Deposits, notices, access, repairs and the Palm Beach County eviction timeline — the dates in Chapter 83, Part II of the Florida Statutes that quietly decide who wins. Written by a licensed Florida Community Association Manager (CAM34850) who manages rentals and associations in this county every day.
Almost every Florida landlord-tenant fight is lost on a calendar, not on the merits. A landlord who is completely right about the damage to a unit still forfeits the claim by sending the deposit letter on day 31. A landlord with a genuinely delinquent tenant still gets the eviction dismissed because the notice said "3 days" and counted the weekend. The law is not especially hostile to landlords — Florida is, on balance, a landlord-friendly state — but it is unforgiving about dates and about the exact wording of notices.
Here are the numbers worth memorizing: 15 days to return a deposit with no deductions · 30 days to send a written notice of intent to impose a claim · 3 days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays) for a nonpayment demand · 7 days to cure a lease violation · 30 days to terminate a month-to-month tenancy · 24 hours notice before entering for repairs · 5 business days for a served tenant to respond to an eviction. Get those right and most disputes never become cases.
This page is general information about Florida law, written from a property manager's operational point of view — it is not legal advice, and no page can replace a Florida attorney on a specific dispute. If you own a rental in Palm Beach County and would rather not track any of this yourself, that is precisely the job we do. Call (561) 779-3213.
Obligation three is the famous one — the move-out clock. When the tenancy ends and the tenant gives back possession:
The statute also requires the notice of intent to use language substantially in the statutory form, including the sentence telling the tenant they must object in writing within 15 days of receipt. And 83.49 contains a prevailing-party attorney's fee provision — the loser pays court costs plus a reasonable fee for the winner's attorney. That is why a $600 carpet dispute becomes a $6,000 problem when the letter goes out late.
Two more notice traps that catch experienced owners:
Accepting rent can waive your notice. If you serve a notice and then take rent for that period as though nothing happened, you can undo the default. Section 83.56 permits a landlord to accept partial rent without waiving the right to terminate only if the landlord takes specific steps — providing the tenant a receipt stating the date and amount received and the agreed remaining balance, placing the amount in the court registry once an action is filed, or issuing a new notice reflecting the reduced amount due. Take the money carelessly and you may have to start the notice sequence again.
If your lease requires end-of-term notice, you owe the tenant a reminder. Under 83.575 a fixed-term lease may require the tenant to give notice before vacating at the end of the term, but it may not require more than 60 days. And if the lease imposes a penalty for failing to give that notice, the landlord must send the tenant a written reminder of the obligation — including the applicable fees — within 15 days before the notice period begins. Skip that reminder and the penalty is unenforceable.
Entry (F.S. 83.53). A landlord may enter with the tenant's consent, and must not abuse the right of access or use it to harass. For repairs, "reasonable notice" means at least 24 hours before entry, and a "reasonable time" means between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. The landlord may enter at any time for the protection or preservation of the premises — a burst supply line, a roof opened by a storm — and in the other narrow circumstances the statute lists, such as when the tenant unreasonably withholds consent or is absent for a period equal to half the rent period without notifying the landlord. A property manager who texts "we're coming by in an hour" is outside the statute on a routine repair.
Landlord maintenance duties (F.S. 83.51). Every residential landlord must comply with applicable building, housing and health codes — or, where there are none governing the item, keep the roofs, windows, doors, floors, steps, porches, exterior walls and foundations in reasonable repair and capable of resisting normal forces and loads, and keep the plumbing in reasonable working condition. Screens must be installed when the tenancy begins and repaired as needed, with the statute contemplating repair on an annual basis.
