{
  "meta": {
    "name": "Deposit Record ruleset: Florida",
    "description": "The verified Florida security-deposit rules that https://deposit.orygn.tech/florida is built from: each rule as a machine payload, its plain-English summary, its exact citation, the verbatim text of its source where quoted (sourceType says when that is not statute text), the official source URL it was verified against, and the date a human last checked it.",
    "state": "FL",
    "page": "https://deposit.orygn.tech/florida",
    "dataUrl": "https://deposit.orygn.tech/data/florida.json",
    "lastReviewed": "2026-07-06",
    "citeAs": "Deposit Record, Florida Security Deposit Return (verified July 6, 2026), https://deposit.orygn.tech/florida",
    "publisher": {
      "name": "Orygn LLC",
      "url": "https://orygn.tech/"
    },
    "license": "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/): free to reuse and quote with attribution to Deposit Record and a link to the page. The statutes themselves are public law.",
    "disclaimer": "General information, not legal advice. Every rule cites the source it was verified against; rely on the source, and on a lawyer for your situation.",
    "fields": {
      "summary": "plain-English statement of the rule, as rendered on the page",
      "value": "the machine payload the calculator uses (days, triggers, caps, multipliers); its keys are named for what they hold and explained by the summary",
      "citation": "exact pin-cite for the rule: a statute, an enacting act, a case or agency guidance (see sourceType)",
      "statuteQuote": "verbatim text quoted from the document at sourceUrl. Despite the name, not every quote is statute text: sourceType says what it is. An automated weekly check compares each quote with its source.",
      "statuteQuoteCitation": "pin-cite for statuteQuote alone, when the quote is narrower than the rule's citation",
      "sourceType": "what statuteQuote is. Absent or 'codified': codified statute text. 'session-law': a clause of the enacting act that was never codified. 'case': a court's words. 'agency': an agency's reading of the statute, which shows how the law is enforced in practice but is not what the statute says.",
      "sourceUrl": "the official source the rule was verified against, and where its quote is found. Some official hosts block automated clients.",
      "readableUrl": "an unofficial, easier-to-read copy of the same text, for people; rely on sourceUrl",
      "derivation": "'verbatim' for a literal statutory rule; 'synthesized' for our reading across sections, which the page labels as our interpretation. Absent means the rule is not labelled either way.",
      "effectiveDate": "when the rule's current text took effect, recorded as provenance. Read effectiveDateIsFloor before using it.",
      "effectiveDateIsFloor": "true means effectiveDate is only the earliest date we could prove this text was already in force. The real effective date is earlier and unverified, so do not present it as 'effective <date>'.",
      "lastVerified": "the date a human last checked this rule against sourceUrl",
      "confidence": "'high', 'medium' or 'low': our confidence in the rule as stated",
      "amendedBy": "the most recent notable amending act",
      "notes": "traps and edge cases, as rendered on the page"
    },
    "stateFields": {
      "stateCode": "two-letter state code",
      "stateName": "state name",
      "slug": "the state page is https://deposit.orygn.tech/{slug}",
      "lastReviewed": "when a human last reviewed this ruleset as a whole. Single rules are re-verified between reviews, so a rule's lastVerified can be later.",
      "summary": "plain-English summary of the state's return rules, as on the page",
      "letterFooter": "the source line printed at the foot of the generated letter",
      "cities": "city-level records; see meta.cityFields",
      "localLaw": "the state's position on local deposit rules. preempted is true only where a statute forecloses them, and citation then carries it; summary says what we have and have not read.",
      "sources": "the primary sources the page is built on",
      "pendingLegislation": "law signed but not yet in force (status 'enacted-not-in-force') or a bill a reader deciding today should know about ('pending'). The rule objects describe the law as it stands; this is the one forward-looking field. citySlug is set when the act is a city ordinance.",
      "stabilized": "New York only: the separate Gen. Oblig. Law 7-107 rules for rent-stabilized units, which reach leases entered into on or after appliesToLeasesFromISO. Each member that has a citation is a rule object."
