Florida tenant screening & landlord laws

Florida does not statutorily cap application or screening fees, and there is no state indexing mechanism, based on a review of Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes. Fees are typically nonrefundable and Florida law does not generally require landlords to refund them, according to secondary guidance corroborating this reading. Landlords should still be able to show the fee reasonably relates to the actual cost of screening, since charging significantly more than that cost could raise separate consumer-protection concerns.

Florida's Fair Housing Act (Fla. Stat. § 760.23) prohibits housing discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, disability, familial status, and religion — it does not list criminal history as a protected category or impose a lookback limit on criminal records used in tenant screening. Separately, Fla. Stat. § 83.515 requires background screening of apartment-complex employees (not rental applicants) at certain licensed public lodging establishments; that's a distinct requirement and shouldn't be confused with tenant-applicant screening. At the federal level, the underlying Fair Housing Act statute and case law such as Texas Dept. of Housing & Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project (2015) remain in place.

Source of income, including Section 8 or other housing vouchers, is not a protected class under Florida's statewide Fair Housing Act (Fla. Stat. § 760.23). This is a thinner protection than some other states offer. Florida cities or counties may separately add source-of-income protection; verify current local code before finalizing a screening policy (see "Rules that vary by city" below).

Federal FCRA §615 sets the baseline adverse action process — pre-adverse notice generally isn't separately required under FCRA itself, but if you deny, downgrade, or condition an applicant based on a consumer report, you generally must provide an adverse action notice identifying the reporting agency, the applicant's dispute rights, and their right to a free copy of the report. No Florida-specific statute was found that adds to this federal baseline.

Florida does not cap the dollar amount of a security deposit. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.49, a landlord must generally hold deposit money in one of three ways: (1) a non-interest-bearing account, (2) an interest-bearing account (paying the tenant at least 75% of the annualized average interest or 5% simple interest per year, landlord's choice), or (3) a surety bond (capped at $50,000 or the deposit total, whichever is less, per county — or up to $250,000 for multi-county landlords). Landlords must generally disclose in the lease or within 30 days how the deposit is held (landlords renting fewer than five units are exempt from this notice requirement). At move-out, if the landlord does not intend to make a claim, the deposit is generally due back within 15 days; if the landlord intends to claim against it, they generally have 30 days to send written notice of the claim, and the tenant then has 15 days to object before the landlord may deduct the disputed amount. These notice mechanics were updated by 2024 and 2025 Florida legislative sessions (chapters 2024-199 and 2025-16), including adding an email-delivery option for required notices.

Florida does not have rent control, and state law affirmatively blocks it: Fla. Stat. § 125.0103(2) provides that no county, municipality, or other local government entity may adopt or maintain any measure that controls rents on privately owned residential property (local governments may still use land-use tools like inclusionary housing ordinances to encourage affordable housing). For eviction, Florida uses fairly short statutory notice periods: a 3-business-day notice to pay rent or vacate for nonpayment (Fla. Stat. § 83.56(3)), and either a 7-day unconditional notice to vacate for non-curable lease violations or a 7-day notice to cure for curable violations (Fla. Stat. § 83.56(2)), depending on the type of violation.

Florida is a home-rule state, and it's generally worth checking major metro ordinances directly before finalizing a screening or leasing policy. Confirm any current source-of-income and fair-chance housing ordinances in Miami-Dade County, Orlando, Tampa, and Jacksonville against current county/city code before finalizing a jurisdiction-specific policy. Florida counties do have unincorporated areas governed directly by county ordinance (similar in structure to how California organizes non-city land, rather than a township model), so a property just outside a city's limits would generally fall under county rules rather than city rules.

Does Florida cap security deposits?

No. Florida does not cap the dollar amount of a security deposit, but Fla. Stat. § 83.49 does set rules for how the deposit must be held, disclosed, and returned.

Is source of income a protected class in Florida?

Not under Florida's statewide Fair Housing Act (Fla. Stat. § 760.23). Some Florida counties or cities may have their own human-rights ordinances that add protections; confirming current local ordinance text before finalizing a policy is recommended.

Does Florida limit rental application or screening fees?

No statewide cap was found in Florida Statutes Chapter 83; fees are typically nonrefundable and should generally reflect the actual cost of screening.

How much notice does a Florida landlord have to give before eviction?

It depends on the reason: generally a 3-business-day notice to pay or vacate for nonpayment of rent, or a 7-day notice (to cure or to vacate, depending on the violation) for other lease violations, under Fla. Stat. § 83.56.

Checkr helps landlords and property managers run consistent, FCRA-compliant tenant screening across Florida properties, including criminal background, eviction, and credit checks built around adverse-action workflows. Get started with Checkr to set up a screening process for your Florida rentals.

The resources and information provided here are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Always consult your own counsel for up-to-date legal advice and guidance related to your practices, needs, and compliance with applicable laws.