Florida Security Deposit Law Changes in 2025 (HB 615)

The one-sentence answer

Chapter 2025-16 created § 83.505, a voluntary e-mail delivery scheme both parties must opt into by a signed addendum, and amended seven enumerated pieces of § 83.49, its delivery language, the required deposit disclosure, and the model claim-notice form, to match. In the act’s own words, it is “An act relating to electronic delivery of notices between landlords and tenants”, and its amendments beyond that are “conforming provisions” and “technical changes”. The 15-day return deadline and the 30-day claim-notice deadline were not touched.

What HB 615 actually changed in § 83.49

The act amended exactly seven pieces of the deposit statute: subsections (2)(a) and (2)(d), paragraph (3)(a), and subsections (4), (5), (8) and (9). In substance that comes to three things a landlord will notice. First, the deposit-holding disclosure may now be given “in person or delivered by mail or e-mail in accordance with s. 83.505”. Second, the claim notice gained the e-mail alternative; the current text reads:

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: Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a) (extract)

Until July 1, 2025, that sentence required “written notice by certified mail to the tenant’s last known mailing address” with no alternative. Certified mail remains fully compliant; the e-mail route is an addition, and it works only through the § 83.505 addendum described below. Third, the statutory disclosure text and the model claim-notice form were reworded to match the new delivery options. Everything else in the amendments is drafting style: “shall” became “must”, “lease” became “rental agreement”.

The e-mail option is opt-in, and it has paperwork

§ 83.505 is not “e-mail is now allowed”. The election requires a rental agreement addendum in which both parties specifically agree to electronic delivery, each provides an e-mail address, and the addendum conspicuously states that the election is voluntary and may be revoked at any time. With that in place, timing works in the sender’s favor:

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. Fla. Stat. § 83.505

Deemed-delivered-when-sent matters for the 30-day clock: a claim notice e-mailed on day 30 is timely, provided it does not bounce and the addendum was actually signed. The sender must keep a copy of the notice and evidence of transmission. One boundary is easy to miss: the tenant’s own 7-day pre-move-out notice under § 83.49(5) still requires certified mail or personal delivery. The act did not add e-mail there.

The one-word form change that dates older templates

The model claim-notice form in § 83.49(3)(a) changed one operative word: the tenant’s objection window is now stated as “within 15 days after the time you receive this notice” where it previously read “within 15 days from the time you receive this notice”. The statute only requires a notice in “substantially the following form”, but a template carrying the old wording is a quiet sign it predates July 2025, and with it, every other assumption in the template. The claim-notice generator uses the current form.

What did not change

The deadlines. A landlord making no claim on the deposit must return it within 15 days after the rental agreement ends. A landlord imposing a claim must send the written notice within 30 days, and a landlord who misses that 30-day window forfeits the right to impose the claim, though a separate damages suit survives after the deposit is returned. Those rules, their trigger, and the tenant’s 15-day objection window are long-standing law tracing to the statute’s 1969 origins, and the 2024 and 2025 compilations state them in the same numbers. Also unchanged: the three lawful ways to hold a deposit, the interest rules, the two-way attorney-fee rule, and the absence of any cap on how much deposit a Florida landlord may require.

The 2023 law that keeps getting called 2025

The fee-in-lieu-of-deposit program, § 83.491, lets a landlord offer tenants a monthly, non-refundable fee instead of a deposit. It was created by Chapter 2023-181 and took effect July 1, 2023, applying to agreements entered into or renewed on or after that date; a 2024 amendment added an installment option inside the fee program. It is routinely presented as part of a 2025 reform. It is not, and dating it wrongly matters: a landlord relying on “new 2025 rules” may miss that the program, and its obligations, have applied to renewals since mid-2023.

Commonly reported vs. what the law says

Each row states a claim class we verified against the enacted act and the 2024-vs-2025 statute compilations, not a paraphrase of any one site. If a guide you are reading makes one of the left-column claims, check its other dates too.

Where each piece is covered in depth

• The 30-day notice itself, its required form, and both lawful delivery channels: the Notice of Intention to Impose a Claim.
• What the return letter and claim notice must contain, with the statute’s own drafting: Florida return letter requirements.
• What you may lawfully deduct in the first place: normal wear and tear vs. damage in Florida.

Work out your Florida deposit return

The free Florida deposit tool computes your actual deadline from your dates, walks the 15-day and 30-day paths, and generates the claim notice and return letter with the current statutory form, all in your browser with nothing stored.

Florida 2025 deposit law changes: common questions

What did Florida’s 2025 security deposit law (HB 615) actually change?

How notices may be delivered, not when deposits are due. Chapter 2025-16, effective July 1, 2025, created § 83.505, a voluntary e-mail delivery option that both parties must opt into by a signed addendum, and amended § 83.49’s delivery language, the required deposit disclosure, and the model claim-notice form to match. The 15-day return deadline and the 30-day claim-notice deadline were not changed. (Ch. 2025-16, Laws of Fla.; Fla. Stat. §§ 83.49, 83.505)

Did Florida change the 15-day or 30-day deposit deadlines in 2025?

No. A landlord making no claim must still return the deposit within 15 days after the rental agreement ends, and a landlord imposing a claim must still send the written notice within 30 days. Those periods long predate 2025 and survived Chapter 2025-16 with the same numbers and the same trigger. Guides that present the deadlines as new 2025 rules are rebranding decades-old law. (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a))

Can a Florida landlord e-mail the claim notice instead of certified mail?

Only if the landlord and tenant signed a § 83.505 electronic-delivery addendum in which both specifically agreed to e-mail notices and provided addresses. With the addendum, an e-mailed notice is deemed delivered when sent unless it bounces, and the sender must keep a copy and proof of transmission. Without it, certified mail to the tenant’s last known mailing address remains the required channel, and certified mail always remains valid either way. (Fla. Stat. §§ 83.49(3)(a), 83.505)

Did Florida cap security deposits at one month’s rent in 2025?

No. Florida has no statutory limit on the deposit amount. A 2025 bill that would have capped pre-occupancy deposits, SB 1562, died in the Senate Judiciary Committee in June 2025 and never became law. Sites stating a 2025 one-month cap are reporting a failed bill as enacted law. (Fla. Stat. § 83.49; SB 1562 (2025), died in committee)

Is Florida’s fee-in-lieu-of-deposit option a 2025 law?

No. § 83.491, which lets a landlord offer tenants a monthly non-refundable fee instead of a deposit, was created by Chapter 2023-181 and took effect July 1, 2023, applying to agreements entered or renewed on or after that date. A 2024 amendment added an installment option inside that fee program. Nothing about it is 2025 law. (Fla. Stat. § 83.491)

Can the tenant’s 7-day move-out notice be e-mailed now too?

No. The tenant’s pre-move-out notice under § 83.49(5), which preserves the landlord’s duty to send a claim notice, must still be given by certified mail or personal delivery. Chapter 2025-16 did not add an e-mail option there, so the e-mail rule cannot be assumed to cover every notice in the deposit process. (Fla. Stat. § 83.49(5))

Sources

• Chapter 2025-16, Laws of Florida (CS/CS/CS/HB 615), effective July 1, 2025
• Fla. Stat. § 83.49 (2025), the deposit statute as amended
• Fla. Stat. § 83.505 (2025), electronic delivery of notices
• Fla. Stat. § 83.491 (2025), fee in lieu of security deposit (history: ch. 2023-181)
• SB 1562 (2025), the deposit-cap bill that died in committee
• The Florida security deposit tool and full cited rules