Can a landlord charge for a pet in Florida, and what does the law require for an assistance animal?

Yes — a pet deposit is allowed, with no ceiling of its own.

Florida caps no deposit of any kind, so a pet deposit may be any amount the parties agree on, and it sits against no general ceiling because the state has none. It is not outside the statute, though, and that is the point most sources miss: section 83.43, subsection 4, defines deposit money to include a pet deposit, and those words have been in the definition since 2008 and survived both the 2023 alphabetization and the 2024 renumbering of the section. Everything in section 83.49 therefore applies to a pet deposit — the separate Florida account or surety bond, the bar on commingling, the landlord's thirty-day notice of intention to impose a claim, the tenant's fifteen-day objection window and the fifteen-day return where no claim is made. A pet, for this purpose, is whatever the lease calls a pet: Florida defines no class of animal for the deposit sections, and sets no per-animal multiplier, because there is no figure to multiply. No pet deposit may be charged for an emotional support animal or a service animal.

Refundability: No statute says a pet deposit must be refundable, and none says it may be kept. It is deposit money, so it rides section 83.49 like any other deposit: held in a separate Florida account, non-interest-bearing or interest-bearing, or covered by a surety bond, never commingled with the landlord's own funds, and released or claimed against through the same machinery. Whether the landlord keeps any of it at the end is decided by that claim machinery, not by the name on the charge.

Where the rule switches off or on: Section 83.49, subsection 4, takes the deposit machinery, other than subsections 3, 5 and 6, off transient hotel and motel rentals and off housing whose rent or deposit is regulated by law or by a public body, including public housing authorities and federally administered or regulated programs other than rent stabilization. The written deposit notice in subsection 2 does not apply to a landlord who rents fewer than five dwelling units.

Yes — pet rent or a pet fee may be charged, and no statute caps it.

No Florida statute mentions pet rent or a pet fee at all. Both are lawful, neither is capped, and no reasonableness test applies; the only brake is section 83.45, which lets a court refuse to enforce a rental agreement or a provision it finds unconscionable. A landlord's end-of-term notice under section 83.575, subsection 2, must list all fees, penalties and other charges applicable to the tenant, which is a listing duty rather than a limit, and nothing requires a pet charge to be advertised in a total price. One drafting point belongs on the record: section 83.491, subsection 6, says a fee accepted in lieu of a security deposit is not a security deposit as defined in section 83.43, subsection 13, but subsection 13 is the definition of rental agreement — security deposits moved to subsection 14 when the 2024 act renumbered the definitions, and the conforming amendment in the same act stopped one short. Nothing may be charged for an emotional support animal or a service animal.

Monthly pet rent: Monthly pet rent is lawful and uncapped, and where the lease says so it is rent. Rent means the periodic payments due the landlord for occupancy and any other payments due the landlord as may be designated as rent in a written rental agreement (section 83.43, subsection 12), so a pet charge designated as rent in the lease carries the ordinary consequences of unpaid rent, including the three-day notice and the eviction route.

A one-time pet fee: A one-time pet fee is lawful whether or not it is refundable. Florida bars no non-refundable fee: section 83.491, the fee in lieu of a security deposit, presupposes that a non-refundable fee is lawful and requires the landlord to disclose in writing that the fee is non-refundable, if applicable, and a fee under that section may itself be a recurring monthly charge payable with the rent. The only fee Florida caps is the early-termination fee, at two months' rent (section 83.595, subsection 4). A pet fee collected before the tenancy begins is not treated as an application fee, as it is in some states; Florida has no such rule.

No — no statute requires a lease to state a pet policy, and no written-rules provision governs one.

No Florida statute requires a lease to say whether pets are allowed, supplies a default when the lease is silent, limits how many animals a tenant may keep, bars a condition such as declawing, or sets a procedure for changing a pet rule during the term. Chapter 83 carries no written-rules section of the kind other states use, and the words pet and pets appear substantively twice in the whole chapter. The one pet-specific rule is an eviction rule: having or permitting an unauthorized pet is the statute's own example of a breach the tenant should be given a chance to cure, the landlord's notice must allow seven days to correct it, and a recurrence within twelve months lets the landlord begin eviction without a further notice (section 83.56, subsection 2, paragraph (b)). Florida enacts no pet mandate for publicly financed or state-funded housing.