    },
    "cityFields": {
      "city": "city name",
      "citySlug": "stable machine key for the city",
      "applies": "true if the city adds a rule on top of state law. false is an explicit record that we found no city rule, and only for the kinds of rule listed in checkedFor.",
      "summary": "plain-English statement of the city rule, as rendered on the page",
      "coverageQuestion": "asked before any city math: whether the ordinance covers this rental at all. Absent means it applies citywide.",
      "interest": "the city deposit-interest rule and its rate data (machine payload)",
      "cap": "a city ceiling on the deposit. Absent means not recorded, which is not the same as none: see checkedFor.",
      "checkedFor": "the kinds of deposit rule we actually searched for in this city ('interest', 'cap', 'deadline', 'itemization'). A row says nothing about kinds it does not list.",
      "citation": "exact pin-cite for the city rule",
      "sourceUrl": "the official source the city rule was verified against",
      "lastVerified": "the date a human last checked this city rule against sourceUrl",
      "confidence": "'high', 'medium' or 'low': our confidence in the city rule as stated",
      "notes": "what to re-check and where the rule stops, as rendered on the page"
    },
    "schema": "Every published key is described here: meta.fields for rule objects, meta.stateFields for the other keys of rules, meta.cityFields for each entry of rules.cities. Every key of rules not in meta.stateFields is one rule object, named for what it governs (deadline, cap, penalty and so on).",
    "version": "465c340",
    "dataHash": "34e7bb8229272f26",
    "about": "version is the git commit these files were built from, ending in -dirty if the tree had uncommitted changes. dataHash is a fingerprint of a state's rules object and changes when, and only when, that object changes: poll it, not version or lastReviewed, to detect new data."
  },
  "rules": {
    "stateCode": "FL",
    "stateName": "Florida",
    "slug": "florida",
    "lastReviewed": "2026-07-06",
    "summary": "Florida landlords must return a security deposit within 15 days if they keep none of it, or send a written Notice of Intention to Impose a Claim within 30 days if they keep any part. Both clocks run from the date the rental agreement terminates. Miss the 30-day notice and the entire claim is forfeited. Florida sets no deposit cap and no city adds its own deposit rules; interest is owed only when the landlord chose an interest-bearing account or a surety bond.",
    "letterFooter": {
      "label": "Florida Statutes § 83.49",
      "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49"
    },
    "deadline": {
      "summary": "If the landlord is NOT keeping any of the deposit, it must be returned (with interest if owed) within 15 calendar days after the rental agreement terminates. If the landlord intends to keep any part, the 15-day return is replaced by a 30-day written claim notice.",
      "value": {
        "days": 15,
        "dayType": "calendar",
        "triggerBasis": "single",
        "triggerEvents": [
          "termination-of-rental-agreement"
        ],
        "suspendUntilForwardingAddress": false
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a)",
      "statuteQuote": "Upon the vacating of the premises for termination of the rental agreement, if the landlord does not intend to impose a claim on the security deposit, the landlord must return the security deposit, together with interest if otherwise required, within 15 days after the termination of the rental agreement.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16",
      "notes": "This is the no-claim branch. The instant the landlord intends to keep any part of the deposit, this 15-day return is replaced by the 30-day claim-notice clock (see the 30-day Notice of Intention to Impose a Claim). The clock starts at termination of the rental agreement, which is not necessarily the physical move-out date."
    },
    "forwardingAddress": {
      "summary": "Florida does not condition the deposit’s return on the tenant giving a forwarding address; the landlord uses the tenant’s last known mailing address. But a tenant who moves out early must give a 7-day notice with an address (see the tenant’s 7-day move-out notice), and skipping it relieves the landlord of the claim-notice duty.",
      "value": {
        "required": false,
        "mustBeWritten": true,
        "suspendsObligation": false,
        "forfeitsRightIfNotProvided": false
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(5), (3)(a)",
      "statuteQuote": "Failure to give such notice relieves the landlord of the notice requirement of paragraph (3)(a) but does not waive any right the tenant may have to the security deposit or any part of it.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "synthesized",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16",
      "notes": "A tenant never forfeits the deposit merely for failing to give an address. What a missing pre-move-out 7-day notice costs the tenant is the landlord’s obligation to send a 30-day claim notice, not the deposit itself (see the tenant’s 7-day move-out notice)."
