When a tenant stops paying rent in Florida

Before any notice

Call or write the day rent is late. Most late rent is a timing problem, not a refusal. A short written payment plan, signed by both of you, often gets the money faster than a court case.

If it isn't a timing problem, move to the notice without waiting weeks. Every month you wait is a month of rent you may never collect.

The 3-day notice, done right

• Use the statute's form. Section 83.56(3) sets the wording: the amount owed, the address, and the demand to pay or leave within 3 days.
• Count correctly. Three days after delivery, leaving out Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. Put the deadline date on the notice.
• Only rent. Late fees, utilities or repairs belong in it only if your written lease defines them as rent, per section 83.43.
• Deliver it a legal way. Mail, hand delivery, or leaving a copy at the home if the tenant is out. Email works only with a signed section 83.505 addendum.

If you take a partial payment after serving the notice, section 83.56(5) has you either give a receipt showing the balance due, put the money in the registry when you file, or serve a new notice for the new balance. Taking part of the rent doesn't waive the rest.

Filing and the court registry

With the deadline passed and rent unpaid, file a complaint for possession in the county court where the home is. The statewide filing fee for a removal of tenant action is $180 under section 34.041, and adding a claim for back rent adds a fee based on the amount. The sheriff or a process server delivers the 5-day summons. In Broward the sheriff charges $40 per person served.

Then section 83.60(2) does most of the work. A tenant who raises any defense other than payment has to deposit the rent claimed into the court registry within 5 business days and keep depositing as rent comes due. A tenant who does neither waives the defenses, and you can ask for a default judgment for possession without a hearing.

Judgment, writ and possession

1. 1

   Step 1: Final judgment for possession

   By default, or after a hearing if the tenant answered and deposited.

2. 2

   Step 2: Writ of possession

   The clerk issues it. In Broward the sheriff charges $90 to execute it.

3. 3

   Step 3: 24-hour posting

   The sheriff posts the writ with 24 hours' notice. Weekends and holidays don't stop that clock.

4. 4

   Step 4: Possession

   You can change the locks once the sheriff restores possession. Section 83.62 lets you remove belongings left behind at that point.

Section 83.625 lets the court enter a money judgment for unpaid rent along with possession when the tenant was properly served for it. Collecting that judgment is a separate project, so the faster path to possession usually saves more than the judgment brings in.

What you must never do

Don't change the locks, take the tenant's things or cut the power or water to push them out. Section 83.67 makes that cost at least three months' rent plus fees, as lockouts and utility shutoffs explains.