Yes, for a private landlord — the only bar reaches a named publicly financed or agency-managed housing class.

Florida says nothing about a private landlord's breed, size or weight rule for pets, so those limits are lawful and unregulated. The only limit in housing binds public housing authorities: the dangerous-dog part allows a local government to adopt an ordinance, and a public housing authority to adopt a policy, to address the safety and welfare concerns caused by attacks on people or domestic animals, but only if no such regulation is specific to breed, weight or size (section 767.14). The housing half of that section is narrow, and should be read as it is written: the section sits inside the dangerous-dog part, whose subject is attacks on people and domestic animals, so a housing authority policy adopted on some other ground may sit outside the proviso. The same section binds local governments, so a Florida city may not pass a breed-specific animal-control ordinance, and since October 1, 2023 the clause that had exempted local breed-specific ordinances adopted before October 1, 1990 is gone. Florida's two assistance-animal sections say nothing about breed, size or weight, so there is no separate carve-out for an assistance animal.

Size and weight: Weight and size travel with breed in the only text that reaches any of them: a public housing authority's dog policy may not be specific to breed, weight or size (section 767.14). For a private landlord, breed, weight and size limits alike are unregulated, and no Florida text treats them differently from one another.

Yes — a state statute or rule sets what a landlord may request or what a certifier must meet for an assistance animal in housing. The operative rules are statutory. State law incorporates a federal statute or codified regulation by reference.

To the extent required by federal law, rule or regulation, it is unlawful to discriminate in housing against a person with a disability or a disability-related need for an emotional support animal, and such a person must, on request and approval by the housing provider, be allowed to keep the animal as a reasonable accommodation, without extra compensation (section 760.27, subsection 2). The provider may deny the request where the animal poses a direct threat to the safety or health of others, or a direct threat of physical damage to the property of others, that cannot be reduced or eliminated by another reasonable accommodation (paragraph (a)). Behind it sits the general duty: a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices or services, when they may be necessary to afford a person equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling, is discrimination (section 760.23, subsection 9, paragraph (b)). On the other side, an individual with a disability who has or obtains a service animal is entitled to full and equal access to housing accommodations and may not be required to pay extra compensation for the animal, though the landlord may ask for proof of compliance with vaccination requirements, and the individual is liable for damage the animal does (section 413.08, subsection 6, paragraph (b)); nothing in that section requires a landlord to modify the property or to provide a higher degree of care for an individual with a disability than for anyone else (paragraph (a)). Florida sets no interactive-process rule, no presumption either way, and no deadline for a landlord's answer. Enforcement runs through the Florida Commission on Human Relations within one year of the practice (section 760.34) or by civil action within two years, with actual and punitive damages and reasonable attorney fees and costs (section 760.35); interfering with the exercise of the right is separately unlawful (section 760.37).

Who it binds: Two different sets of landlords, and a reader has to know which animal is in question. The emotional-support-animal duty in section 760.27 binds a housing provider, meaning any person or entity engaging in conduct covered by the federal Fair Housing Act or section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, including the owner or lessor of a dwelling, and the duty itself runs only to the extent federal law requires it. Section 760.29, subsection 1, paragraph (a), then exempts section 760.27 by name for an owner-rented single-family house where the owner owns no more than three at a time and uses no real estate licensee and no advertisement, and for rooms or units in a building of no more than four families where the owner lives in one of them; an owner is inside the act regardless on three rental transactions as principal or two as agent in the preceding twelve months, or on owning a dwelling designed for or occupied by five or more families. Religious organizations and private clubs sit outside the act altogether (subsection 2), and nothing in it requires a dwelling to be made available to a person whose tenancy would be a direct threat to others or would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others (subsection 5, paragraph (c)). The service-animal duty in section 413.08 is narrowed differently and less: a housing accommodation is any property used as a home, residence or sleeping place, and the only exclusion is a single-family residence whose occupants rent out no more than one room. The service-animal duty therefore binds more Florida landlords than the emotional-support-animal duty does — an owner-occupied triplex is outside the one and inside the other.

