The Florida eviction process, step by step.

Eviction in Florida is a court process, and it is governed by Chapter 83, Part II of the Florida Statutes — the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. You cannot change the locks, shut off the power, or remove a tenant's belongings to force them out. Section 83.67 prohibits all three, however far behind the tenant is on rent.

The process has three stages: notice, filing, and writ of possession. Most of the delay owners run into is created in the first stage.

Stage 1: Serve the correct notice

Which notice you serve depends on what the tenant did. There are three, and they are not interchangeable.

The 3-day notice for unpaid rent

The statute sets both the deadline and the form of the notice. Section 83.56(3) says the notice "shall contain a statement in substantially the following form", and then prints that form: the amount owed, the property address including the county, a demand for payment or possession within 3 days excluding Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, the date that deadline falls on, and the landlord's name, address and phone number.

Three counting rules follow from the statute, and all three are routinely missed:

• The three days exclude Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays. The count runs from the day after delivery. A notice delivered on a Thursday before a Monday holiday counts Friday, Tuesday and Wednesday, so the deadline date written on the notice is that Wednesday, and you cannot file before Thursday.
• "Legal holidays" means court-observed holidays only. Section 83.56(3) says so in terms. Check the court calendar for the county, not a general holiday list.
• The date on the notice has to be right. The statutory form asks you to write the deadline date. A wrong date is the most common defect we see.

A defective notice does not always end the case. Section 83.60(1)(a) says the landlord "must be given an opportunity to cure a deficiency in a notice or in the pleadings before dismissal." But curing usually means serving again and waiting again, which is exactly the time you were trying to save.

New from 1 October 2026: rental fraud is a non-curable violation

Since 1 October 2026, a tenant who got into the unit with fake identity or documents can be served the 7-day notice to vacate, with no chance to cure. Chapter 2026-143, Laws of Florida, added "an act of fraudulent entry of a residential dwelling unit" to the examples in § 83.56(2)(a), "regardless of whether criminal proceedings have commenced."

The same law created § 817.537, which defines fraudulent entry. A person commits it by entering and taking possession of a rental by knowingly and willfully:

1. making a materially false written statement about their identity on a rental application;
2. presenting forged, fictitious or counterfeit documents to the landlord, such as a driver license, an ID card, a bank statement or a paystub; or
3. impersonating the person in whose name the application was submitted.

It is a third-degree felony. For the eviction, what matters is that you do not need a police report or a criminal charge to serve the 7-day notice. You do still need to be able to show the court what was false. Keep the application, the documents the applicant gave you, and the screening results that exposed the problem. Note what the statute covers: false statements about identity, and forged or counterfeit documents. An applicant who overstated their income without forging anything is not obviously covered by paragraph (a) of § 817.537(2).

A person who never had a lease at all is a different situation. For unauthorized occupants, Florida has a separate sheriff-removal process, covered in our guide to Florida squatters law.

Delivering the notice

Section 83.56(4) allows four delivery methods:

1. mailing it;
2. delivering a true copy to the tenant;
3. e-mailing it, but only if you and the tenant signed the e-mail addendum described in § 83.505; or
4. if the tenant is absent from the premises, leaving a copy at the residence.

The same subsection says these notice requirements "may not be waived in the rental agreement." Whichever method you use, keep proof of how and when the notice went out. If you leave it at the door, a timestamped photo is the evidence you will want in court.

Stage 2: File the eviction with the county court

If the notice period expires and the tenant has not paid or left, the landlord files a complaint for eviction in the county court where the property sits, under § 83.59(2) — the Broward County Clerk for Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach and Pembroke Pines; the Miami-Dade Clerk for Miami and Aventura. The same subsection gives landlords the summary procedure, and limits a non-attorney agent to the initial filing.

You will need the lease, the notice, proof of how and when it was delivered, and a ledger showing what is owed.

The rent deposit is what makes most nonpayment cases move. Under § 83.60(2), if the tenant raises any defense other than payment, including a defective 3-day notice, they must pay the rent alleged in the complaint into the court registry, plus rent as it comes due during the case. If they neither pay it nor file a motion to determine the amount within 5 days of service, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays, they waive every defense other than payment, and the landlord is entitled to an immediate default judgment.

Stage 3: Judgment and writ of possession

If you win, the clerk issues a writ of possession to the sheriff. Under § 83.62, the sheriff puts the landlord in possession after 24 hours' notice conspicuously posted at the property. Unlike the 3-day notice, that 24 hours runs straight through weekends and holidays.

Only the sheriff executes the writ — not you, not a locksmith you hired, not your property manager. Once it is executed, § 83.62(2) lets the landlord remove personal property left in the unit to or near the property line, and ask the sheriff to stand by while the locks are changed, at an hourly rate the sheriff sets.

The five mistakes that cost owners the most time

1. Counting calendar days instead of business days. Or counting a holiday the court does not observe.
2. Writing your own notice. The statute prints the form. Use it, and fill in every blank, including the county and the deadline date.
3. Taking partial rent without the paperwork. Accepting partial rent does not, by itself, waive your right to evict. But § 83.56(5)(a) says that if you accept it after posting the notice, you must do one of three things: give the tenant a receipt showing the date, the amount and the agreed date and balance due before you file; put the partial payment in the court registry when you file; or post a new 3-day notice for the new amount.
4. Combining unpaid rent and a lease violation in one notice. They are different notices under different subsections with different timelines. Serve them separately.
5. Self-help. Changing locks or cutting utilities violates § 83.67 and turns a case you would have won into one you defend.

How long does it take?

An uncontested nonpayment eviction in South Florida commonly runs a few weeks from notice to writ. A contested case, or one where the notice has to be re-served, runs considerably longer. We do not publish an average number of days because it varies by county, by division and by how busy the court is — anyone quoting you a precise statewide figure is guessing.

The better answer: don't get here

Eviction is a symptom. Almost every eviction we see traces back to a screening decision made months earlier, and the October 2026 fraud rule is a reminder that verifying identity and documents at application is where the problem is cheapest to stop. Every CIMCO applicant goes through background, credit, income and rental-history checks before we recommend them, and the final approval is always the owner's. Our guide to tenant screening in Florida covers how to do that legally.

If you own a rental in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach or anywhere in Broward County, we handle notices and court coordination as part of full-service management, working with the owner's attorney where the case goes beyond the initial filing.

This is general information, not legal advice. Florida landlord–tenant law is detailed and fact-specific, and statutes change. Verify anything you intend to act on against the current Florida Statutes Chapter 83, Part II, and consult a Florida attorney before serving notices or filing an eviction.