Florida's Law for Termination of Lease

The Florida Statutes Section 83.57 requires written notice of termination to end the landlord and tenant relationship. The amount of notice one party must provide the other depends on the term of the tenancy of the rental agreement. Florida law allows both written and oral lease agreements, and either party must comply with the notice requirements before terminating their lease obligations.

The amount of notice either party must provide depends on the terms of their written lease agreement. However, Florida law requires tenants who terminate their lease agreements before their tenancies to give their landlords a special written notice of their intent to terminate their lease agreements early at least seven days before moving out. Tenants must send this written notice through certified mail or deliver the notice personally to their landlords.

For lease agreements for an unspecified duration, Florida law requires at least 60 days’ written notice prior to terminating the landlord and tenant relationship for tenants who pay rent once annually. For month-to-month tenants, either landlords or tenants must provide at least 15 days’ written notice of lease termination.

Landlords and tenants must provide this notice prior to the beginning of the next rental period. The next rental period is established by payment of rent practices between the parties. Thus, landlords who collect rent from their tenants on the first of each month must provide at least 15 days’ written notice before the next month’s rental term begins.

To terminate a lease agreement for a specified duration, landlords and tenants must comply with their individual lease terms. Since some leases allow automatic renewal or allow automatic termination at the end of the lease term, each party must be careful to follow the requirements of their lease agreement. Landlords in Florida can collect double the amount of monthly rent from tenants who illegally holdover their rentals. Holdover tenants are those who do not vacate when the lease period ends

Under Florida law, landlords have a right to keep a portion of their tenants’ security deposits to satisfy rental delinquencies. When tenants fail to provide the necessary notice and move out without providing the required notice, landlords can deduct amounts from their security deposits to cover past-due rent but must provide them with their written intent to do so within 30 days of the tenant’s vacancy. Failure to provide this notice within 30 days requires the landlord to return a tenant’s full deposit under Florida Statute Section 83.49(3)(a).

Since real estate laws can frequently change, you should not use this information as a substitute for legal advice. Seek advice through an attorney licensed to practice law in your jurisdiction.