Two requests, and each is available only where the thing asked about is not readily apparent: reliable information that reasonably supports that the person has a disability, and reliable information that reasonably supports the person's need for the particular animal being requested (section 760.27, subsection 2, paragraphs (b) and (c)). Where more than one emotional support animal is requested, the landlord may ask about the specific need for each animal (paragraph (d)), and it may require proof of compliance with state and local licensing and vaccination requirements for each animal (paragraph (e)). It may not ask for anything that discloses the diagnosis or the severity of the disability, or for any medical records relating to it, though the tenant may choose to hand them over (subsection 3, paragraph (a)).

An online certificate is not, by itself, sufficient. The law tests the certifier's conduct before issuing. An out-of-state provider is expressly allowed. A caregiver, reliable third party or agency may supply it. Telehealth documentation is allowed. A landlord may not require a specific form or a notarized statement. A landlord may not require medical records, a diagnosis or its severity. A landlord may require proof of vaccination or licensing compliance.

Who may certify: Four routes need no practitioner at all: a determination of disability from a federal, state or local government agency; receipt of disability benefits or services from one; proof of eligibility for housing assistance or a housing voucher received because of a disability; and information from any other source the housing provider reasonably determines to be reliable in accordance with the federal Fair Housing Act and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The fifth route is a practitioner: a health care practitioner as defined in section 456.001, a telehealth provider as defined in section 456.47, or a similarly licensed or certified practitioner in good standing with the regulatory body of another state — the last only if that out-of-state practitioner has provided in-person care or services to the tenant on at least one occasion (section 760.27, subsection 2, paragraph (b)). Practitioner information is reliable only if the practitioner has personal knowledge of the person's disability and is acting within the scope of his or her practice. Section 456.001 reaches every profession licensed under the health-care chapters it lists, which include psychology and clinical social work, marriage and family therapy and mental health counseling.

The relationship test: Florida sets no minimum length for the treatment relationship. The test is qualitative and attaches to the practitioner: the information is reliable only if the practitioner or provider has personal knowledge of the person's disability and is acting within the scope of his or her practice (section 760.27, subsection 2, paragraph (b), and paragraph (c)).

Telehealth: Telehealth documentation is expressly allowed: a telehealth provider as defined in section 456.47 is one of the listed sources, and no visit requirement attaches to that route (section 760.27, subsection 2, paragraph (b)). Section 456.47 defines telehealth as the use of synchronous or asynchronous telecommunications technology and expressly excludes e-mail messages and facsimile transmissions, and its definition of a telehealth provider takes in an out-of-state professional who has registered with the applicable Florida board and complies with subsection 4. A registered out-of-state telehealth provider therefore qualifies with no in-person visit at all; the single-visit condition attaches to the separate route for an unregistered out-of-state practitioner.

The certifier's duties: Florida places no duty on the practitioner who supplies the documentation, and gives no licensing board a role in it. Chapter 456 supplies the two definitions section 760.27 borrows and carries no documentation duty; Florida has no counterpart to the states that require a written finding, an in-person meeting or board discipline for a careless letter. The practitioner's only statutory qualification is the personal-knowledge and scope-of-practice test that makes the information reliable. The exposure for a false letter is criminal instead, under section 817.265.

