Forcible Entry and Unlawful Detainer
3
Judicial Circuit 12, Florida Courts. Unlawful Detainer Instructions
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.57 – Termination of Tenancy Without Specific Term
5
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.62 – Restoration of Possession to Landlord
7
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.67 – Prohibited Practices
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 741.30 – Domestic Violence
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices
10
Military OneSource. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
11
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 715.104 – Disposition of Personal Property