The 15-day and 30-day rules in Florida security deposit law

Where your deposit has to sit

Section 83.49 gives a Florida landlord three ways to hold your money: a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida bank, a separate interest-bearing account, or a surety bond posted with the clerk of the circuit court. With the interest-bearing account you're owed either 75% of the account's annualized average rate or 5% a year simple interest, the landlord's pick. With the bond, it's 5% a year.

The landlord can't mix your deposit with its own money or spend it before it's owed. That covers every kind of deposit money the law lists, pet deposits and advance rent included.

The notice you should get after you pay

Within 30 days of taking your deposit, the landlord owes you a written notice, which can be part of the lease. It names the bank and its address, or says a bond was posted, says whether you earn interest, and repeats a set disclosure from the statute about how deposits come back. Two limits on that: a landlord who rents fewer than five units doesn't have to send this particular notice, and a missing notice is never a reason to hold back rent.

The move-out deadlines below apply to every landlord, big or small.

The deadlines after you move out

Put the dates on your calendar the day you hand back the keys. The landlord's clock starts when you move out at the end of the lease. Yours starts the day you receive the landlord's notice, not the day it was mailed.

What a claim notice looks like

The statute spells out the wording, so a proper notice is easy to recognize. It names a dollar amount and the reason, gives you the deadline to object, and says where your objection goes. It opens like this:

A text or a phone call isn't that notice. Email counts only if you and the landlord signed the email delivery addendum that section 83.505 describes, which became possible on July 1, 2025.

How to object to a deduction

Put your objection in writing and keep it to a page: which charges you dispute, why, and the photos that back you up. Send it to the address in the notice by certified mail with a return receipt, or to the email in your signed addendum, and keep a copy. If you say nothing within 15 days of receiving the notice, the landlord may take the amount it claimed and send you the rest.

It's also fair to ask, in writing, for the invoices behind each charge. A landlord who billed $600 for paint should be able to show who painted.

If you still disagree, either side can go to county court. Deposit cases usually fit in small claims, which in Florida covers claims up to $8,000. In Miami-Dade the clerk's filing fee is $175 for claims from $500.01 to $2,500 and $300 from $2,500.01 to $8,000. Whoever wins a deposit case is entitled to court costs plus a reasonable attorney fee from the other side.

Wear and tear, or damage?

Chapter 83 doesn't define normal wear and tear, so it comes down to the lease, the photos and, if it gets that far, a judge. Wear and tear is what living in a place does to it: faded paint, light scuffs, a few small nail holes, carpet worn along the walkways. Damage is what an accident or neglect does, like a hole in a door, burns in a counter, pet stains, or a tile cracked under a dropped dumbbell.

Take date-stamped photos and a slow video of every room on move-in day and again after you clean out. The move-in and move-out checklist lists the shots that settle arguments.

When the landlord misses the 30 days

A landlord who doesn't send the claim notice within 30 days forfeits the right to impose a claim on the deposit and can't take a setoff against it, so the whole deposit is yours. The landlord can still file a separate lawsuit for damage after giving the deposit back.

If you go before the lease ends, or move off a month-to-month without the written notice in section 83.49(5) (at least 7 days ahead, by certified mail or hand delivery, with an address where you can be reached), the landlord no longer has to meet the 30-day deadline. You keep your claim to the deposit, but you lose the automatic forfeiture that protects you when a landlord misses it.

If the home is sold while you live there

The deposit follows the property. The old owner has to transfer it, with any interest owed and an accounting, to the new owner or agent. There's a rebuttable presumption that the new owner received it, but only up to one month of rent, so if you paid more, get the new owner to confirm the full amount in writing. Some landlords now offer a monthly fee instead of a deposit, a different deal covered in Florida rental law changes since 2023.