Subleasing in Florida is legal, but no state statute grants the right outright. Chapter 83, Florida’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, covers deposits, evictions, and maintenance, and says nothing about subletting. So whether you can hand your apartment to someone else for a few months comes down to what your lease says, and how carefully you follow the steps that surround it.
Start With What Your Lease Says
Pull out your lease and look for a section titled “Subletting,” “Assignment,” or “Transfer.” The language will fall into one of three categories, and each puts you in a different position.
A flat prohibition ends the discussion. If the lease says the tenant cannot sublet or assign the premises under any circumstances, subleasing would breach the contract. You have no workaround short of asking the landlord to amend the lease.
Conditional permission is the most common arrangement. The lease allows subleasing but requires the landlord’s prior written consent. Read the standard carefully. If the lease says consent “shall not be unreasonably withheld,” Florida common law prevents a landlord from denying consent on arbitrary grounds or simply because they’d like to charge a new tenant more. If the lease grants the landlord “sole discretion,” they can refuse for almost any reason.
Silence is the third scenario. If your lease doesn’t mention subletting at all, Florida’s general common-law rule allows a tenant to sublease. Even then, tell the landlord in writing before anyone moves in. Surprising a property owner with a new occupant tends to invite scrutiny you don’t want.
Getting Landlord Consent
When the lease requires approval, ask in writing. Email creates a record; a certified letter with a delivery receipt is better. Keep copies. A verbal “sure, go ahead” is nearly impossible to prove if the landlord later denies saying it.
Give the landlord enough information to evaluate the proposed subtenant: full name, contact details, a rental application, proof of income, and authorization to run a credit and background check. You’re asking someone to trust a person they didn’t choose, so make it easy to say yes.
Do not let the subtenant move in, and do not sign a sublease, until the written approval is in your hand. Moving someone in on the assumption that consent is coming puts you in breach even if approval would have been granted.
Writing the Sublease
Once you have consent, put the sublease in writing. You are effectively acting as a landlord to the subtenant, and an unsigned agreement gives you no recourse if rent stops coming or the walls come back with holes.
At a minimum, include the full legal names of you, the subtenant, and the property owner; the address; and the start and end dates. The sublease cannot extend past the end date of your own lease. Spell out the monthly rent, when it’s due, acceptable payment methods, and any late fees. If you’re collecting a security deposit, state the amount and the conditions for returning it.
A few other clauses are worth adding:
- A statement that the subtenant agrees to follow every rule in your original lease, with a copy of that lease attached.
- Who pays which utilities: electricity, water, internet, and anything else.
- A requirement that the subtenant carry their own renters insurance. Your policy does not cover their belongings.
Both parties have to sign.
Handling the Security Deposit
If you collect a deposit from your subtenant, Florida law treats you the same as any landlord. You have three options for holding the money: a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida bank, a separate interest-bearing account (paying the subtenant at least 75 percent of the annualized interest or 5 percent simple interest), or a surety bond posted with the local circuit court clerk.1Justia Law. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant For most individuals, the non-interest-bearing account is simplest.
You cannot mix the deposit with your personal funds. Within 30 days of receiving it, you must send the subtenant written notice of how you’re holding the money, including the name and address of the bank or the details of the surety bond.1Justia Law. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
When the sublease ends, you have 15 days after the subtenant vacates to return the full deposit if you’re making no deductions. If you intend to keep any of it for unpaid rent or damages, you must mail written notice of your claim within 30 days. The subtenant then has 15 days to object. Miss the 30-day notice window and you forfeit the right to make a claim; you have to return everything.2Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent; Duty of Landlord and Tenant
You Still Owe the Landlord
A sublease does not transfer your obligations. You remain fully responsible for the original lease until it expires. If your subtenant skips rent, you owe the landlord that money. If they damage the unit, you pay for the repairs. You can pursue the subtenant separately under your sublease, but that doesn’t help when the landlord is demanding payment now and the subtenant has disappeared.
You also inherit landlord duties toward the subtenant. That means handling maintenance requests, resolving disputes, and, if it comes to it, evicting them through Florida’s formal process rather than changing the locks. The tenant protections that apply between you and your landlord apply between you and your subtenant.
The Sublease Ends When the Master Lease Ends
A sublease cannot outlive the lease it sits on top of. If your lease terminates, whether by expiration, an early break, or a landlord action for cause, the sublease ends at the same moment. The subtenant’s right to be there flows entirely through yours.
That is a real risk for subtenants, and a fair sublease addresses it: require yourself to notify the subtenant immediately if anything threatens the master lease, and spell out what happens to prepaid rent and the deposit if the sublease ends early. The landlord has no obligation to honor the sublease or offer the subtenant a direct lease after your tenancy ends, though some will.
Sublease Income Is Taxable
Rent you collect from a subtenant is taxable, and you report it on Schedule E of Form 1040. That applies even if you’re renting out a single room in a unit you still occupy; the Schedule E instructions specifically cover income from “renting a room or other space.”3Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule E (Form 1040)
Two details trip people up. Advance rent (say, the subtenant pays the last month upfront) is taxable in the year you receive it, not the month it covers. Lease cancellation fees, such as a payment from a subtenant who wants out early, are also taxable when received.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 527, Residential Rental Property
Security deposits are different. They are not taxable when you collect them, as long as you intend to return the money at the end of the sublease. They become income only if you end up keeping part of the deposit for damages or unpaid rent.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 527, Residential Rental Property
You can deduct expenses tied to the sublease. If you’re renting out part of your home, mortgage interest, property taxes, and similar costs get divided between personal and rental portions, with the rental share going on Schedule E. Keep receipts.
What Happens if You Sublease Without Permission
Subleasing in violation of your lease is a breach, and the landlord doesn’t have to tolerate it.
For a curable violation such as an unauthorized occupant, the landlord can deliver a written notice giving you seven days to remove the subtenant. Comply within those seven days and the lease survives. But if the same violation happens again within 12 months, the landlord can move straight to termination without another chance to cure.5The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement
If the unauthorized sublease has produced property damage or repeated disturbances, the landlord may treat it as incurable. The notice then gives you seven days to vacate with no option to fix anything, and if you don’t leave, the landlord can file for eviction.5The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement
Losing the apartment is only part of it. An eviction filing produces a court record that other landlords will find when they screen you, and even a resolved eviction can make future rentals harder to get. Many Florida leases also contain monetary penalties for unauthorized subletting, and those penalties are enforceable as liquidated damages when they appear in the contract you signed. Getting consent, or moving on to a different arrangement, is almost always cheaper than the alternative.