Under Florida’s residential landlord-tenant statute, a landlord may terminate a rental agreement for unpaid rent after delivering a written demand that the statute calls the “3-day notice.” This article quotes the statute that governs it, section 83.56(3) of the Florida Statutes, along with The Florida Bar’s Supreme Court-approved notice form and county clerk materials, and the numbered notes at the end link to each original.
This article is one of a series on Florida residential evictions. Florida’s county clerks publish separate unlawful detainer forms for situations where the person in the home never agreed to pay rent, a topic covered in Eviction vs. Unlawful Detainer in Florida. The full filing process for landlords appears in DIY Landlord Evictions in Florida, and the tenant’s side of the same case is covered in Responding to an Eviction in Florida: What the County Packets Say.
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.
What section 83.56(3) says
Section 83.56(3) provides that “If the tenant fails to pay rent when due and the default continues for 3 days, excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays, after delivery of written demand by the landlord for payment of the rent or possession of the premises, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement.” It specifies that “Legal holidays for the purpose of this section shall be court-observed holidays only.”¹
The statute states that “The 3-day notice shall contain a statement in substantially the following form”:
You are hereby notified that you are indebted to me in the sum of ____ dollars for the rent and use of the premises (address of leased premises, including county), Florida, now occupied by you and that I demand payment of the rent or possession of the premises within 3 days (excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays) from the date of delivery of this notice, to wit: on or before the ____ day of ____, (year).
(landlord’s name, address and phone number)¹
Section 83.56(4) adds that “The notice requirements of subsections (1)-(3) may not be waived in the rental agreement.”¹
Delivery and partial rent
Section 83.56(4) lists the ways the notice may be delivered: “by mailing, delivering a true copy thereof, e-mailing in accordance with s. 83.505, or, if the tenant is absent from the premises, by leaving a copy thereof at the residence.”¹
Section 83.56(5)(a) addresses rent accepted after a notice. It provides that “a landlord does not waive the right to terminate the rental agreement or to bring a civil action for that noncompliance by accepting partial rent for the period,” and that “If partial rent is accepted after posting the notice for nonpayment, the landlord must” do one of three things:¹
- “Provide the tenant with a receipt stating the date and amount received and the agreed upon date and balance of rent due before filing an action for possession;”
- “Place the amount of partial rent accepted from the tenant in the registry of the court upon filing the action for possession; or”
- “Post a new 3-day notice reflecting the new amount due.”¹
The same subsection states more generally that if a landlord “accepts rent with actual knowledge of a noncompliance by the tenant,” the landlord “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.” Paragraph (5)(c) provides that this subsection “does not apply to that portion of rent subsidies received from a local, state, or national government or an agency of local, state, or national government; however, waiver will occur if an action has not been instituted within 45 days after the landlord obtains actual knowledge of the noncompliance.”¹
The approved form: Form 1
The Florida Bar’s list of landlord-tenant forms “approved by the Florida Supreme Court” includes “Form 1: Notice From Landlord To Tenant – Termination For Failure To Pay Rent.”² Several county clerks reprint it in their landlord-tenant packets. In the Washington County Clerk of Court’s packet, the form carries the notation “Approved for use under rule 10-2.1(a) of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar” and is preceded by these instructions:³
This notice may be delivered by mail or by delivering a copy to the dwelling unit, or, if the Tenant is absent from the dwelling unit, by leaving a copy thereof at the dwelling unit.
If the Tenant fails to pay rent when due and the default continues for three (3) days (excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays) after delivery of written demand by the Landlord for payment of the rent or possession of the premises, the Landlord may terminate the rental agreement. This written demand is a prerequisite to an action to evict the Tenant or recover past due rent. Your written rental agreement may have allowed for a longer period than three days and should be reviewed.³
The form’s blanks call for the tenant’s name and address, the date, the sum owed “[insert amount owed by Tenant],” and the address of the premises “[insert address of premises, including county].” The deadline is stated as “on or before” a date, with the instruction “[insert the date which is three days from the delivery of this notice, excluding the date of delivery, Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays].” The signature block asks for the name of the landlord or property manager and an “Address [street address where Tenant can deliver rent],” and the form ends with spaces for “Hand Delivered On” and “Posted On.”³
The instructions in that packet cite “Section 83.56(3) and (4), Florida Statutes (2007),” and describe delivery by mail or in person. The current statute, quoted above, also permits delivery by e-mail under section 83.505.¹ The Bar notes that “because the law is continually changing, there is no guarantee that these forms comport with current law.”²
What county clerks say about the notice
The Hillsborough County Clerk of Court & Comptroller’s residential eviction page states that before filing for nonpayment, “The written notice must state that the tenant has three (3) business days to pay rent or vacate the premises listed,” and that “The three (3) business days exclude Saturday, Sunday, and observed legal holidays.”⁴ The Duval County Clerk of Courts states that “The landlord must provide a (3)three-day notice of eviction, informing the tenant(s) that he or she must pay the rent due or move out of the premises.”⁵
The Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller’s FAQ on landlord-tenant evictions says that when a landlord files, the landlord should “Include a copy of the notice you provided the tenant.”⁶ The Washington County packet notes that “Information or forms provided by the Clerk of Court should be considered as basic information only and may not be applicable to every situation,” and that “DEPUTY CLERK’S CANNOT GIVE LEGAL ADVICE.”³
After the notice period
Section 83.56(3) provides that if the default “continues for 3 days, excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays, after delivery of written demand,” then “the landlord may terminate the rental agreement.”¹ The approved eviction complaint for unpaid rent, Form 5, includes an allegation that the landlord “served Defendant with a notice on” a stated date “to pay the rent or deliver possession but Defendant refuses to do either,” and states that “A copy of the notice is attached as Exhibit ‘B.’”³ Section 83.56(6) adds that “If the rental agreement is terminated, the landlord shall comply with s. 83.49(3),” the security deposit provision.¹
The filing steps that follow, from the complaint through the writ of possession, are covered in DIY Landlord Evictions in Florida. The tenant’s deadline to respond and the forms a tenant may file are covered in Responding to an Eviction in Florida: What the County Packets Say.
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 1 or the other approved landlord-tenant forms, use the contact form at LandlordTenantForms.com. Because Form 1 is 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.⁷ Form America cannot tell you what amount to demand, whether to serve a notice, or whether your situation calls for a different notice. 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 83.56, Termination of rental agreement
- The Florida Bar, Landlord Tenant Forms
- Washington County Clerk of Court, Landlord/Tenant Packet (2021)
- Hillsborough County Clerk of Court & Comptroller, Residential Property Eviction
- Duval County Clerk of Courts, County Civil
- Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller, Frequently Asked Questions: Civil – Landlord/tenant evictions
- The Florida Bar, Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, Chapter 10 (June 30, 2026)
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