Security Deposit Law
What Florida landlords must do with security deposits — the cap, interest, return deadline, account rules, and penalties — with citations to the statute itself.
Verified as of June 10, 2026
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Deposit cap
No statutory cap.
Interest
Interest is owed only if you choose an interest-bearing account or surety bond — not if you use a separate non-interest-bearing account.
Return deadline
Return the deposit within 15 days if you make no claim; you have 30 days to send a written notice of intent to impose a claim.
Florida Statutes § 83.49 regulates how deposits are held and returned but imposes no limit on the amount a residential landlord may charge.
If you hold the deposit in a separate interest-bearing Florida account, the tenant must receive either at least 75% of the annualized average interest rate on the account or 5% per year simple interest, at your election; the surety-bond option also carries 5% simple interest. Interest must be paid or credited against rent at least once annually, but no interest is due a tenant who wrongfully terminates before the end of the rental term.
The 15-day return runs from termination of the rental agreement. To keep any portion, you must send written notice within 30 days — by certified mail to the tenant's last known mailing address, or by e-mail under the § 83.505 signed-addendum procedure — using the statutory wording. The tenant then has 15 days after receipt to object; absent objection you may deduct your claim and must remit the balance within 30 days after the date of your notice.
You must hold deposits and advance rent in a separate non-interest-bearing or interest-bearing account in a Florida financial institution — never commingled with your own funds or pledged in any way — or post a surety bond with the circuit court clerk (capped at total deposits or $50,000, whichever is less; $250,000 with the Secretary of State for landlords operating in five or more counties) and pay 5% simple interest. Landlords renting five or more units must also give written notice within 30 days of receipt disclosing where and how the deposit is held and whether it earns interest.
A landlord who fails to give the required written notice within 30 days forfeits the right to impose a claim or seek a setoff against the deposit, and must return it — though a separate damages lawsuit remains possible after returning the deposit. In any court action over the deposit, the prevailing party (landlord or tenant) is awarded court costs plus a reasonable attorney's fee. Licensed transient-lodging operators also face fines or license suspension/revocation for noncompliance.
No municipal security-deposit ordinance overlays identified; § 83.49 itself carves out rentals where rent or deposit amounts are regulated by law or public-body rules (e.g., public housing authorities and federally regulated housing programs), which follow their own program rules per § 83.49(4).
Use a separate non-interest-bearing account, a separate interest-bearing account (tenant gets 75% of the rate or 5% simple), or a surety bond plus 5% interest. You may not commingle, hypothecate, or pledge the money until it is actually due to you.
In the lease or within 30 days of receipt, landlords renting five or more dwelling units must give written notice of the depository's name and address (or surety bond), whether the tenant gets interest, and the statutory disclosure text; the notice may be given in person, by mail, or by e-mail under § 83.505.
The notice of intention to impose a claim must be sent within 30 days by certified mail to the tenant's last known mailing address (or by e-mail under the § 83.505 signed addendum) and must contain the statute's prescribed 'This is a notice of my intention to impose a claim...' language with the amount, reason, and 15-day objection instruction.
If the tenant doesn't object within 15 days of receiving your notice, you may deduct the claim, but you must remit any balance within 30 days after the date of the notice; if either party sues, the prevailing party recovers costs and fees.
A renewal of an existing rental agreement is treated as a new rental agreement, and any deposit carried forward is a new security deposit — keep disclosures and accounting current across renewals.
Since July 1, 2023, you may offer a recurring fee instead of a deposit, but you must also offer the deposit option, give itemized written disclosures (including refundability and that the fee only secures occupancy), and honor the tenant's right to switch back to a deposit at any time; the fee is not a security deposit under the statute.
Commingling violates § 83.49(1), undermines your position in any deposit dispute, and for licensed lodging operators can trigger fines or license discipline.
Failure to give the required written notice within 30 days forfeits your right to impose any claim or setoff against the deposit — you must return it in full and pursue damages separately in court.
You may deduct only if the tenant fails to object within 15 days of receipt; jumping the gun risks a deposit suit where the prevailing tenant collects costs plus attorney's fees.
Landlords with five or more units must disclose the depository and interest terms within 30 days of receipt (and again within 30 days of any change in how the money is held); only landlords renting fewer than five units are exempt.
The tenant's failure only relieves you of the 30-day claim-notice requirement — it does not waive any right the tenant has to the deposit, so you still need lawful grounds for every deduction.
15 days after the rental agreement ends if you're not making a claim. If you intend to keep any portion, you instead have 30 days to send the tenant a written notice of your claim — by certified mail or qualifying e-mail — and then must remit any balance within 30 days after the notice date if the tenant doesn't object within 15 days.
Yes. The deposit must sit in a separate non-interest-bearing or interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, never commingled with your own funds, or you can post a surety bond with the court clerk and pay 5% simple interest. This is one of the few states with a hard segregation rule.
Only if you choose to. A separate non-interest-bearing account requires no interest. If you use an interest-bearing account, the tenant gets either at least 75% of the annualized average rate or 5% simple interest (your choice), paid or credited at least once a year; the surety-bond option carries 5% simple interest.
You forfeit the right to impose any claim on the deposit and cannot use it as a setoff — you must return the full deposit. You can still sue the tenant for damages afterward, but in any deposit lawsuit the prevailing party recovers court costs plus reasonable attorney's fees.
No. Florida Statute 83.49 imposes no cap on residential security deposit amounts. Since July 2023, § 83.491 also lets you offer tenants a monthly fee in lieu of a deposit, provided you give the required written disclosures and always offer the traditional deposit option too.
Yes, since July 1, 2025 — but only if landlord and tenant signed the § 83.505 rental-agreement addendum agreeing to electronic delivery with designated e-mail addresses. Without that signed addendum, the claim notice must still go by certified mail to the tenant's last known mailing address.
This page is general information, not legal advice. Statutes change — verify with the cited sources or an attorney.
Statute facts on this page were verified against the cited official sources on June 10, 2026.
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