The single-family exception matters in Loxahatchee and The Acreage. For dwellings other than single-family homes and duplexes, the landlord must also provide extermination of rats, mice, roaches, ants, wood-destroying organisms and bedbugs; locks and keys; clean and safe common areas; garbage removal and outside receptacles; functioning heat in winter, running water and reasonable hot water. For a single-family home or duplex — which is most of what gets rented west of 441 — several of those duties can be shifted to the tenant by a clear written agreement, and the landlord's duty is to install working smoke detection devices at the start of the tenancy. This is exactly why a single-family lease out here should never be a generic apartment form: what the lease assigns, the lease has to say plainly.
When the tenant complains (F.S. 83.56(1)). A tenant who believes the landlord has materially failed to meet the 83.51(1) duties must deliver written notice specifying the noncompliance and give the landlord 7 days to remedy it before terminating. If the failure renders the dwelling untenantable and the tenant vacates, rent stops accruing for that period. The practical lesson: answer written repair notices within seven days, in writing, with a date. A documented same-week response ends most of these before they become withheld rent.
Florida evictions are fast by national standards when the paperwork is clean. Residential evictions are filed in the County Civil division of the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County — in the county where the dwelling sits — through the statewide e-filing portal, in person, or by mail at a courthouse location. The realistic sequence:
Note the split: possession and money are different fights. A straightforward possession action is often handled without a hearing, while a claim for back rent and damages may proceed separately. Filing fees, service fees and writ costs are set by the clerk and the Sheriff and change from time to time — confirm current amounts with the Clerk rather than relying on any number you read online.
Section 83.595 gives the landlord a menu, and the choice has to be made deliberately. If a tenant breaches and vacates before the end of the term, the landlord may: (a) treat the agreement as terminated and retake possession for the landlord's own account, ending the tenant's further liability for rent; (b) retake possession for the account of the tenant, holding the tenant liable for the difference between the stipulated rent and what the landlord recovers on a reletting — with a duty to exercise good faith in finding a replacement; (c) stand by and do nothing, holding the tenant liable for rent as it comes due; or (d) charge liquidated damages or an early termination fee, if the lease provided for one properly.
That last option has strict conditions. The amount may not exceed two months' rent, and the tenant must have been given a real choice at lease signing by initialing a separate addendum containing checkbox language substantially in the statutory form — one box agreeing to pay a stated liquidated-damages/early-termination amount not exceeding two months' rent and to give no more than 60 days' notice, the other declining and acknowledging that the landlord may instead seek damages as provided by law. No signed addendum, no early termination fee. In addition to that fee the landlord is entitled to rent and charges accrued through the end of the month in which possession is retaken, plus charges for damages to the unit.
One statewide change worth knowing. Effective July 1, 2023, section 83.425 preempts regulation of residential tenancies and the landlord-tenant relationship to the state, superseding local government ordinances on those subjects. In practice that means the rules for a rental in Wellington, Boynton Beach or unincorporated Palm Beach County come from Chapter 83 and not from a patchwork of municipal tenant ordinances. It simplifies compliance — and it removes the excuse that "the city rules were different."
Under section 83.49, Florida Statutes, a landlord who is making no deductions has 15 days from termination of the rental agreement to return the deposit in full. A landlord who intends to keep any part of it has 30 days to send written notice of intent to impose a claim, by certified mail to the tenant's last known mailing address, stating the amount and the reason. The tenant then has 15 days after receiving that notice to object in writing.
The statute is blunt: the landlord forfeits the right to impose a claim on the security deposit and may not seek a setoff against it. The deposit has to be returned, and the landlord's only remaining route is a separate action for damages after returning it. Section 83.49 also awards court costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party, which is why a small deposit dispute can become expensive for a landlord who sent the letter late.
No. The three days for a nonpayment-of-rent demand exclude Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, and the day the notice is delivered does not count. A notice delivered on a Thursday before a holiday Monday will not expire until the following Thursday. Filing an eviction before the notice period truly runs is one of the most common reasons Florida eviction cases get dismissed.
