Requesting Repairs in Florida Rentals

In Florida, ask for a repair in writing first. If the landlord does not fix it, your two main legal remedies, ending the lease or withholding rent, both require a written notice that names the problem and gives the landlord 7 days after delivery to fix it (sections 83.56(1) and 83.60). Florida has no repair-and-deduct law, and if you withhold rent and the landlord files for eviction, you must pay the rent into the court registry, or ask the court to set the amount, within 5 days of being served, not counting weekends and legal holidays, to keep your defense.

What your landlord must keep in repair

Section 83.51 requires every Florida landlord, for the whole tenancy, to comply with the building, housing, and health codes that apply to the unit. Where no code applies, the landlord must keep the roof, windows, doors, floors, steps, porches, exterior walls, foundation, and other structural parts in good repair and the plumbing in reasonable working condition. The landlord must also install screens in reasonable condition at move-in and repair screen damage once a year.

In an apartment or any unit other than a single-family home or duplex, the landlord must also make reasonable provision for pest extermination (including bedbugs), locks and keys, clean and safe common areas, garbage removal, and heat in winter, running water, and hot water, unless you agreed otherwise in writing. In a single-family home or duplex, a written agreement can change the code and structural duties, so read your lease's repair clause before you send a notice. The landlord is not responsible for problems caused by a careless or wrongful act of yours, your family's, or a guest's. Your right to habitable housing in Florida covers these duties in more detail.

Step 1: Ask for the repair in writing

No Florida statute sets a deadline for ordinary repairs or a form for the first request. Write down what is broken, where, and when it started, attach dated photos, and send the request through the channel your lease names, such as an email address or online portal, keeping a copy. By the start of the tenancy, your landlord must give you in writing the name and address of the landlord or of a person authorized to receive notices, so send anything formal there. If you suspect a gas leak, evacuate immediately, then call 911 and your gas utility from a safe location before contacting the landlord. Follow up with the landlord in writing the same day. The general steps for any repair request are in how to report maintenance issues to your landlord.

If the landlord does not fix the problem, the 7-day notice is the step that starts your legal remedies. How long your landlord has to make repairs explains how repair deadlines work in other states.

Step 2: Send the 7-day notice

To count, the notice must:

• Describe each problem specifically, such as "no hot water since March 3" rather than "repairs needed."
• Say what you will do if the landlord does not fix it within 7 days: end the lease, withhold rent, or both. Ending the lease requires a notice stating that you intend to terminate, and the withholding defense requires a notice stating that you intend not to pay rent because of the problem.
• Be delivered by mail or by hand. Email counts only if you and the landlord signed a lease addendum in which the landlord agreed to receive your notices by email, and then it is delivered when sent unless it bounces back. Keep a copy of the email and proof you sent it.

The Florida Bar's Form 4 is a fill-in notice that covers withholding, ending the lease, or both. A withholding notice can go to the landlord, the representative the landlord named for notices, a resident manager, or whoever collects your rent.

Florida's court rule for computing time decides when the 7 days end. The count begins on the next day that is not a weekend or legal holiday, a period whose last day falls on a weekend or legal holiday ends on the next business day, and 5 days are added when a notice is sent only by mail. The Florida Bar's instructions for Form 4 say you cannot withhold rent without first giving notice and time to fix the problem.

Option 1: End the lease

If the landlord has not fixed a material (significant) failure to meet the code and structural duties, or an important lease term, within 7 days after your notice was delivered, you can end the lease and move out. The landlord must then handle your security deposit under the usual return rules.

Two situations change the outcome:

• Causes beyond the landlord's control: if the landlord cannot fix the problem for reasons outside its control and keeps making every reasonable effort, the lease can be ended or changed instead. If the unit is unlivable and you move out, you owe no rent while it stays that way. If it is still livable and you stay, the rent drops in proportion to the lost rental value.
• Storm, fire, or other casualty damage: if damage you did not cause substantially impairs your use of the unit, you can end the lease and move out immediately, without a 7-day notice, or move out of only the unusable part and pay rent reduced by that part's fair rental value. The landlord must let you collect your belongings when it is safe, or tell you a reasonable date when you can.

Option 2: Withhold rent, and pay into court if you are sued

Once 7 days pass after delivery of a notice saying you will not pay rent because of the problem, you can withhold rent. If the landlord sues to evict you for nonpayment, a material failure of the code and structural duties described above is a complete defense, and the judge or jury decides how much, if anything, to cut the rent for the unit's lost value. A problem that falls only under the apartment list, such as pest control or garbage pickup, cannot by itself support this defense, but it can when the same problem also violates the housing or health code.

The landlord can respond with a 3-day notice demanding the rent or possession, not counting weekends and court holidays, followed by an eviction case. The eviction summons gives you 5 days after you are served, not counting weekends and legal holidays, to do all of the following:

1. File a written answer with the court clerk giving your reasons, such as the repair defense, and mail or hand a copy to the landlord.
2. Pay the rent the complaint says you owe into the court registry, an account the court clerk holds. If you think that amount is wrong, file a motion with your answer asking the court to set it, with documents that show the error.
3. Keep paying rent into the registry as each payment comes due until the case ends.

The summons warns that if you do not do all of these within the 5 days, you may be evicted without a hearing. Missing the deposit or the motion also waives every defense except payment, and the landlord can get an immediate default judgment and a writ of possession, the order that lets the sheriff remove you.

Tenants in public housing or with a rent subsidy deposit only their own share. The winner of a lawsuit over the lease or Florida's landlord-tenant law can recover reasonable attorney fees and court costs from the loser, so a failed defense can leave you owing the landlord's fees as well as the rent. Can you legally withhold rent compares Florida with other states, and Florida eviction protections covers the rest of the eviction case.

Why Florida has no repair-and-deduct option

Part II of Chapter 83, which governs the rental of homes and apartments, has no provision letting you pay for a repair and subtract it from rent. Unless your lease or a written agreement with the landlord allows a deduction, a short payment can be treated as unpaid rent and lead to a 3-day notice. Section 83.201, which allows withholding after a 20-day notice when a lease makes the landlord responsible for repairs and the premises become wholly untenantable (unfit to occupy), sits in Part I of the chapter, the part for nonresidential tenancies, so it does not govern a home or apartment lease.

Code enforcement and retaliation

If the problem violates a building, housing, or health code, report it to your city or county code enforcement office. Florida law bars code inspectors from acting on anonymous complaints, so you must give the local government your name and address before an enforcement proceeding can begin, unless the inspector believes the violation is an imminent threat to public health or safety. An inspector who finds a violation notifies the owner and sets a reasonable time to correct it. If the owner misses that deadline, the inspector asks the local code enforcement board for a hearing. Keep a copy of any inspection report with your notice and photos.

Florida's retaliation law makes it unlawful for a landlord to discriminatorily raise your rent, cut services, or bring or threaten an eviction or other lawsuit primarily to punish you. Protected acts include complaining to a code enforcement agency, sending the 7-day notice, and organizing or joining a tenant organization. You can raise retaliation as a defense to an eviction, with three limits. You must have acted in good faith, you must show the landlord treated you differently from other tenants in rent, services, or the action taken, and the defense fails if the landlord proves good cause, such as nonpayment of rent or a lease violation. Florida sets no period during which retaliation is presumed, so the defense depends on your evidence of the landlord's motive.