Florida is one of the most detailed states in the country on what a landlord may ask for. A landlord may ask for reliable information supporting the disability, and separately for reliable information supporting the need for the particular animal, but only where the disability or the need is not readily apparent; it may ask about the specific need for each animal where more than one is requested; and it may require proof of licensing and vaccination compliance. It may not ask for a diagnosis, for the severity of a disability or for medical records. It may offer a routine method for making requests, but it may not require a specific form or a notarized statement, and it may not deny a request solely because the tenant did not follow that method. A registration of any kind, including an identification card, patch or certificate obtained from the Internet, is not by itself sufficient to establish either the disability or the need — the words are insufficient on its own, not worthless. The documentation may come from a government agency's determination of disability, from receipt of disability benefits or voucher eligibility, from a health care practitioner or a telehealth provider, or from any other source the landlord reasonably determines to be reliable; an out-of-state practitioner counts only if licensed and in good standing there and, unless registered as a telehealth provider in Florida, only if he or she has provided in-person care to the tenant at least once. Florida sets no minimum treatment period, no annual re-evaluation, and no deadline or writing requirement for the landlord's answer. None of this reaches a service animal: the service-animal section carries no documentation rule for housing, and its two-question rule is written for public accommodations.

No — a state bar on an extra charge reaches an emotional support animal on the face of the definition it hangs on; the bar is an express no-extra-charge clause, in a statute.

Nothing extra may be charged for either kind of animal. A person with a disability or a disability-related need for an emotional support animal may not be required to pay extra compensation for the animal (section 760.27, subsection 2), and an individual with a disability who has or obtains a service animal may not be required to pay extra compensation for it either (section 413.08, subsection 6, paragraph (b)). Extra compensation is the phrase both statutes use, and it is wider than a deposit: it reaches a pet deposit, a one-time pet fee and monthly pet rent alike. Both rules have stood in this shape since 2020. The trap is where the exceptions live: the deposit and rent sections say nothing about them, so a landlord who opens only section 83.43 or section 83.49 will find no assistance-animal exception, because it sits in the fair-housing and social-welfare titles instead.

The definition it hangs on: 'Emotional support animal' means an animal that does not require training to do work, perform tasks, provide assistance, or provide therapeutic emotional support by virtue of its presence which alleviates one or more identified symptoms or effects of a person's disability (Fla. Stat. 760.27, subsection 1, paragraph (a)) — and it is that animal the no-extra-compensation clause in subsection 2 reaches, by name.

Remedy: A complaint to the Florida Commission on Human Relations within one year of the practice (section 760.34), which can end in a court order and a civil penalty of up to $10,000, $25,000 or $50,000 depending on the violator's history (subsection 7, paragraph (b)); or a civil action within two years for actual and punitive damages and reasonable attorney fees and costs (section 760.35). On the service-animal side there is also a criminal sanction pointed at the landlord: a person providing housing accommodations under section 413.08, subsection 6, who discriminates against an individual with a disability commits a misdemeanor of the second degree (subsection 7).

The tenant is liable for damage the animal causes like any other tenant, by express words.

The tenant stays liable, and both statutes say so in the same words. A person with a disability or a disability-related need is liable for any damage done to the premises or to another person on the premises by his or her emotional support animal (section 760.27, subsection 4), and an individual with a service animal is liable for any damage done to the premises or to another individual on the premises by the animal (section 413.08, subsection 6, paragraph (b)). The same section adds that a landlord need not modify the property in any way, nor provide a higher degree of care for an individual with a disability than for a person who is not disabled (paragraph (a)). The ordinary security deposit remains available against damage the animal causes.

An offense or sanction that reaches a misrepresentation made to obtain housing: a misdemeanor and community service, reaching the person claiming the animal and the certifier who signs. Penalty terms: misdemeanor of the second degree; a fine of up to $500 (§ 775.083(1)(e)); imprisonment of up to 60 days (§ 775.082(4)(b)); and 30 hours of community service, to be performed within 6 months.

Florida has two offenses, not one. Under section 817.265 a person who falsifies information or written documentation, or knowingly provides fraudulent information or written documentation, for an emotional support animal under section 760.27 — or who otherwise knowingly and willfully misrepresents himself or herself, through conduct or a verbal or written notice, as having a disability or a disability-related need for an emotional support animal or as being otherwise qualified to use one — commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, and must perform 30 hours of community service for an organization serving people with disabilities within six months of conviction. The first limb reaches the person who writes the letter, which puts Florida among the few states whose offense reaches the certifier, and it does so through the criminal code rather than a licensing route; it reaches housing expressly, because it is hooked to a housing section. Under section 413.08, subsection 9, a person who knowingly and willfully misrepresents himself or herself as using a service animal and being qualified to use one, or as a trainer of one, commits the same offense with the same community-service order. Neither offense has a prior-warning element, and the sanction for each is a fine of up to $500, up to 60 days in jail, or both.

