Jacksonville tenant screening & landlord laws

Historically, Florida cities had some room to add their own landlord-tenant rules on top of Chapter 83. That generally changed on July 1, 2023, when Florida adopted a new preemption statute, Florida Statutes § 83.425, which states that "the regulation of residential tenancies, the landlord-tenant relationship, and all other matters covered under this part are preempted to the state." The statute specifically calls out the tenant screening process, security deposits, rental application fees, lease terms and conditions, landlord/tenant rights and responsibilities, required disclosures, landlord fees, and notice requirements as preempted topics.

In practice, this generally means Jacksonville does not — and, under current law, likely cannot — maintain its own separate ordinance regulating how landlords screen tenants, how much they can charge for an application, or how security deposits must be handled beyond what Chapter 83 already requires. Jacksonville landlords should generally expect Florida's statewide rules (summarized above and covered in more depth on a dedicated Florida state page) to control most of the screening and leasing process.

Separate from landlord-tenant regulation, Jacksonville does maintain its own civil-rights enforcement body: the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission (JHRC), which investigates housing discrimination complaints under authority of Chapter 60 of the Jacksonville Municipal Code, Title XI Chapter 408, and Title VIII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1968 (the Fair Housing Act). According to the JHRC's own page, a person may file a housing discrimination complaint based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, or age. This list is broader than Florida's state Fair Housing Act in a few respects (it explicitly adds sexual orientation, gender identity, and marital status), but it does not include source of income or a criminal-history-specific restriction — so a landlord's decision to decline an applicant based on a criminal record or a voucher-based income source generally would not, on its own, fall under a JHRC housing complaint the way it might in a city with a dedicated source-of-income ordinance.

Jacksonville may have a city-specific tenant-screening or fair-chance ordinance separate from the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission's (JHRC) civil-rights jurisdiction. Landlords should confirm any current local requirements, keeping in mind that Florida's 2023 preemption statute may affect such ordinances.

Jacksonville generally does not have — and, under state law, likely cannot adopt — its own rent control ordinance. Florida Statutes § 166.043(2) states that "a municipality, county, or other entity of local government may not adopt or maintain in effect any law, ordinance, rule, or other measure that would have the effect of imposing controls on rents," with a narrow carve-out for voluntary affordable-housing programs that use land-use tools like inclusionary zoning. A parallel provision, Florida Statutes § 125.0103(2), applies the same rule at the county level.

Florida also does not generally impose a statewide just-cause eviction requirement. For tenancies without a specific term, Florida Statutes § 83.57 generally requires at least 7 days' notice to end a week-to-week tenancy, 30 days for month-to-month or quarter-to-quarter tenancies, and 60 days for year-to-year tenancies. For leases with a specific duration, Florida Statutes § 83.575 generally allows a lease to require 30–60 days' notice before the lease ends if the landlord doesn't plan to renew. Because landlord-tenant laws can change, you may want to confirm the current statutory language at the Florida Legislature Official Statutes (leg.state.fl.us).

Jacksonville is somewhat unusual in that the city and Duval County generally operate as a consolidated government (a structure in place since 1968), so there typically isn't a separate "county layer" of landlord-tenant regulation the way there might be in a state with independent city and county governments. The JHRC's own materials describe its jurisdiction as covering housing located in "Jacksonville/Duval County," consistent with this consolidated structure. We understand a handful of smaller municipalities within Duval County's boundaries (commonly cited examples include Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, and Baldwin) retain their own separate city governments and are not part of the consolidated city — we did not independently re-verify this specific list of exceptions against a primary source this session, so treat it as a lightly-sourced general note rather than a confirmed legal fact, and check with a specific municipality's own code if a property sits near those boundaries.

Does Jacksonville cap tenant screening or application fees?

Not that we could confirm. Florida law doesn't appear to set a statutory cap, and since July 1, 2023 state law generally preempts cities like Jacksonville from imposing their own separate cap.

Is source of income a protected class in Jacksonville?

Generally not. Neither Florida's Fair Housing Act nor the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission's listed protected categories include source of income.

Does Jacksonville have rent control?

No. Florida law generally bars cities and counties, including Jacksonville, from adopting any ordinance that has the effect of controlling rents, apart from a narrow voluntary affordable-housing exception.

Can Jacksonville pass its own tenant-screening ordinance in the future?

Under the current preemption statute (Florida Statutes § 83.425, effective July 1, 2023), this appears unlikely, since the law preempts local regulation of the tenant screening process, fees, deposits, and related landlord-tenant topics to the state.

Whether you manage one unit in Riverside or a portfolio across Duval County, Checkr can help you build a tenant screening process that's aligned with Florida's statewide framework. Get started with Checkr to see how our reports and adverse-action workflow tools are built to support FCRA-aligned screening.

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.