When a tenant sends a written notice about repairs, several sections of Florida’s residential landlord-tenant statute bear on the landlord’s side of the situation. This article quotes the current text of those sections, taken from the 2026 Florida Statutes where available, along with The Florida Bar’s Supreme Court-approved landlord forms, and the numbered notes at the end link to each original.
This article is a companion to Florida Landlord Won’t Make Repairs: Tenant Notices to Terminate or Withhold Rent, which covers the same topic from the tenant’s side. Landlord notices are covered in The Florida 3-Day Notice and The Florida 7-Day Notice, and the filing process in DIY Landlord Evictions in Florida.
The information that follows is taken directly from Florida statutes and Florida Bar publications. It is provided for educational purposes only and does not represent legal advice or the legal opinions of the author.
The landlord’s obligations and their limits in section 83.51
Section 83.51(1) provides that “The landlord at all times during the tenancy shall” either “Comply with the requirements of applicable building, housing, and health codes” or, “Where there are no applicable building, housing, or health codes, maintain the roofs, windows, doors, floors, steps, porches, exterior walls, foundations, and all other structural components in good repair and capable of resisting normal forces and loads and the plumbing in reasonable working condition.”¹ Section 83.51(2)(a) adds duties for dwelling units “other than a single-family home or duplex,” covering extermination, “Locks and keys,” common areas, garbage removal, and “Functioning facilities for heat during winter, running water, and hot water.”¹
The same section contains several limits that apply to the landlord’s side:¹
- “The landlord is not required to maintain a mobile home or other structure owned by the tenant. The landlord’s obligations under this subsection may be altered or modified in writing with respect to a single-family home or duplex.”
- The duties in subsection (2)(a) apply “Unless otherwise agreed in writing.”
- “Nothing in this part authorizes the tenant to raise a noncompliance by the landlord with this subsection as a defense to an action for possession under s. 83.59.”
- “Nothing contained in this subsection prohibits the landlord from providing in the rental agreement that the tenant is obligated to pay costs or charges for garbage removal, water, fuel, or utilities.”
- “The landlord is not responsible to the tenant under this section for conditions created or caused by the negligent or wrongful act or omission of the tenant, a member of the tenant’s family, or other person on the premises with the tenant’s consent.”¹
For extermination that requires the tenant to leave, section 83.51(2)(a)1. provides that “The landlord must provide 7 days’ written notice, in person, by mail, or by e-mail in accordance with s. 83.505, to the tenant if the tenant must temporarily vacate the premises for extermination,” that “the landlord is not liable for damages but must abate the rent,” and that “A tenant is only required to vacate the premises for a period of time not to exceed 4 days.”¹
The tenant’s obligations in section 83.52
Section 83.52, which has not been amended since 1995, provides that “The tenant at all times during the tenancy shall”:²
- “Comply with all obligations imposed upon tenants by applicable provisions of building, housing, and health codes.”
- “Keep that part of the premises which he or she occupies and uses clean and sanitary.”
- “Remove from the tenant’s dwelling unit all garbage in a clean and sanitary manner.”
- “Keep all plumbing fixtures in the dwelling unit or used by the tenant clean and sanitary and in repair.”
- “Use and operate in a reasonable manner all electrical, plumbing, sanitary, heating, ventilating, air-conditioning and other facilities and appliances, including elevators.”
- “Not destroy, deface, damage, impair, or remove any part of the premises or property therein belonging to the landlord nor permit any person to do so.”
- “Conduct himself or herself, and require other persons on the premises with his or her consent to conduct themselves, in a manner that does not unreasonably disturb the tenant’s neighbors or constitute a breach of the peace.”²
Section 83.56(2) provides the landlord’s notice for a tenant’s material failure “to comply with s. 83.52 or material provisions of the rental agreement, other than a failure to pay rent,” which is the 7-day notice described in The Florida 7-Day Notice.³
Access to make repairs in section 83.53
Section 83.53(1) provides that “The tenant shall not unreasonably withhold consent to the landlord to enter the dwelling unit from time to time in order to inspect the premises; make necessary or agreed repairs, decorations, alterations, or improvements; supply agreed services; or exhibit the dwelling unit to prospective or actual purchasers, mortgagees, tenants, workers, or contractors.”⁴
Section 83.53(2) sets the notice rule for repairs. Under the current statute, “‘Reasonable notice’ for the purpose of repair is notice given at least 24 hours prior to the entry, and reasonable time for the purpose of repair shall be between the hours of 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.” The 24-hour period dates from a 2022 amendment, and many online sources still cite the earlier 12-hour period.⁴ The same subsection provides that “The landlord may enter the dwelling unit at any time for the protection or preservation of the premises,” and that the landlord may enter for the purposes in subsection (1) “under any of the following circumstances”:⁴
- “With the consent of the tenant;”
- “In case of emergency;”
- “When the tenant unreasonably withholds consent; or”
- “If the tenant is absent from the premises for a period of time equal to one-half the time for periodic rental payments. If the rent is current and the tenant notifies the landlord of an intended absence, then the landlord may enter only with the consent of the tenant or for the protection or preservation of the premises.”⁴