The landlord-side offense: Yes, and it is unusual: a person providing housing accommodations under section 413.08, subsection 6, who discriminates against an individual with a disability commits a misdemeanor of the second degree (section 413.08, subsection 7). Denial of an emotional-support-animal accommodation carries no criminal sanction; it is a discriminatory housing practice with the civil remedies stated above.

Where the words leave the reach open: The service-animal offense in section 413.08, subsection 9, carries no place limit of its own — it reaches a person who knowingly and willfully misrepresents himself or herself as using a service animal, or as a trainer of one, wherever that happens — while the access offense in subsection 4 is expressly about admittance to a public accommodation. No Florida court has construed how far subsection 9 reaches, so it is stated here as reaching housing on the face of the text, which is what the words support.

Who enforces it: Both offenses are prosecuted as ordinary second-degree misdemeanors, with the penalties in sections 775.082 and 775.083 and a mandatory community-service order on conviction. Florida attaches no licensing discipline, no forfeiture, no civil penalty and no eviction ground to either, and lying to a practitioner to obtain a letter is not itself a separate offense.

In part — state law preempts the kinds of local rule named as barred, and any power named is one state law grants.

Florida occupies the field. The regulation of residential tenancies, the landlord-tenant relationship and all other matters covered under Part II of chapter 83 are preempted to the state, and the section supersedes local regulation of, among other things, security deposits, the terms and conditions of rental agreements, and fees charged by the landlord (section 83.425). Because a pet deposit is deposit money under section 83.43, and pet rent and pet fees are terms of the rental agreement and fees charged by the landlord, a Florida city or county may not cap a pet deposit, bar pet rent, or impose a pet-charge disclosure of the kind some cities elsewhere have adopted. One edge is open rather than decided: the clause reaches matters covered under that part, so an ordinance resting on a different subject, such as animal welfare or nuisance, is not obviously inside it. Two neighboring provisions are not pet authority and should not be read as any. Section 767.14 constrains local governments in the other direction, barring an ordinance specific to breed, weight or size and leaving no pre-1990 ordinance grandfathered. Section 760.34, subsections 3 and 8, devolves enforcement of a substantially equivalent local fair-housing law to the local agency, which is an enforcement arrangement and not a power to make pet rules. The upshot is that no Florida city has a pet-charge ordinance of its own, and the state law above is the whole answer everywhere in Florida.

The whole landlord-tenant field occupied: The regulation of residential tenancies, the landlord-tenant relationship and all other matters covered under Part II of chapter 83 are preempted to the state, and the section supersedes any local government regulation on those matters. The clause was enacted in 2023. Text: Fla. Stat. § 83.425.

Local deposit or fee rules barred: The same section names security deposits, the terms and conditions of rental agreements, and fees charged by the landlord among the matters a local government may not regulate — which is what puts a pet deposit, a pet fee and pet rent beyond a city ordinance, since a pet deposit is deposit money under the act's own definition. Text: Fla. Stat. § 83.425 · security deposits; terms and conditions of rental agreements; fees charged by the landlord.

Breed-specific local animal-control rules barred: A local government may adopt a dog ordinance under the dangerous-dog part only if it is not specific to breed, weight or size, and the exemption for local breed-specific ordinances adopted before October 1, 1990 was removed with effect from October 1, 2023. Text: Fla. Stat. § 767.14.

The fair-housing act preserves or devolves local ordinances: Where a local fair-housing law gives rights and remedies substantially equivalent to the state act, the state commission refers the complaint to the local agency, and a local agency certified as substantially equivalent may bring its own action. That devolves enforcement of an equivalent local law; it is not a power to make local pet rules. Text: Fla. Stat. § 760.34 · (3), (8).