The 2023 Florida Statutes (including Special Session C)

Title VI
CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

Chapter 83
LANDLORD AND TENANT

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F.S. 83.595

83.595 Choice of remedies upon breach or early termination by tenant.—If the tenant breaches the rental agreement for the dwelling unit and the landlord has obtained a writ of possession, or the tenant has surrendered possession of the dwelling unit to the landlord, or the tenant has abandoned the dwelling unit, the landlord may:

(1) Treat the rental agreement as terminated and retake possession for his or her own account, thereby terminating any further liability of the tenant;

(2) Retake possession of the dwelling unit for the account of the tenant, holding the tenant liable for the difference between the rent stipulated to be paid under the rental agreement and what the landlord is able to recover from a reletting. If the landlord retakes possession, the landlord has a duty to exercise good faith in attempting to relet the premises, and any rent received by the landlord as a result of the reletting must be deducted from the balance of rent due from the tenant. For purposes of this subsection, the term “good faith in attempting to relet the premises” means that the landlord uses at least the same efforts to relet the premises as were used in the initial rental or at least the same efforts as the landlord uses in attempting to rent other similar rental units but does not require the landlord to give a preference in renting the premises over other vacant dwelling units that the landlord owns or has the responsibility to rent;

(3) Stand by and do nothing, holding the lessee liable for the rent as it comes due; or

(4) Charge liquidated damages, as provided in the rental agreement, or an early termination fee to the tenant if the landlord and tenant have agreed to liquidated damages or an early termination fee, if the amount does not exceed 2 months’ rent, and if, in the case of an early termination fee, the tenant is required to give no more than 60 days’ notice, as provided in the rental agreement, prior to the proposed date of early termination. This remedy is available only if the tenant and the landlord, at the time the rental agreement was made, indicated acceptance of liquidated damages or an early termination fee. The tenant must indicate acceptance of liquidated damages or an early termination fee by signing a separate addendum to the rental agreement containing a provision in substantially the following form:

☐ I agree, as provided in the rental agreement, to pay $ (an amount that does not exceed 2 months’ rent) as liquidated damages or an early termination fee if I elect to terminate the rental agreement, and the landlord waives the right to seek additional rent beyond the month in which the landlord retakes possession.

☐ I do not agree to liquidated damages or an early termination fee, and I acknowledge that the landlord may seek damages as provided by law.

(a) In addition to liquidated damages or an early termination fee, the landlord is entitled to the rent and other charges accrued through the end of the month in which the landlord retakes possession of the dwelling unit and charges for damages to the dwelling unit.

(b) This subsection does not apply if the breach is failure to give notice as provided in s. 83.575.

History.—s. 2, ch. 87-369; s. 4, ch. 88-379; s. 448, ch. 95-147; s. 2, ch. 2008-131.

F.S. 83.595 on Google Scholar

F.S. 83.595 on Casetext

Amendments to 83.595

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 83.595

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 83.595.

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases from cite.case.law:

WILSON, v. TERWILLINGER,, 140 So. 3d 1122 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2014)

. . . damages or an early termination fee, as provided in the rental agreement, in the form set forth in § 83.595 . . . Those remedies are found in section 83.595, Florida Statutes (2012), and include the option of imposing . . . liquidated damages in a stated amount that does not exceed the total of two months’ rent. § 83.595(4 . . . Since this language derives from section 83.595(4), the county court concluded that the provision is . . . addendum choosing the remedy of liquidated damages or an early termination fee pursuant to section 83.595 . . .

ATLANTIS ESTATE ACQUISITIONS, INC. v. DePIERRO, 125 So. 3d 889 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2013)

. . . Section 83.595, Florida Statutes, provides the choice of remedies available to the landlord upon a breach . . .

OLEN PROPERTIES CORPORATION, a a v. S. MOSS,, 984 So. 2d 558 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2008)

. . . Section 83.595, Florida Statutes (2007) sets out the landlord’s “choice of remedies upon [a] breach [ . . . Section 83.595(1) does not apply because the “cancellation” agreement is not a surrender, abandonment . . . Section 83.595 takes a balanced approach to allocating responsibilities after breach of a lease. . . . We reject this invitation to expand section 83.595 by judicial interpretation. . . . It is for the legislature, and not the courts, to expand section 83.595 remedies. . . .

OLEN PROPERTIES CORPORATION v. S. MOSS,, 981 So. 2d 515 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2008)

. . . Nothing in section 83.595, Florida Statutes, addresses the circumstance where a tenant is allowed, at . . .

CUPEIRO, v. BARON,, 555 So. 2d 370 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1989)

. . . Lester, 58 So.2d 673 (Fla.1951); see also § 83.595(1)(a), Fla.Stat. (1987). . . .