    },
    "itemization": {
      "summary": "If the landlord keeps any part of the deposit, the written claim notice must state the reason for the claim. A full refund needs no itemization.",
      "value": {
        "required": true,
        "mustBeWritten": true,
        "excusedWhen": "the landlord imposes no claim and returns the full deposit within 15 days"
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a)",
      "statuteQuote": "the landlord must, within 30 days after the termination of the rental agreement, provide the tenant written notice by certified mail to the tenant’s last known mailing address or by e-mail in accordance with s. 83.505 of his or her intention to impose a claim on the deposit and the reason for imposing the claim.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16",
      "notes": "Florida’s \"itemization\" is the reason line inside the prescribed claim-notice form (see the 30-day Notice of Intention to Impose a Claim). It is the notice itself, not a separate accounting, that the statute polices."
    },
    "deductions": {
      "summary": "Florida’s deposit statute does not list allowable deductions. Our reading is that a landlord may claim unpaid rent, other charges the lease makes the tenant responsible for, and the cost of repairing damage beyond ordinary wear and tear. Ordinary wear and tear may not be charged.",
      "value": {
        "allowed": [
          "unpaid rent",
          "other fees or obligations the lease makes the tenant responsible for",
          "the cost of repairing damage to the unit beyond normal wear and tear"
        ],
        "disallowed": [
          "normal wear and tear",
          "the cost of curing conditions that existed before the tenancy"
        ],
        "documentationThresholdUsd": null,
        "photosRequiredWhenDeducting": false
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a)",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "synthesized",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "effectiveDateIsFloor": true,
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "notes": "Section 83.49 lets the landlord \"impose a claim on the deposit\" and state \"the reason for imposing the claim,\" but it does not enumerate categories. Our reading is corroborated by the parallel fee-in-lieu enumeration in § 83.491 (\"unpaid rent, fees, or other obligations under the rental agreement, including, but not limited to, costs required for repairing damage to the premises beyond normal wear and tear\"). Florida does not define \"normal wear and tear\" by statute; whether particular wear is ordinary is a fact question."
    },
    "interest": {
      "summary": "Florida does not require interest on every deposit. Whether interest is owed depends on how the landlord chose to hold the money: none for a non-interest account, at least 75% of the account’s average rate or 5% simple interest for an interest-bearing account, and 5% simple interest if the landlord posted a surety bond.",
      "value": {
        "required": false
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(1), (9)",
      "statuteQuote": "In those cases in which interest is required to be paid to the tenant, the landlord must pay directly to the tenant, or credit against the current month’s rent, the interest due to the tenant at least once annually. However, a landlord is not required to pay interest to a tenant who wrongfully terminates his or her tenancy before the end of the rental term.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "synthesized",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16",
      "notes": "The holding method decides interest (see the three ways to hold a deposit). When owed, interest is paid or credited at least annually, and none is owed to a tenant who wrongfully terminates early. Because interest depends on facts the tenant may not know, the tool asks rather than assuming."
    },
    "cap": {
      "summary": "Florida sets no statutory cap on the security deposit a landlord may charge; the amount is set by the lease.",
      "value": {
        "hasCap": false,
        "capMonths": null
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "synthesized",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "effectiveDateIsFloor": true,
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "notes": "Section 83.49 contains no maximum-deposit provision. A verified absence, not an omission. Non-refundable fee-in-lieu-of-deposit arrangements are governed separately by § 83.491 and are not covered by this tool."
