How to become a landlord in Florida

Prepare the property, disclosures and deposit process before move-in. Use a clear lease, lawful screening criteria and an organized plan for rent and repairs. The detailed topics in this guide explain the Florida requirements behind the checklist (Fla. Stat. § 83.50).

• Compare similar homes by location, size, condition and included services. List taxes, insurance, association charges, utilities you pay, repairs, turnover and vacancy in the budget rather than treating the advertised rent as take-home income. Keep a reserve for unexpected work. Check the address’s zoning, rental licensing or inspection requirements and applicable association restrictions (Fla. Stat. § 83.51(1)).
• Finish required repairs and safety checks, take dated condition photos and arrange dependable repair contacts. Explain how the resident should report ordinary problems and emergencies. Keep the starting condition, repair requests, communications and completed work in a file so the history is available when a problem recurs or a deposit claim is considered (Fla. Stat. § 83.51(1); Fla. Stat. ch. 83, part II).See Repairs and habitability on the Florida page
• Prepare consistent lawful criteria before advertising or ordering reports. Review screening, fair housing and consumer-report notices. Confirm the parties, property, dates, rent, utilities, deposits, payment methods and entry arrangements in the lease. Prepare the radon and applicable flood disclosures, the notice contact and any required deposit notice before the relevant signing or delivery deadline (Fla. Stat. § 83.50; Fla. Stat. § 404.056(5); Fla. Stat. § 83.512(1); Fla. Stat. § 83.49(2)).See Required disclosures on the Florida page
• Choose a permitted deposit holding method and track deposit money and advance rent separately from ordinary operating income. Keep signed documents, disclosure delivery records, receipts and a rent ledger with appropriate access limits. Calendar lease events, rent reviews and notice deadlines, and use the actual guide requirements rather than assuming a software reminder resolves them (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(1)).See Deposit account and interest on the Florida page

Florida requires several written disclosures: the name and address of the landlord or the person authorized to receive notices, the radon gas notice on at least one document signed at or before the lease, the flood disclosure for a term of 1 year or longer, and, if you rent five or more units, the deposit notice (Fla. Stat. § 83.50; Fla. Stat. § 404.056(5); Fla. Stat. § 83.512(1); Fla. Stat. § 83.49(2)).

• The radon notice must use the statutory wording (Fla. Stat. § 404.056(5)).
• If you offer a fee in lieu of a security deposit, the written agreement must carry the statutory disclosure (Fla. Stat. § 83.491(3), (4)).
• E-mail delivery of notices needs a separate, voluntary, revocable addendum in the statutory form signed by both sides (Fla. Stat. § 83.505(1)).
• A lease may say you are not responsible for storing or disposing of property left after surrender, abandonment or the death of the last tenant only if it carries the statutory legend in capital letters (Fla. Stat. § 83.67(5)).See Abandoned property on the Florida page
• For an e-mail notice authorized by section 83.505, delivery occurs when the message is sent unless it comes back as undeliverable. Keep both the notice and evidence of its transmission. The signed addendum does not make a returned message successful delivery or prevent use of another legally permitted delivery method (Fla. Stat. 83.505(4)-(6)).
• Either party may revoke the e-mail election or change the designated address by giving the other party written notice. The change takes effect when that written notice is delivered. Revocation does not invalidate an e-mail notice sent before it took effect; keep the current address and election with the notice records (Fla. Stat. 83.505(2), (3)).

At or before the start of the tenancy, tell the tenant in writing the name and address of the landlord or of a person authorized to receive notices and demands for you. That person keeps authority until you notify the tenant otherwise (Fla. Stat. § 83.50).

• Deliver changes to the tenant's home, to another address the tenant designates in writing, or by e-mail under a signed e-mail addendum (Fla. Stat. § 83.50; Fla. Stat. § 83.505(1)).
• A tenant's notice of a repair problem may go to you, your designated representative, a resident manager or whoever collects the rent (Fla. Stat. § 83.60(1)(b)).

Before or when a lease for a term of 1 year or longer is signed, you must complete and give the tenant a flood disclosure, in a separate document and in substantially the statutory form. It covers flood insurance, whether you know of flooding that damaged the unit while you owned it, flood insurance claims and flood assistance received (Fla. Stat. § 83.512(1)).

• If you do not comply and the tenant's personal property suffers a substantial flood loss (repairs or replacement costing 50 percent or more of its market value), the tenant may end the lease by written notice and surrender within 30 days after the loss, and you must refund rent paid in advance for the time after termination (Fla. Stat. § 83.512(2), (3)).

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, at the start of a tenancy in a single-family home or duplex you must install working smoke detection devices listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory. Other buildings follow the applicable building and fire codes, which were not read for this page (Fla. Stat. § 83.51(2)(b)).

• Code duties apply to every landlord (Fla. Stat. § 83.51(1)(a)).

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, a landlord of a unit other than a single-family home or duplex must make reasonable provision for locks and keys. Part II does not require rekeying between tenants (Fla. Stat. § 83.51(2)(a)).

