How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Florida?

15 days. That deadline applies only when the landlord makes no claim on the deposit; the full amount, plus interest if applicable, goes back within 15 days of termination of the rental agreement. A landlord who intends to impose a claim must instead send written notice of intent to claim, with the reason, within 30 days of termination.

What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Florida?

A landlord who fails to give the required written claim notice within 30 days forfeits the right to impose a claim on the deposit and may not set off against it, but may sue for damages after returning the deposit (F.S. 83.49(3)(a)).

Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Florida?

No — Florida does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. Interest is required only if the landlord chooses an interest-bearing holding option.

Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Florida?

Yes — non-refundable fees are allowed in Florida.

What are the security deposit rules in Florida?

Verified October 1, 2026 All Florida topics →

Florida sets no cap on residential security deposits, and a landlord must either return the deposit within 15 days of move-out or send a certified-mail (or statutory e-mail) notice of intent to claim within 30 days — miss that window and the right to keep any of the deposit is forfeited.

Cited to F.S. 83.49 (1)-(3), (5), (9) and 6 more cited sources · Verified October 1, 2026

Deposits must be held un-commingled in a separate Florida account (non-interest or interest-bearing) or secured by a surety bond, and tenants owed interest must be paid at least annually. The tenant has 15 days to object to a claim notice before the landlord may deduct. Unless a written rental agreement says otherwise, tenants leaving early or on periodic tenancies owe the landlord 7 days' written notice with a reachable address; skipping it relieves the landlord of the claim-notice duty but not of the deposit itself. The fee-in-lieu-of-deposit option under F.S. 83.491 has applied since July 1, 2023 (ch. 2023-181), and e-mail delivery of notices under F.S. 83.505 since July 1, 2025 (ch. 2025-16).

Florida security deposits at a glance

Maximum deposit	No statutory cap
Return deadline	15 days
Deadline conditions	That deadline applies only when the landlord makes no claim on the deposit; the full amount, plus interest if applicable, goes back within 15 days of termination of the rental agreement. A landlord who intends to impose a claim must instead send written notice of intent to claim, with the reason, within 30 days of termination. The claim notice goes by certified mail to the tenant's last known mailing address, or by e-mail if the parties have adopted the F.S. 83.505 electronic-notice addendum. The tenant then has 15 days after receipt to object; absent objection, the landlord deducts the claim and remits any balance within 30 days of the date of the claim notice. Missing the 30-day notice window forfeits the right to claim against the deposit (the landlord may still sue for damages after returning it).
Itemization required	Yes
Itemization rules	The claim notice must state the landlord's intention to impose a claim, the amount, and the reason, in substantially the statutory form set out in F.S. 83.49(3)(a), including the 15-day objection instruction and the landlord's address for objections. Certified mail (or compliant e-mail under F.S. 83.505) is mandatory; ordinary mail or text does not preserve the claim.
Separate account required	Yes
Interest owed to tenant	No
Account & interest rules	Interest is required only if the landlord chooses an interest-bearing holding option. The landlord must hold deposits and advance rent in one of three ways: (1) a separate non-interest-bearing Florida financial institution account; (2) a separate interest-bearing Florida account, with the tenant entitled to at least 75% of the annualized average interest rate or 5% simple interest per year, at the landlord's election; or (3) a surety bond posted with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the unit is located (or, for a landlord renting dwelling units in five or more counties, a single bond posted with the Secretary of State), plus 5% simple interest to the tenant. When interest is owed it must be paid or credited at least annually, and is not owed to a tenant who wrongfully terminates early. Commingling with the landlord's other funds is barred under both account options; a landlord who posts the surety bond instead is not holding the money in an account at all.
Pet deposits	A pet deposit is expressly allowed, with no ceiling of its own. The pet-deposit rule, pet rent and fees, and the assistance-animal rules are on the pets and assistance animals page.
Non-refundable fees allowed	Yes
Penalty for violation	A landlord who fails to give the required written claim notice within 30 days forfeits the right to impose a claim on the deposit and may not set off against it, but may sue for damages after returning the deposit (F.S. 83.49(3)(a)). In any court action over the deposit, the prevailing party recovers court costs plus a reasonable attorney's fee (F.S. 83.49(3)(c)).
Tenant forwarding-address duty	Unless a written rental agreement says otherwise, a tenant who vacates before the end of a fixed term, or who vacates a periodic (week/month/quarter/year-to-year) tenancy, must give at least 7 days' written notice by certified mail or personal delivery before vacating, including an address where the tenant can be reached. Failure relieves the landlord of the 30-day claim-notice requirement in 83.49(3)(a) but does not waive the tenant's underlying claim to the deposit (F.S. 83.49(5)).

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Florida Security Deposit Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/security-deposits/florida/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Generate a Florida security-deposit return letter — free, no signup, built on the same verified Florida law as this page.

Editable Florida deposit kit — the deposit disposition letter, the move-in receipt with the custody and interest statements, a deposits-held register with the return deadline computed, and the rules fact sheet built on the verified Florida rules on this page, in Word, fillable PDF and Excel.