    },
    "penalty": {
      "summary": "Florida gives the deposit statute teeth two ways. A landlord who misses the 30-day written-claim deadline forfeits the entire claim, with no bad faith required, and must return the deposit (though the landlord may still sue separately for damages). And in any court action over the deposit, the prevailing party, landlord or tenant, recovers court costs and reasonable attorney fees.",
      "value": {
        "standard": "strict-liability",
        "badFaithFlatUsd": null,
        "multiplier": null,
        "multiplierBase": null,
        "multiplierIsDiscretionaryCeiling": false,
        "attorneyFees": true,
        "attorneyFeesBasis": "prevailing-party",
        "forfeitureForFailureToItemize": true,
        "deadlinePresumptionDays": null,
        "burdenOnLandlord": false
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a), (3)(c)",
      "statuteQuote": "If either party institutes an action in a court of competent jurisdiction to adjudicate the party’s right to the security deposit, the prevailing party is entitled to receive his or her court costs plus a reasonable fee for his or her attorney. The court shall advance the cause on the calendar.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "synthesized",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16 (styling of the (3)(a) forfeiture sentence only; the quoted (3)(c) fee rule untouched)",
      "notes": "Unlike Texas, Florida has no flat bad-faith penalty and no damages multiplier. The forfeiture is strict: missing the 30-day notice forfeits the claim regardless of intent (see Miss the 30-day notice and you forfeit the claim). The two-way fee rule cuts both directions, so a tenant who sues and loses can owe the landlord’s fees."
    },
    "deliveryByEmail": {
      "summary": "Florida allows the deposit notices to be delivered by e-mail, but only when the landlord and tenant signed the § 83.505 electronic-delivery addendum, each provided a valid e-mail address, and the addendum states the election is voluntary and revocable. Otherwise the claim notice must go by certified mail.",
      "value": {
        "allowed": true,
        "conditions": "Requires a signed § 83.505 addendum specifically agreeing to electronic delivery. An e-mailed notice is deemed delivered when sent unless it bounces, and the sender must keep a copy and proof of transmission."
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.505",
      "statuteQuote": "A notice sent electronically pursuant to this section is deemed delivered at the time it is sent, unless the e-mail is returned to the sender as undeliverable.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.505",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16",
      "notes": "New in 2025 (created by ch. 2025-16). \"Deemed delivered when sent\" matters for the deposit clocks: an e-mailed claim notice counts as given on the send date, provided it does not bounce and the parties actually signed the addendum."
    },
    "depositDefinition": {
      "summary": "Florida’s definitions are broad: money the landlord holds as security for the lease is a security deposit, and \"deposit money\" expressly includes damage deposits, advance-rent deposits, and pet deposits.",
      "value": {
        "petDepositCounts": true
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.43",
      "statuteQuote": "“Deposit money” means any money held by the landlord on behalf of the tenant, including, but not limited to, damage deposits, security deposits, advance rent deposit, pet deposit, or any contractual deposit agreed to between landlord and tenant either in writing or orally.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.43",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "effectiveDateIsFloor": true,
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "notes": "A refundable pet deposit is a security deposit governed by § 83.49. A non-refundable pet fee is not, the same way a fee-in-lieu is not (see fee in lieu of a deposit)."
    },
    "ownershipChange": {
      "summary": "When the property is sold or the rental agent changes, the deposit (with any earned interest and an accounting) transfers to the new owner or agent, and once transferred with a written receipt the old owner is released. A new owner is presumed to have received the deposit, but only up to one month’s rent.",
      "value": {
        "liabilityShiftsToNewOwner": true
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(7)",
      "statuteQuote": "Upon the sale or transfer of title of the rental property from one owner to another, or upon a change in the designated rental agent, any and all security deposits or advance rents being held for the benefit of the tenants shall be transferred to the new owner or agent, together with any earned interest and with an accurate accounting showing the amounts to be credited to each tenant account. Upon the transfer of such funds and records to the new owner or agent, and upon transmittal of a written receipt therefor, the transferor is free from the obligation imposed in subsection (1) to hold such moneys on behalf of the tenant. There is a rebuttable presumption that any new owner or agent received the security deposit from the previous owner or agent; however, this presumption is limited to 1 month’s rent.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "notes": "For a tenant chasing a deposit after a sale, this points at the current owner. The one-month-rent presumption caps how much a tenant can assume actually changed hands."