• A landlord who changes the locks to keep a tenant out violates the lockout rule (Fla. Stat. § 83.67(2)).See Lockouts and utility shutoffs on the Florida page

Florida does not cap the amount of a security deposit or advance rent. Deposit money covers any money the landlord holds for the tenant, including damage, security, pet and advance rent deposits (Fla. Stat. § 83.49; Fla. Stat. § 83.43(4)).

• A landlord may offer a fee in lieu of a security deposit, but does not have to. If you offer it, you must offer it to every new tenant on the same premises and may not use the tenant's choice when deciding the application (Fla. Stat. § 83.491(1), (7)).
• The fee option needs a written agreement signed by both sides, the written notices listed in the statute and the statutory disclosure in capital letters. The fee may not go up during the rental agreement, and the tenant may switch to paying the deposit at any time (Fla. Stat. § 83.491(3), (4)).
• A renewal counts as a new rental agreement, and a deposit carried forward counts as a new deposit (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(6)).
• The absence of a numerical cap does not approve every proposed charge. Section 83.44 requires good faith in performing or enforcing the agreement; section 83.45 permits a court to refuse, limit or sever an unconscionable provision. Review the actual terms and housing protections before collection (Fla. Stat. § 83.44; Fla. Stat. § 83.45).
• Separate ordinary pet charges from assistance-animal protections. For covered service-animal housing, section 413.08(6) bars extra compensation for the animal while preserving liability for actual damage. Emotional support animals have a separate reasonable-accommodation provision in section 760.27, including the no-extra-compensation rule and its stated conditions. Review the applicable accommodation requirements before proposing a pet deposit; this guide does not decide a resident's request (Fla. Stat. § 413.08; Fla. Stat. § 760.27).

You must do one of three things with deposit money and advance rent (other than rent for the next period): hold it in a separate non-interest-bearing account in a Florida financial institution, hold it in a separate interest-bearing account there and pay the tenant interest, or post a surety bond and pay 5 percent simple interest. For either separate-account option, do not commingle, pledge or use the money until it is actually due to you (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(1)).

• In an interest-bearing account the tenant gets at least 75 percent of the annualized average interest rate on the account, or 5 percent per year simple interest, whichever you elect (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(1)(b)).
• The surety bond is posted with the clerk of the circuit court for the county, in the total of deposits held or $50,000, whichever is less. A landlord renting in five or more counties may instead post one bond with the Secretary of State, up to $250,000 (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(1)(c)).
• If you rent five or more units, give written notice in the lease or within 30 days after receiving the money, naming the depository and its address (or stating that a bond is posted), saying whether the tenant gets interest, and including the statutory disclosure. Give new notice within 30 days if you change how or where the money is held (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(2)).
• Where interest is owed, pay it to the tenant or credit it against rent at least once a year. No interest is owed to a tenant who wrongfully ends the tenancy early (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(9)).
• The fewer-than-five-unit exception applies to subsection (2)'s disclosure notice; it does not remove the separate duties to hold and return deposits. A depository merger, name change or ownership transfer alone does not require a new notice. Distinguish the initial depository disclosure from the later notice of a proposed deposit claim; the latter has its own timing, form and delivery rules (Fla. Stat. § 83.49).

Part II does not require a move-in inspection or condition report. A written record still helps, because any claim on the deposit must be backed by a timely claim notice (Fla. Stat. ch. 83, part II).

• Deductions depend on the written claim notice and the tenant's chance to object (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)).See Deposit return on the Florida page

Part II sets no limit on rental application or screening fees. The state has taken over this field: local governments may not regulate the screening process or application fees (Fla. Stat. § 83.425).

• If an applicant is a servicemember, you must finish processing the application within 7 days and tell the applicant in writing whether it is approved or denied, with the reason for a denial. Without a timely denial you must lease the unit if the other terms are met (Fla. Stat. § 83.683(1)).
• If you offer a fee in lieu of a deposit, you may not use an applicant's choice to pay it when deciding the application (Fla. Stat. § 83.491(7)).
• Check whether a reported arrest is covered by a sealing or expunction order before treating an omitted answer as dishonesty. Sections 943.059(6) and 943.0585(6) allow a person to deny or not acknowledge covered arrests, subject to listed exceptions for specified proceedings, employment and licensing. Ordinary rental applications are not among those listed exceptions. Resolve a disputed record through the reporting company and the relevant legal process before relying on it (Fla. Stat. 943.059(6); Fla. Stat. 943.0585(6)).
• Do not assume every juvenile record disappears at age 21. Section 943.0515 generally retains records for two years after age 19, but serious or habitual juvenile offenders and those committed to a maximum-risk residential facility have a different period ending five years after age 21. Adult forcible-felony charges or adjudications and specified registration-related records can require retention and merger with an adult record. Verify the actual record status; this age rule alone does not decide whether a screening report is lawful or an applicant qualifies (Fla. Stat. 943.0515).