Florida’s rules for residential security deposits are set out in section 83.49 of the Florida Statutes, which governs how a landlord holds a deposit, what the landlord must tell the tenant, and what happens when the tenancy ends. This article quotes the statute directly, along with The Florida Bar’s approved landlord-tenant forms and county clerk materials, and the numbered notes at the end link to each original.
The information that follows is taken directly from Florida statutes, county clerk materials, and Florida Bar publications. It is provided for educational purposes only and does not represent legal advice or the legal opinions of the author.
Holding the deposit
Section 83.49(1) applies “Whenever money is deposited or advanced by a tenant on a rental agreement as security for performance of the rental agreement or as advance rent for other than the next immediate rental period.” In that case, the statute provides that “the landlord or the landlord’s agent shall either” take one of three steps.¹
The first option is to “Hold the total amount of such money in a separate non-interest-bearing account in a Florida financial institution for the benefit of the tenant or tenants.” The second is to hold it “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.” For both account options, the statute states that “The landlord shall not commingle such moneys with any other funds of the landlord or hypothecate, pledge, or in any other way make use of such moneys until such moneys are actually due the landlord.”¹
The third option is to “Post a surety bond” with “the clerk of the circuit court in the county in which the dwelling unit is located in the total amount of the security deposits and advance rent he or she holds on behalf of the tenants or $50,000, whichever is less.” A landlord using the bond option “shall pay to the tenant interest at the rate of 5 percent per year, simple interest.” The statute also allows a landlord “engaged in the renting of dwelling units in five or more counties” to post a single bond with the Secretary of State “in the total amount of the security deposit or advance rent held on behalf of tenants or in the amount of $250,000, whichever is less.”¹
Where interest is owed, section 83.49(9) provides that “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,” but that “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.”¹
The written notice at move-in
Section 83.49(2) provides that “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.” If the landlord later “changes the manner or location in which he or she is holding the advance rent or security deposit, he or she must notify the tenant within 30 days after the change.” The statute adds that “The landlord is not required to give new or additional notice solely because the depository has merged with another financial institution, changed its name, or transferred ownership to a different financial institution.”¹
This notice requirement “does not apply to any landlord who rents fewer than five individual dwelling units,” and “Failure to give this notice is not a defense to the payment of rent when due.” For landlords it does cover, the notice must “Be given in person or delivered by mail or e-mail in accordance with s. 83.505 to the tenant,” must “State the name and address of the depository where the advance rent or security deposit is being held or state that the landlord has posted a surety bond as provided by law,” must “State whether the tenant is entitled to interest on the deposit,” and must contain a statutory disclosure printed in capital letters.¹ That disclosure begins:
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.¹
The full disclosure continues with the 30-day notice period, the tenant’s 15-day objection window, and the statement that “GENERALLY, THE PARTY IN WHOSE FAVOR A JUDGMENT IS RENDERED WILL BE AWARDED COSTS AND ATTORNEY FEES PAYABLE BY THE LOSING PARTY.” The complete text appears in section 83.49(2)(d), linked in the notes.¹
At move-out: returning the deposit or giving notice of a claim
Section 83.49(3) begins by noting that “The landlord or the landlord’s agent may disburse advance rents from the deposit account to the landlord’s benefit when the advance rental period commences and without notice to the tenant.” For all other deposits, paragraph (3)(a) sets two paths. 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.” If the landlord intends to impose a claim, “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.”¹
The statute requires that the notice “contain a statement in substantially the following form”:
This is a notice of my intention to impose a claim for damages in the amount of ____ upon your security deposit, due to ____. 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).¹
On timing, the statute states that “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.”¹
Under paragraph (3)(b), “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.” Paragraph (3)(c) provides that “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.”¹
Other provisions landlords encounter
The tenant’s notice of departure. Section 83.49(5) provides that, “Except when otherwise provided by the terms of a written rental agreement,” a tenant who vacates or abandons the premises “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.” The statute states that a tenant’s “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.”¹
Renewals. Under section 83.49(6), “a renewal of an existing rental agreement shall be considered a new rental agreement, and any security deposit carried forward shall be considered a new security deposit.”¹
Sale of the property or a new agent. Section 83.49(7) provides that “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.” It adds that “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.”¹
Rentals the section does not cover. Section 83.49(4) states that the section “does not apply to transient rentals by hotels or motels as defined in chapter 509 or in those instances in which the amount of rent or deposit, or both, is regulated by law or by rules or regulations of a public body, including public housing authorities and federally administered or regulated housing programs.”¹
Fee in lieu of a deposit. Section 83.491 provides that “If a rental agreement requires a security deposit, a landlord may offer a tenant the option to pay a fee in lieu of a security deposit.” The statute states that such a fee “is not a security deposit as defined in s. 83.43(13)” and that “A landlord has exclusive discretion as to whether to offer tenants the option to pay a fee in lieu of a security deposit and is not required to offer such fee option to tenants.” The required written agreement includes a capitalized notice stating that “THE TENANT MAY TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME AND STOP PAYING THE FEE AND INSTEAD PAY THE SECURITY DEPOSIT AS PROVIDED IN SECTION 83.491, FLORIDA STATUTES.”²
The approved form for a landlord’s claim
The Florida Bar publishes a set of landlord-tenant forms that, in the Bar’s words, “have been approved by the Florida Supreme Court.” The set includes “Form 12: Notice Of Intention To Impose Claim On Security Deposit,” which corresponds to the notice described in section 83.49(3)(a).³ The same set includes two residential lease forms, one for an apartment or unit in multifamily rental housing and one for a single-family home or duplex, along with “Form 80: Affidavit Of Damages” and “Form 9: Final Judgment — Damages” for landlords seeking damages in an eviction case.³
The Bar attaches a caution to the entire set: “because the law is continually changing, there is no guarantee that these forms comport with current law. These forms are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.”³ The Form 12 file on the Bar’s site was posted in 2018, and section 83.49 has been amended since then. The current statute allows the notice to be delivered “by e-mail in accordance with s. 83.505,” and its prescribed notice language appears in the move-out section above.¹
Need help completing the forms?
Form America LLC, the publisher of this site, offers flat-rate form completion and filing instructions for landlord-tenant forms in all 67 Florida counties. To request help with Form 12 or the other approved landlord-tenant forms, use the contact form at LandlordTenantForms.com. Because these forms are approved by the Supreme Court of Florida, Rule 10-2.2 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar allows a nonlawyer to ask you the factual questions needed to fill in the blanks and to tell you how to deliver or file the form.⁴ Form America cannot tell you whether to impose a claim, what amount to claim, or what the reason should be. Those decisions are yours, and you and the preparer sign the disclosure that rule requires before any work begins. For questions about your rights or obligations as a landlord, The Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service can be reached at 800-342-8011.
Notes
- The Florida Senate, 2025 Florida Statutes, Section 83.49, Deposit money or advance rent; duty of landlord and tenant
- The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes, Section 83.491, Fee in lieu of security deposit
- The Florida Bar, Landlord Tenant Forms, including Form 12: Notice of Intention to Impose Claim on Security Deposit
- The Florida Bar, Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, Chapter 10 (June 30, 2026)
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