    },
    "claimNotice": {
      "summary": "If the landlord intends to keep any part of the deposit, the landlord must send the tenant a written Notice of Intention to Impose a Claim within 30 days after the rental agreement terminates, by certified mail to the tenant’s last known mailing address, or by e-mail if the parties signed a § 83.505 e-delivery addendum. The notice must be in substantially the statutory form.",
      "value": {
        "days": 30,
        "from": "termination-of-rental-agreement",
        "deliveryMethods": [
          "certified-mail",
          "email-83505"
        ],
        "prescribedForm": "This is a notice of my intention to impose a claim for damages in the amount of ⎵BLANK⎵ upon your security deposit, due to ⎵BLANK⎵ . It is sent to you as required by s. 83.49(3), Florida Statutes. You are hereby notified that you must object in writing to this deduction from your security deposit within 15 days after the time you receive this notice or I will be authorized to deduct my claim from your security deposit. Your objection must be sent to (landlord’s address) ."
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a)",
      "statuteQuote": "If the landlord intends to impose a claim on the deposit, the landlord must, within 30 days after the termination of the rental agreement, provide the tenant written notice by certified mail to the tenant’s last known mailing address or by e-mail in accordance with s. 83.505 of his or her intention to impose a claim on the deposit and the reason for imposing the claim. The written notice must contain a statement in substantially the following form:",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16",
      "notes": "\"Substantially the following form\" allows minor wording changes but the notice must convey the same content, including the 15-day objection window and where the objection is sent. Certified mail and § 83.505 e-mail are the only two lawful channels for this notice. Missing the 30-day deadline forfeits the claim (see Miss the 30-day notice and you forfeit the claim)."
    },
    "remittanceAfterNotice": {
      "summary": "After sending a claim notice, if the tenant does not object within 15 days, the landlord may deduct the claim and must remit any balance to the tenant within 30 days after the DATE OF THE NOTICE.",
      "value": {
        "days": 30,
        "from": "notice-date"
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(b)",
      "statuteQuote": "Unless the tenant objects to the imposition of the landlord’s claim or the amount thereof within 15 days after receipt of the landlord’s notice of intention to impose a claim, the landlord may then deduct the amount of his or her claim and shall remit the balance of the deposit to the tenant within 30 days after the date of the notice of intention to impose a claim for damages.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "notes": "The remittance clock runs from the notice date, while the tenant’s objection window runs from receipt (see the tenant’s 15-day objection window), so the two are deliberately offset. The tenant’s failure to object does not waive the tenant’s right to sue for the money separately."
    },
    "tenantObjectionWindow": {
      "summary": "The tenant has 15 days after RECEIVING the claim notice to object in writing. This window runs from receipt, whereas the landlord’s remittance clock runs from the notice date.",
      "value": {
        "days": 15,
        "from": "receipt-of-notice"
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(b)",
      "statuteQuote": "Unless the tenant objects to the imposition of the landlord’s claim or the amount thereof within 15 days after receipt of the landlord’s notice of intention to impose a claim, the landlord may then deduct the amount of his or her claim",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "notes": "The prescribed claim-notice form itself tells the tenant about this 15-day window and where to send the objection. Failure to make a timely objection does not waive the tenant’s right to seek damages in a separate action."
    },
    "claimForfeiture": {
      "summary": "If the landlord fails to send the required written claim notice within 30 days, the landlord forfeits the right to impose any claim on the deposit and may not set off against it, but may still return the deposit and sue the tenant separately for damages.",
      "value": {
        "forfeitsClaimAndSetoff": true,
        "separateDamagesActionSurvives": true
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a)",
      "statuteQuote": "If the landlord fails to give the required written notice within the 30-day period, he or she forfeits the right to impose a claim upon the security deposit and may not seek a setoff against the deposit but may file an action for damages after returning the security deposit to the tenant.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16",
      "notes": "Forfeiture is automatic and needs no showing of bad faith. It means the deposit must be returned in full; the landlord’s only remaining remedy is a separate damages lawsuit, which does not touch the deposit."
