Deposit money or advance rent; duty of landlord and tenant
Primary state source for deposit handling, notices, objections, and the renter’s forwarding-address responsibilities.
Florida / Deposit claim notice
Florida deposit claim notice: the 30-day notice and the 15-day objection
Florida generally gives a landlord 30 days after termination of the rental agreement to send a written claim notice, and gives the renter 15 days after receiving that notice to object in writing. Those windows sit inside a sequence the statute separates — a no-claim return, a claim notice, an objection — and the end-of-tenancy facts, mailing evidence, receipt date, and statutory exceptions all matter.
Understand the branch
Map the notice before disputing the amount.
- 01
Identify the controlling end date
Preserve when you vacated, when possession was returned, and when the rental agreement ended. Florida's statutory sequence is tied to the end of the tenancy, and different facts can change which date controls.
- 02
Separate a no-claim return from a claim notice
The statute generally describes a 15-day return when no claim is made and a 30-day written-notice path when the landlord intends to impose a claim. Do not treat a deduction list received with a refund as automatically satisfying every notice requirement.
- 03
Preserve mailing and receipt evidence
A claim notice may use certified mail to the renter's last known mailing address or qualifying email under section 83.505. Keep the envelope and tracking or the signed electronic-notice addendum, complete email, transmission record, and any undeliverable response.
- 04
Record the objection window without guessing
The statute gives the tenant 15 days after receipt of the landlord's notice to object in writing. An exception or disputed receipt date can change the analysis, so a live dispute should be checked against the official text and qualified advice.
Evidence checklist
Keep the documents that prove the sequence.
- Lease, renewal, and termination or nonrenewal notices
- Move-out, key-return, and possession-return evidence
- Written forwarding address and proof of delivery
- Claim notice exactly as received, including every attachment
- Certified-mail envelope and tracking or the signed email-election and transmission record
- Refund, check image, ledger, estimates, invoices, and photographs
- Draft and delivered written objection with delivery proof
- Communications about timing, access, repairs, or disputed damage
Primary authority
Check the official source.
Open official source
Electronic delivery of notices
Primary state source for when a landlord and tenant may elect to deliver certain notices by email.
Coverage: the statewide Florida residential security-deposit claim and objection sequence in Fla. Stat. § 83.49 and the qualifying electronic-delivery branch in § 83.505. This guide does not determine statutory coverage, resolve the controlling end date, apply every exception, or decide whether a particular mailing, email, or deduction is legally sufficient.
Next step
Work out your deadline and build your deposit file.
Enter your vacate date, the actual termination date (not a scheduled lease end), and the date the claim notice reached you. The workspace counts the 15-day return window, the 30-day claim-notice window, and your 15-day objection window from the facts you confirm, shows which fact produced each date, and builds an evidence index and a written request you can send.
The workspace runs in your browser on this device. Your entries stay in tab memory and are lost on refresh or close, they are never sent to a server, and only facts you check are allowed to produce a date.
Open the Florida deposit workspaceContinue the record
Related security-deposit guides.
Florida electronic notices
Check whether the signed addendum, designated address, and delivery record open the statutory email branch.
Open guideFee in lieu of a deposit
Identify whether the payment was a refundable security deposit or an optional nonrefundable fee arrangement.
Open guideFlorida security-deposit overview
Return to the broader evidence and source guide for statewide deposit disputes.
Open guide