A 3-day notice is only for nonpayment of rent. Any other material lease violation uses a 7-day notice — either a 7-day notice to cure for something the tenant can fix, such as an unauthorized pet or occupant or failing to keep the unit clean, or a 7-day unconditional notice for conduct the law does not require you to give a second chance on, such as intentional destruction of the property or continued unreasonable disturbance of other residents. Using a 3-day notice for a lease violation is a fatal defect.
Thirty days. Section 83.57 was amended effective July 1, 2023 to raise month-to-month termination notice from 15 days to 30 days before the end of the monthly rental period, and it applies to landlord and tenant alike. Quarter-to-quarter requires 45 days, year-to-year 60 days, and week-to-week 7 days. Many lease templates still in circulation print the old 15-day figure — worth checking yours.
For entry to make repairs, section 83.53 defines reasonable notice as at least 24 hours before entry, and a reasonable time as between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. A landlord may enter at any time for the protection or preservation of the premises — a plumbing failure or storm damage, for example — and in the other limited circumstances the statute lists. The landlord may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant.
No — and it is the costliest mistake in the chapter. Section 83.67 prohibits interrupting utility service, changing the locks or using a bootlock to deny access, removing outside doors, locks, roof, walls or windows except for genuine repair, and removing the tenant's belongings outside a lawful eviction or surrender. A landlord who does any of that is liable for actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney's fees. Possession is obtained through the court and the Sheriff, never by padlock.
It depends almost entirely on whether the tenant responds. After the notice period expires, the landlord files in the County Civil division of the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County, the clerk issues a summons, and the tenant has 5 business days from service to file a written response. Uncontested cases commonly run in the range of a few weeks from filing to writ of possession; a contested case with a hearing takes longer. Clean notices and a complete filing packet are what keep it on the short end.
Yes, in most cases. Under section 83.60(2), a tenant who raises any defense other than payment — including that the 3-day notice was defective — must deposit the accrued rent alleged in the complaint into the court registry, along with rent accruing during the case. Failing to deposit it, or to file a motion to determine the amount, within 5 days excluding weekends and legal holidays after service is an absolute waiver of all defenses except payment, and the landlord is entitled to an immediate default judgment and a writ of possession without a further hearing.
Only if the lease set it up correctly under section 83.595. The amount may not exceed two months' rent, and the tenant must have been given a genuine choice at signing by initialing a separate addendum with checkbox language substantially in the statutory form — one option agreeing to a stated liquidated-damages or early-termination amount within that cap, the other declining and acknowledging the landlord may instead seek damages as provided by law. Without that signed addendum, the landlord's remedies are the other options in 83.595, such as reletting for the tenant's account in good faith.
It depends on what the written lease says. Section 83.51 requires landlords of dwellings other than single-family homes and duplexes to provide extermination, garbage removal, locks and keys, running and hot water, and heat in winter. For a single-family home or duplex, several of those duties can be shifted to the tenant by clear written agreement, and the landlord must install working smoke detection devices at the start of the tenancy. The landlord's core structural and code obligations under 83.51(1) — roof, windows, doors, floors, steps, porches, exterior walls, foundations and plumbing — remain the landlord's. On acreage properties in Loxahatchee and The Acreage this is worth spelling out item by item, including well and septic responsibilities.
Largely no. Effective July 1, 2023, section 83.425 preempts the regulation of residential tenancies and the landlord-tenant relationship to the state and supersedes local government regulation of those subjects. Practically, the rules for a rental in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Boynton Beach or unincorporated Palm Beach County come from Chapter 83, Part II of the Florida Statutes. Municipal rules on other subjects — building permits, code enforcement, rental registration where it exists — are a separate matter and still apply.
No. This page is general information about Florida's residential landlord-tenant statutes, written from a licensed property manager's operational perspective, and statutes and court interpretations change. For a specific dispute — a contested eviction, a deposit claim already in writing, or an unusual lease provision — talk to a Florida attorney. What we can do is manage the property so the deadlines are met in the first place: call (561) 779-3213.