    },
    "holdingMethods": {
      "summary": "A landlord holding a deposit must do one of three things: (a) a separate non-interest-bearing account in a Florida financial institution; (b) a separate interest-bearing Florida account, paying the tenant at least 75% of the account’s annualized average rate or 5% simple interest, the landlord’s choice; or (c) post a surety bond and pay the tenant 5% simple interest. The deposit may not be commingled with the landlord’s own funds.",
      "value": {
        "floridaInstitutionRequired": true,
        "commingleProhibited": true,
        "simpleInterestRatePercent": 5,
        "seventyFivePercentElectionAvailable": true
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(1)",
      "statuteQuote": "Hold the total amount of such money in a separate interest-bearing account in a Florida financial institution for the benefit of the tenant or tenants, in which case the tenant shall receive and collect interest in an amount of at least 75 percent of the annualized average interest rate payable on such account or interest at the rate of 5 percent per year, simple interest, whichever the landlord elects.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2024-199 (Florida financial institution wording)",
      "notes": "The chosen method decides whether interest is owed: methods (b) and (c) owe interest, method (a) owes none. The tool asks which method applies rather than assuming, because guessing the method would produce wrong money."
    },
    "holdingDisclosure": {
      "summary": "A landlord who rents five or more dwelling units must, in the lease or within 30 days after receiving the deposit, give the tenant a written disclosure naming where the deposit is held, whether interest is paid, and containing the statutory notice below. Landlords renting fewer than five units are exempt.",
      "value": {
        "unitThreshold": 5,
        "daysAfterReceipt": 30,
        "changeNoticeDays": 30,
        "prescribedDisclosure": "YOUR RENTAL AGREEMENT REQUIRES PAYMENT OF CERTAIN DEPOSITS. THE LANDLORD MAY TRANSFER ADVANCE RENTS TO THE LANDLORD’S ACCOUNT AS THEY ARE DUE AND WITHOUT NOTICE. WHEN YOU MOVE OUT, YOU MUST GIVE THE LANDLORD YOUR NEW ADDRESS SO THAT THE LANDLORD CAN SEND YOU NOTICES REGARDING YOUR DEPOSIT. THE LANDLORD MUST PROVIDE YOU WRITTEN NOTICE IN PERSON, BY MAIL, OR BY E-MAIL IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 83.505, FLORIDA STATUTES, WITHIN 30 DAYS AFTER YOU MOVE OUT, OF THE LANDLORD’S INTENT TO IMPOSE A CLAIM AGAINST THE DEPOSIT. IF YOU DO NOT REPLY TO THE LANDLORD STATING YOUR OBJECTION TO THE CLAIM WITHIN 15 DAYS AFTER RECEIPT OF THE LANDLORD’S WRITTEN NOTICE, THE LANDLORD WILL COLLECT THE CLAIM AND MUST MAIL YOU THE REMAINING DEPOSIT, IF ANY.\n\nIF THE LANDLORD FAILS TO TIMELY PROVIDE YOU NOTICE, THE LANDLORD MUST RETURN THE DEPOSIT BUT MAY LATER FILE A LAWSUIT AGAINST YOU FOR DAMAGES. IF YOU FAIL TO TIMELY OBJECT TO A CLAIM, THE LANDLORD MAY COLLECT FROM THE DEPOSIT, BUT YOU MAY LATER FILE A LAWSUIT CLAIMING A REFUND.\n\nYOU SHOULD ATTEMPT TO INFORMALLY RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE BEFORE FILING A LAWSUIT. GENERALLY, THE PARTY IN WHOSE FAVOR A JUDGMENT IS RENDERED WILL BE AWARDED COSTS AND ATTORNEY FEES PAYABLE BY THE LOSING PARTY.\n\nTHIS DISCLOSURE IS BASIC. PLEASE REFER TO PART II OF CHAPTER 83, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO DETERMINE YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS."