Notes and caveats

The blank cap is the statute, not missing data — F.S. 83.49 regulates how deposits are held and returned but sets no cap on the amount — Florida simply has no maximum deposit.
The where-it-is-held disclosure: five or more units, and e-mail is allowed — The written disclosure of where the deposit is held applies only to a landlord who rents five or more individual dwelling units. It goes in the lease agreement or within 30 days after the money is received, must give the name and address of the depository or say a surety bond has been posted, must say whether the tenant is entitled to interest, must contain the disclosure paragraph printed in F.S. 83.49(2)(d), and may be given in person or delivered by mail or by e-mail where the parties have signed the electronic-notice addendum. The landlord must give a fresh notice within 30 days of changing where or how the money is held, but not merely because the institution merged, changed its name or changed owner.
Renewals count as new agreements — a renewal counts as a new rental agreement, and carried-forward deposits count as new deposits (83.49(6)).
When the property is sold — deposits and interest transfer to the new owner with an accounting (83.49(7)).
What Florida allows to be nonrefundable — Part II of Chapter 83 neither bars nonrefundable fees in general nor lists the fees a landlord may charge; the one nonrefundable charge it sets up in place of a deposit is the fee in lieu of a security deposit. Where a lease requires a security deposit, the landlord may offer the tenant the choice of paying a fee instead (83.491), and that fee is not a security deposit and is not held for the tenant (83.491(6); the definition of a security deposit is 83.43(14)). The offer only works on the statute's terms: a written agreement signed by both sides, a fixed fee amount that cannot rise during the lease term, written notice that the fee is nonrefundable where that is the arrangement and that it buys occupancy without a deposit and changes none of the tenant's obligations for rent or damage, and the tenant's standing right to switch to a security deposit at any time. A landlord that offers the arrangement must offer it to all new tenants renting on the same premises unless it ends the option for all new rental agreements going forward, and may not count a tenant's choice against a rental application. Anything else a landlord holds as security for performance of the lease is a security deposit, and the laws on this page apply to it in full. These provisions reach rental agreements entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2023.
What happens after the tenancy when a fee was paid instead of a deposit — The landlord must tell the tenant within 30 days after the tenancy ends whether any rent, fees or other amounts are due, including the cost of repairing damage beyond normal wear and tear. If the landlord claims on insurance for those losses, the claim cannot be submitted until at least 15 days after that notice, and it must be accompanied by an itemized list of unpaid amounts with the dates they fell due, documentation supporting the damages and repair costs, and a copy of any objection the tenant made. An insurer that pays the landlord and holds subrogation rights may seek the money from the tenant within one year after the tenancy ends, and an insurer that does so must give the tenant everything the landlord supplied in support of the claim together with the settlement statement. The tenant keeps against the insurer every defense the tenant would have had against the landlord, and a landlord may not take payment for the same rent, fees or damage from both the tenant and an insurer.
The fee arrangement is protected against credit damage — The written agreement must set out the process and timing for paying the security deposit if the tenant stops paying the fee, and must state that the default will not affect the tenant's credit rating where the deposit is paid on time. Where the tenant pays the deposit, a default on the fee or the ending of the agreement may not be allowed to harm the tenant's credit report. The landlord may also let the tenant pay the deposit in agreed monthly installments while the fee arrangement is running. If the landlord puts any part of the fee toward insurance, the tenant must be told in writing that the tenant is not insured and is not a beneficiary of that coverage.

Common questions: Florida security deposits

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Florida?: No statutory cap.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Florida?: 15 days. That deadline applies only when the landlord makes no claim on the deposit; the full amount, plus interest if applicable, goes back within 15 days of termination of the rental agreement. A landlord who intends to impose a claim must instead send written notice of intent to claim, with the reason, within 30 days of termination.
What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Florida?: A landlord who fails to give the required written claim notice within 30 days forfeits the right to impose a claim on the deposit and may not set off against it, but may sue for damages after returning the deposit (F.S. 83.49(3)(a)).
Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Florida?: No — Florida does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. Interest is required only if the landlord chooses an interest-bearing holding option.
Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Florida?: Yes — non-refundable fees are allowed in Florida.

Citations

F.S. 83.49 · (1)-(3), (5), (9) (verified 2026) Official source
F.S. 83.505 (verified 2026) Official source
F.S. 83.491 (fee in lieu of security deposit) · (1), (3)(f)–(h), (4), (5), (6), (9) (verified 2026) Official source
F.S. 83.43 (definitions; security deposits) · (4), (14) (verified 2026) Official source
F.S. 83.491 (fee in lieu of security deposit) · (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (9) (verified 2026) Official source
Fla. Stat. § 760.27 · (2), (4) (verified 2026) Official source
Fla. Stat. § 413.08 · (6)(b) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of 2025 Florida Statutes text on the official legislature site (leg.state.fl.us / Online Sunshine): F.S. 83.49 (full text), 83.53 (full text), 83.57 (full text), 166.043 (full text). Web verification of surrounding context (83.46, 83.505, 125.0103, 2023 ch. 2023-17 and ch. 2023-314 amendments) against official-source cross-references and multiple concurring secondary sources. October 1, 2026: every section the security deposit, rent increase, late fee, entry and eviction answers rest on was read again in the 2026 Florida Statutes on the Legislature's own sites (leg.state.fl.us and flsenate.gov), an edition that takes in the 2026 regular session and its special sessions: sections 83.43, 83.46, 83.49, 83.491, 83.505, 83.53, 83.56, 83.57, 83.575, 83.59, 83.60, 83.62, 83.67, 83.425, 125.0103, 166.043, 51.011, 723.002 and 817.537. Chapter 2026-143 (in force October 1, 2026) is the only 2026 law that amends one of them and is stated on the eviction page. The court rule on counting days (Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.514) was read as in force on July 1, 2026, and the damages test for late fees in the Florida Supreme Court's decision in Lefemine v. Baron.