Section 83.53(3) adds that “The landlord shall not abuse the right of access nor use it to harass the tenant.”⁴
Retaliatory conduct in section 83.64
Section 83.64(1) provides that “It is unlawful for a landlord to discriminatorily increase a tenant’s rent or decrease services to a tenant, or to bring or threaten to bring an action for possession or other civil action, primarily because the landlord is retaliating against the tenant.” It adds that “In order for the tenant to raise the defense of retaliatory conduct, the tenant must have acted in good faith.”⁵ The statute’s examples of conduct a landlord may not retaliate against “include, but are not limited to, situations where”:⁵
- “The tenant has complained to a governmental agency charged with responsibility for enforcement of a building, housing, or health code of a suspected violation applicable to the premises;”
- “The tenant has organized, encouraged, or participated in a tenant organization;”
- “The tenant has complained to the landlord pursuant to s. 83.56(1);”
- “The tenant is a servicemember who has terminated a rental agreement pursuant to s. 83.682;”
- “The tenant has paid rent to a condominium, cooperative, or homeowners’ association after demand from the association in order to pay the landlord’s obligation to the association; or”
- “The tenant has exercised his or her rights under local, state, or federal fair housing laws.”⁵
A complaint “pursuant to s. 83.56(1)” is the tenant’s 7-day notice about repairs, the subject of the companion article. Section 83.64(2) provides that “Evidence of retaliatory conduct may be raised by the tenant as a defense in any action brought against him or her for possession.” Section 83.64(3) states that “this section does not apply if the landlord proves that the eviction is for good cause,” and that “Examples of good cause include, but are not limited to, good faith actions for nonpayment of rent, violation of the rental agreement or of reasonable rules, or violation of the terms of this chapter.” Section 83.64(4) defines “Discrimination” as a tenant “being treated differently as to the rent charged, the services rendered, or the action being taken by the landlord, which shall be a prerequisite to a finding of retaliatory conduct.”⁵
Rent withholding and the court registry
Section 83.60 governs defenses in a landlord’s action for possession. Section 83.60(2) provides that “if the tenant interposes any defense other than payment, including, but not limited to, the defense of a defective 3-day notice, the tenant shall pay into the registry of the court the accrued rent as alleged in the complaint or as determined by the court and the rent that accrues during the pendency of the proceeding, when due.”⁶ It continues:
Failure of the tenant to pay the rent into the registry of the court or to file a motion to determine the amount of rent to be paid into the registry within 5 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after the date of service of process constitutes an absolute waiver of the tenant’s defenses other than payment, and the landlord is entitled to an immediate default judgment for removal of the tenant with a writ of possession to issue without further notice or hearing thereon.⁶
Section 83.56(5)(b) adds that “Any tenant who wishes to defend against an action by the landlord for possession of the unit for noncompliance of the rental agreement or of relevant statutes must comply with s. 83.60(2),” and that “The court may not set a date for mediation or trial unless the provisions of s. 83.60(2) have been met.”³ Section 83.56(5)(a) also provides that a landlord who “accepts rent with actual knowledge of a noncompliance by the tenant” waives “his or her right to terminate the rental agreement or to bring a civil action for that noncompliance, but not for any subsequent or continuing noncompliance.”³
Approved forms for landlords
The Florida Bar’s list of landlord-tenant forms “approved by the Florida Supreme Court” does not include a landlord form for responding to a tenant’s repair notice.⁷ The approved forms that relate to the provisions above are “Form 2: Notice From Landlord To Tenant Notice Of Noncompliance For Matters Other Than Failure To Pay Rent,” which corresponds to the notice in section 83.56(2), and the eviction forms, including “Form 5: Complaint For Landlord To Evict Tenants,” “Form 5a: Complaint For Landlord To Evict Tenants For Failure To Pay Rent And To Recover Past Due Rent,” and “Form 6: Complaint For Landlord To Evict Tenants For Failure To Comply With Rental Agreement (Other Than Failure To Pay Rent).”⁷ The Bar notes that “because the law is continually changing, there is no guarantee that these forms comport with current law.”⁷ The statute does not prescribe a form for the 24-hour repair access notice in section 83.53 or the 7-day extermination notice in section 83.51(2)(a)1.¹ ⁴
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 2, the eviction forms, 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.⁸ Form America cannot tell you whether a repair is your responsibility, how to respond to a tenant’s notice, whether an action could be viewed as retaliatory, or which form fits your situation. 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, 2026 Florida Statutes, Section 83.51, Landlord’s obligation to maintain premises
- The Florida Senate, Florida Statutes, Section 83.52, Tenant’s obligation to maintain dwelling unit
- The Florida Senate, 2025 Florida Statutes, Section 83.56, Termination of rental agreement
- The Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes, Section 83.53, Landlord’s access to dwelling unit
- The Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes, Section 83.64, Retaliatory conduct
- The Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes, Section 83.60, Defenses to action for rent or possession; procedure
- The Florida Bar, Landlord Tenant Forms
- The Florida Bar, Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, Chapter 10 (June 30, 2026)
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