Landlord Harassment in Florida: Section 83.67 Suits and Remedies

If you’re dealing with landlord harassment in Florida, the state’s landlord-tenant statutes give you real leverage: you can demand the behavior stop in writing, sue under Section 83.67 for your actual damages or three months’ rent (whichever is greater) plus attorney’s fees, and ask a court for an injunction ordering the landlord to knock it off. Florida law doesn’t use “harassment” as a single legal label, but it bans the specific acts most tenants have in mind, including shutting off utilities, changing the locks, entering without notice, and retaliating against tenants who complain.

What Counts as Harassment Under Florida Law

Chapter 83, Part II of the Florida Statutes identifies the behaviors a landlord cannot engage in. If what’s happening to you fits one of these categories, you have a statutory claim.

Entering Without Notice

A landlord has the right to enter for inspections, repairs, and showings, but for repairs the law requires at least 24 hours’ written notice and entry between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. Emergencies and situations where the landlord needs to protect the property are the only exceptions.¹

The statute goes further. It explicitly says a landlord cannot abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant.¹ Repeated unannounced visits, entries while you’re out, or “inspections” used as pressure all violate the statute even when nothing is taken or broken.

Shutting Off Utilities or Locking You Out

Section 83.67 lists the practices that are flatly illegal no matter the circumstances. A landlord cannot directly or indirectly cut off your water, electricity, heat, gas, elevator, garbage collection, or refrigeration. The ban applies even if you owe back rent and even if the landlord pays the utility bill.²

The same statute prohibits blocking your access to the unit by changing locks, installing a bootlock, or using any similar device.² If a landlord wants you out, they must file in court and go through the eviction process. Switching your locks while you’re at work is an illegal self-help eviction.

Removing Doors, Windows, or Your Belongings

A landlord cannot remove outside doors, locks, roof, walls, or windows except for legitimate maintenance or replacement. Removing your personal property from the unit is also illegal unless you’ve surrendered or abandoned the premises or been lawfully evicted.² Dragging your furniture to the curb carries the same legal consequences as cutting the power.

Letting the Property Fall Apart

Landlords must comply with applicable building, housing, and health codes throughout the tenancy. In multi-family units, that obligation covers pest control, working locks, safe common areas, garbage removal, and functioning heat and hot water.³ A pattern of ignoring repairs or deliberately letting conditions get worse can be the mechanism of harassment, especially when the goal is to make you leave.

Retaliation After You Complain

Florida has a separate statute aimed at landlord retaliation. Under Section 83.64, a landlord cannot raise your rent, reduce your services, or threaten eviction primarily because you exercised a legal right.⁴ Protected activities include:

Filing a complaint with a building, housing, or health code enforcement agency.
Participating in or encouraging a tenants’ organization.
Giving the landlord written notice of a failure to maintain the property.
Asserting protections under local, state, or federal fair housing laws.
Terminating a rental agreement as an active-duty service member.

Good faith is required on your end, and the protection has limits. If the landlord can show good cause for the rent increase, service change, or eviction filing (nonpayment of rent or a genuine lease violation, for example), the retaliation claim won’t stick.⁴ Timing matters. A rent hike two weeks after you called code enforcement looks very different from one that follows a market-rate increase across the whole building.

When the Harassment Is Discriminatory

If the behavior is tied to your race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, or familial status, you have a separate track. Florida’s Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the terms, conditions, or privileges of a rental and in the services connected to it.⁵

You can file with the Florida Commission on Human Relations within 365 days of the violation by mail, fax, or in person.⁶ You can also file with HUD online, by calling 1-800-669-9777, or by mail to your regional HUD office.⁷ Filing with both agencies is allowed.

Document What’s Happening (and Watch the Recording Law)

Your case will live or die on your records. Keep a written log of every incident with the date, exact time, what happened, and who was present. Stick to facts. “Landlord entered the apartment at 6:45 a.m. without notice; I was still in bed” is more useful than “landlord barged in again.” Alongside the log, gather:

Photos and video of damage, neglected repairs, removed doors or locks, and visible signs of unauthorized entry.
Every text, email, and letter from the landlord. After in-person or phone conversations, send a follow-up email summarizing what was said.
Names and contact information for neighbors, maintenance workers, or anyone else who witnessed the behavior.
Police reports for threats, trespassing, or property destruction.

One warning before you reach for your phone. Florida is a two-party consent state: recording a conversation without every participant’s agreement is a third-degree felony under Section 934.03.⁸ If you want to record a call with your landlord, say so at the start. If they stay on the line, they’ve consented. If they hang up, you’ve at least documented that you tried. Video of your own property is a different matter, so long as you keep the audio off unless everyone present knows they’re being recorded.

Send a Written Demand

Before anything heads to court, put the landlord on formal notice. A demand letter gives them a chance to stop and creates a dated record showing you tried to resolve the problem.

Identify each incident by date and time, state that the behavior violates your rights under Section 83.67 (or whichever provision applies), and demand that it end. Send it by certified mail with return receipt requested, and keep a copy. If maintenance has also been ignored, a separate notice under Section 83.56(1) starts the seven-day clock on your right to terminate the lease if the problems aren’t corrected.⁹

If the landlord has materially failed to maintain the property under Section 83.51(1) and the seven days pass without a fix, the lease terminates by operation of law and you can move out without owing future rent. When the failure makes the unit genuinely uninhabitable and you vacate, you aren’t liable for rent during the period it remains unlivable.⁹ If the unit is still livable but the landlord hasn’t met their obligations, rent may be reduced proportionally during the period of noncompliance. The written notice has to describe the problem clearly enough that there’s no ambiguity about what needs fixing.

Suing Under Section 83.67

When the letter doesn’t work, the courthouse does. Florida’s prohibited-practices statute gives tenants a meaningful damages floor: you can recover your actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus court costs and attorney’s fees.² The attorney’s fees provision is what makes these cases viable, because a lawyer may be willing to take yours knowing the landlord will pay the bill if you win.

Each separate violation that isn’t part of the same initial incident gets its own damages award.² A landlord who shuts off your water Monday, changes your locks Wednesday, and removes your front door Friday has committed three separate violations, each carrying the three-month-rent minimum.

You can also ask the court for an injunction ordering the landlord to stop. The statute declares that any violation of Section 83.67 constitutes irreparable harm for purposes of injunctive relief, which clears the biggest obstacle tenants normally face in getting an emergency court order. You don’t have to prove the harm can’t be fixed with money. The statute presumes it.

Government Complaints as a Faster Route

Lawsuits aren’t the only option, and sometimes a government complaint moves faster than litigation.

For building, health, or safety issues, contact your local code enforcement office. An inspector can cite the landlord, and the citation becomes evidence in any later proceeding. Filing is itself a protected activity under Section 83.64, so the landlord cannot legally punish you for making the report.⁴

For discriminatory harassment, file with the Florida Commission on Human Relations within 365 days⁶ or with HUD at 1-800-669-9777 or hud.gov.⁷ Both agencies investigate, attempt mediation, and issue a determination. You don’t need a lawyer to file, though one can help if the case moves to an administrative hearing or court.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.53 – Landlords Access to Dwelling Unit
2
Justia Law. Florida Code 83.67 – Prohibited Practices
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 83.51 – Landlords Obligation to Maintain Premises
4
Justia Law. Florida Code 83.64 – Retaliatory Conduct
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 760.23 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing and Other Prohibited Practices
6
Florida Commission on Human Relations. File a Complaint
7
HUD.gov. Report Housing Discrimination
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 934.03 – Interception and Disclosure of Wire, Oral, or Electronic Communications Prohibited
9
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement