Florida Lease Agreement Requirements and Disclosures

A residential lease in Florida must identify the landlord, the tenant, and the rental property; state the rent amount, when it is due, and the length of the tenancy; and include a written disclosure naming the landlord or an authorized agent who can receive legal notices. Florida lease agreement requirements also include a specific radon gas warning in almost every rental contract, a federal lead-based paint disclosure for housing built before 1978, and strict rules for how any security deposit or advance rent must be held and accounted for. Chapter 83, Part II of the Florida Statutes controls, and skipping a required disclosure or mishandling a deposit can cost a landlord the right to enforce parts of the lease later on.

Core Terms Every Florida Lease Should Contain

At a minimum, the written agreement should identify the parties by name and describe the property being rented. It needs to spell out the lease term, the rent amount, and when rent is due. Florida does not require a grace period for late rent and does not cap late fees, so if you want either one, the lease has to say so. The same goes for pet deposits, application fees, and any other charge the landlord expects to collect: if it isn’t in the lease, enforcing it later is difficult.

Fixed-term leases end on the date written into the agreement. Periodic tenancies (month-to-month, week-to-week, and so on) run until either side gives the notice required by statute, and the lease can echo those notice periods but cannot shorten them.

Landlord Identification and Address for Notices

At or before the start of the tenancy, the landlord must disclose in writing the name and address of the landlord or of a person authorized to receive notices and demands on the landlord’s behalf.¹ That designation stays in effect until the tenant is told otherwise in writing. Most landlords put this information directly in the lease so the disclosure is documented alongside the signatures.

Radon Gas Disclosure

Florida requires almost every residential lease to contain a specific radon warning. The statute prescribes the exact language: “RADON GAS: Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas that, when it has accumulated in a building in sufficient quantities, may present health risks to persons who are exposed to it over time. Levels of radon that exceed federal and state guidelines have been found in buildings in Florida. Additional information regarding radon and radon testing may be obtained from your county health department.”²

The disclosure applies to all rental agreements except short-term stays of 45 days or less. Landlords typically reproduce the language verbatim, because paraphrasing risks failing the requirement.

Lead-Based Paint Disclosure for Pre-1978 Housing

Federal law adds a second required disclosure when the rental was built before 1978. Before the tenant signs, the landlord must share any known information about lead paint or lead-based paint hazards in the unit, provide copies of any available reports, include a lead warning statement in the lease, and give the tenant a copy of the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home.”³ For newer construction the requirement does not apply.

Security Deposit and Advance Rent Requirements

Florida sets no statutory cap on the amount a landlord may collect as a security deposit, so the lease itself controls the dollar figure. What the statute does regulate is how the money is held once the landlord has it. Under Section 83.49, the landlord must use one of three methods:⁴

A non-interest-bearing account at a Florida bank, separate from the landlord’s personal funds.
A separate interest-bearing account at a Florida bank, with the tenant earning either 75% of the annualized average interest rate on the account or 5% simple annual interest, at the landlord’s choice.
A surety bond posted with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the property sits, in the total amount of deposits held or $50,000, whichever is less.

The 30-Day Notice After Receiving a Deposit

Within 30 days of receiving the deposit, the landlord must give the tenant written notice identifying which of the three methods is being used and stating the name and address of the depository or the location of the surety bond.⁴ Miss this notice and the landlord can lose the right to make any claim against the deposit later. Many Florida leases build the disclosure into the lease itself so the 30-day clock is satisfied at signing.

Return and Claim Deadlines at Move-Out

After the tenant vacates, the landlord has 15 days to return the full deposit, plus any required interest, if there is no claim for damages. If the landlord intends to keep part or all of the deposit, written notice by certified mail must be sent to the tenant’s last known address within 30 days after move-out, stating the reason for the claim.⁴ The tenant then has 15 days after receiving that notice to object. Silence beyond that window lets the landlord collect on the claim and return only the balance.

Move-Out Notice Clauses in Fixed-Term Leases

Florida law lets a fixed-term lease require the tenant to give notice before vacating at the end of the term, but the drafting rules are specific. The required notification window has to fall between 30 and 60 days, and the lease must impose the same notification obligation on the landlord if the lease will not be renewed.⁵

If the lease includes liquidated damages for a tenant’s failure to give that notice, the landlord must send a separate written reminder to the tenant at least 15 days before the notification period begins, listing the tenant’s obligations and any fees or penalties that would apply. Skip the reminder and the liquidated damages clause is unenforceable. A tenant who holds over past the end of the term with the landlord’s permission and then leaves without 30 days’ notice owes an extra month’s rent.⁵

Notice Periods for Periodic Tenancies

When a lease has no fixed end date, statute sets the notice each side must give to end it:⁶

Year-to-year: at least 60 days before the end of the annual period.
Quarter-to-quarter: at least 30 days before the end of the quarterly period.
Month-to-month: at least 30 days before the end of the monthly period.
Week-to-week: at least 7 days before the end of the weekly period.

The notice has to be in writing. A lease can mirror these periods, but it cannot require less notice than the statute demands.

Lease Terms Florida Will Not Enforce

Some clauses show up in leases that Florida law refuses to back up. A lease cannot authorize the landlord to shut off utilities, change the locks, or otherwise block a tenant from the unit as a way to force a move-out. Removing outside doors, locks, roofs, walls, or windows outside of legitimate repair work is also prohibited, as is removing a tenant’s personal property except after surrender, abandonment, or a lawful eviction.⁷ The only lawful path to remove a tenant is through the court eviction process, and a lease clause that says otherwise does not change that.

Discrimination against servicemembers in offering a rental or in the terms of a lease is also barred by statute.⁷ And any lease term that tries to impose early termination fees, mileage requirements between duty stations, or repayment of rent concessions on an active-duty servicemember who exercises the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act’s early-termination right is generally unenforceable.⁸ Under the SCRA, a servicemember can end a residential lease early by delivering written notice with a copy of qualifying orders, and for a monthly lease the termination takes effect 30 days after the next rent payment is due following that notice.⁹

Fair Housing and Assistance Animal Accommodations

Every Florida lease sits underneath the federal Fair Housing Act, which prohibits discrimination in the rental of housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability.¹⁰ Rent, terms, and services cannot vary because of any of those characteristics.

A no-pets clause is where this often surfaces in leases. Landlords must grant reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities who need an assistance animal, including emotional support animals, and cannot charge a pet deposit or pet fee for a qualifying assistance animal.¹¹ Denial is only permitted where the specific animal poses a direct threat to safety or would cause significant property damage that no other accommodation could prevent, or where granting the accommodation would impose an undue burden on the landlord. A generic “no pets, no exceptions” line in the lease does not override that duty.

1
Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.50 – Disclosure of Landlord’s Address
2
Florida Department of Health. Notification on Real Estate Documents
3
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Lead-Based Paint Disclosure Rule (Section 1018 of Title X)
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.49 – Deposit Money or Advance Rent
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 83.575 – Termination of Tenancy With Specific Duration
6
Justia Law. Florida Code 83.57 – Termination of Tenancy Without Specific Term
7
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 83.67 – Prohibited Practices
8
U.S. Department of Justice. Financial and Housing Rights
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 50 USC 3955 – Termination of Residential or Motor Vehicle Leases
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 3604 – Discrimination in the Sale or Rental of Housing
11
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Assistance Animals