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(2)",
      "statuteQuote": "The landlord shall, in the lease agreement or within 30 days after receipt of advance rent or a security deposit, give written notice to the tenant which includes disclosure of the advance rent or security deposit.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16",
      "notes": "If the landlord later changes where or how the deposit is held, a fresh 30-day notice is required (a depository merger, rename, or ownership change alone does not trigger it). Failure to give this disclosure is not a defense to paying rent. This is a move-in obligation; it does not affect the return clock for the many small landlords who are exempt."
    },
    "feeInLieu": {
      "summary": "Some Florida leases charge a monthly non-refundable fee instead of a security deposit under § 83.491. That fee is not a security deposit and § 83.49 does not govern it, though the landlord must still notify the tenant within 30 days after the tenancy ends of any costs or fees owed. This tool covers refundable security deposits, not fee-in-lieu arrangements.",
      "value": {
        "noticeDaysAfterTenancy": 30,
        "appliesFromISO": "2023-07-01"
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.491",
      "statuteQuote": "the landlord must notify the tenant within 30 days after the conclusion of the tenancy if there are any costs or fees due resulting from unpaid rent, fees, or other obligations under the rental agreement, including, but not limited to, costs required for repairing damage to the premises beyond normal wear and tear.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.491",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2023-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2024-199",
      "notes": "Section 83.491 applies to rental agreements entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2023. Because a fee-in-lieu is not a refundable deposit, none of the deposit-return machinery here applies to it; the tool’s intake screens these out."
    },
    "sevenDayNotice": {
      "summary": "A tenant who moves out before the lease term ends, or who ends a periodic tenancy, must give the landlord at least 7 days’ written notice by certified mail or personal delivery before vacating, including an address where the tenant can be reached. Skipping it relieves the landlord of the 30-day claim-notice duty, but the tenant still keeps any right to the deposit.",
      "value": {
        "days": 7
      },
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49(5)",
      "statuteQuote": "any tenant who vacates or abandons the premises before the expiration of the term specified in the rental agreement, or any tenant who vacates or abandons premises which are the subject of a tenancy from week to week, month to month, quarter to quarter, or year to year, must give at least 7 days’ written notice by certified mail or personal delivery to the landlord before vacating or abandoning the premises, which notice must include the address where the tenant may be reached. Failure to give such notice relieves the landlord of the notice requirement of paragraph (3)(a) but does not waive any right the tenant may have to the security deposit or any part of it.",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49",
      "derivation": "verbatim",
      "effectiveDate": "2025-07-01",
      "lastVerified": "2026-07-06",
      "confidence": "high",
      "amendedBy": "ch. 2025-16",
      "notes": "This is a central Florida trap. A tenant who skips the 7-day notice can release the landlord from the duty to send a claim notice, yet a landlord who keeps money still needs a lawful basis for it. The tool surfaces this interaction rather than hiding it."
    },
    "cities": [],
    "localLaw": {
      "preempted": true,
      "summary": "No Florida city or county can add its own security deposit rules. The Legislature preempted the whole subject to the state in 2023, so Chapter 83 is the complete answer wherever the rental is, from Miami to Pensacola.",
      "citation": "Fla. Stat. § 83.425 (Preemption)",
      "sourceUrl": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.425",
      "lastVerified": "2026-09-06"
    },
    "sources": [
      {
        "label": "Fla. Stat. § 83.49 (Deposit money or advance rent; duty of landlord and tenant), 2025",
        "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.49"
      },
      {
        "label": "Fla. Stat. § 83.505 (Electronic delivery of notices), 2025",
        "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.505"
      },
      {
        "label": "Fla. Stat. § 83.491 (Fee in lieu of security deposit), 2025",
        "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.491"
      },
      {
        "label": "Fla. Stat. § 83.43 (Definitions), 2025",
        "url": "https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/83.43"
      },
      {
        "label": "Ch. 2025-16, Laws of Florida: the July 1, 2025 electronic-notice act (created § 83.505; amended § 83.49 delivery and form wording)"
      }
    ]
  }
}