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Florida : Surge in Evictions and New Landlord-Tenant Laws (2025)

Florida : Surge in Evictions and New Landlord-Tenant Laws (2025)

Florida has seen record-high eviction activity coming out of the pandemic, alongside several legal changes affecting landlords and tenants. In central Florida, eviction filings reached all-time highs in 2023 and remained elevated into 2024, with seven counties posting their highest case filing numbers in decades.

For example, Osceola and Sumter counties had about 70% more eviction filings in 2024 than in 2019, reflecting both post-pandemic fallout and rapid population growth in the region. Notably, over half of filed eviction cases in these counties result in the tenant’s physical removal by the sheriff, and at least one county saw a record number of forcible dispossessions (writs executed). Although Orange and Seminole counties saw slightly fewer filings in early 2025 than their 2023 peak, they still hit their second-highest totals in decades, suggesting eviction volumes remain very high despite a potential plateau. In general, Florida’s eviction filing rates have roughly doubled compared to pre-pandemic baselines in some areas, fueled by soaring rents and inflation that have left more tenants unable to keep up.

Legal Developments: Statewide Preemption and Modernized Notices

Florida’s state government has recently overhauled certain landlord-tenant laws in ways that landlords should note. Effective July 1, 2024, a sweeping state preemption law invalidated dozens of local tenant protection ordinances across Florida.

This means any city or county rules (like Orange County’s “Tenant Bill of Rights” and notice-of-termination periods) can no longer exceed state law requirements. In practice, this preemption blocks local measures such as rent increase caps or rent control, reinforcing Florida’s ban on rent control (Florida law forbids local rent control except in a declared housing emergency, which has made rent control virtually nonexistent in the state). Landlords now follow uniform state statutes for notices and evictions statewide, without additional local mandates.

At the same time, Florida enacted new statewide notice requirements to end tenancies and communicate with tenants. As of January 1, 2024, terminating a month-to-month residential tenancy requires 30 days’ written notice, an increase from the previous 15-day notice period. This change gives month-to-month renters more time to prepare or relocate and brings Florida’s notice period in line with many other states. For fixed-term leases, Florida still allows termination at the end of the lease without cause, but during a lease term a landlord must have legal cause (e.g. non-payment or lease violation) to evict. Valid grounds for eviction in Florida remain non-payment of rent, holdover after lease expiry (with proper notice), lease violations, or other breaches of statutory tenant duties – you cannot remove a tenant mid-lease without one of these just causes.

Perhaps the most significant 2025 reform for landlords is Florida’s modernization of official notice delivery. House Bill 615, signed into law by the Governor and effective July 1, 2025, allows landlords and tenants to mutually agree to send statutory notices via email rather than paper. Previously, Florida required important notices (like Three-Day Pay or Quit notices, lease violation notices, and eviction summonses) to be hand-delivered or mailed in hard copy. Under the new law (codified as Florida Statute 83.505), if both parties consent in writing, email can serve as the delivery method for any lease notices or eviction-related documents. This electronic notice option is voluntary – landlords must still use paper by default unless the tenant opts in. To facilitate consent, the law provides a standard addendum form explaining the email notice agreement and emphasizing it’s optional. Either party can later withdraw consent or update their email address with written notice. Notices sent by email are legally deemed delivered when sent (unless the email bounces back undeliverable).

Why does this matter?

Florida property managers hail this as a win, as it streamlines communications and can prevent missed notices. An email arrives instantly and privately – unlike a paper notice that might get lost in the mail or taped visibly to a door. Legislators say the goal is to “keep more people in their homes” by ensuring tenants get timely notice and an opportunity to cure issues (such as unpaid rent) before an eviction progresses. Landlords benefit from quicker confirmation that tenants received warnings, while tenants benefit from faster communication and less stigma than a notice on the door.

Florida Apartment Association leaders note that postal mail isn’t always reliable, and posting a delinquency notice on a tenant’s door can compromise their privacy – email avoids those pitfalls. Starting July 1, 2025, Florida landlords can use email for eviction notices, cure notices, and other official communications, provided they obtain the tenant’s written consent. It’s recommended that landlords update their lease addenda or renewal packages to include the electronic notice consent form if they wish to take advantage of this new law.

Beyond notices, Florida’s legislature considered additional pro-tenant reforms in 2025, although these did not become law. Notably, a comprehensive housing bill (HB 1471, dubbed the “Housing” bill) sought to create a Department of Housing and Tenant Rights and impose new rules on landlords. HB 1471 (and its Senate companion SB 1592) would have: required courts to seal eviction records upon tenant request (to protect tenants’ reputations in cases of hardship), given tenants a right of first refusal to purchase the rental property if an owner decided to sell, and barred landlords from evicting or refusing to renew leases when tenants are domestic violence victims.

It also proposed longer “move-out” periods after lease termination and other tenant-friendly measures. However, this broad bill failed in May 2025 (it was indefinitely postponed). Smaller bills faced a similar fate – for instance, HB 873 would have required a mandatory grace period for tenants to vacate after a lease ends (before filing an eviction), effectively lengthening the eviction timeline, but it did not advance. Likewise, HB 619 (protecting domestic violence survivors from eviction) was proposed but died in committee. Florida landlords should still be aware of these legislative trends – while none of these tenant-rights expansions are law as of mid-2025, they signal the priorities of some lawmakers and could resurface in future sessions.

Eviction Filing Trends and Court Procedures in Florida

Eviction filings in Florida have rebounded to or exceeded pre-pandemic levels, particularly in the state’s urban areas. According to Princeton University’s Eviction Lab tracking, major Florida cities are seeing eviction rates at or near their 2016–2019 baseline. For example, over the past year Tampa logged ~17,400 eviction filings (about a 5% filing rate, which is 5% of renter households) – roughly 5% below its pre-2020 average. Miami’s eviction filing rate is around 4% of renter homes, roughly 3% below the pre-pandemic norm. Other metro areas like Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, and Palm Beach are hovering at or under their historical eviction filing averages. In short, Florida’s eviction volumes have fully normalized after the artificial lows during COVID, and in growth regions, they’re hitting new highs.

Central Florida stands out as an eviction hotspot in 2024–2025. As mentioned, all nine counties in the Orlando area hit record eviction counts in 2023. While a couple of those counties saw a slight dip in early 2025, most counties are still near peak eviction levels. This suggests that any post-pandemic “catch-up” surge hasn’t entirely abated. In fact, local media describe a continuing “eviction epidemic” in Florida. Court and sheriff’s office records show that more than half of eviction cases filed end with tenants being removed by law enforcement in many Florida counties – a high conversion rate that underscores the seriousness of the housing affordability crunch. By comparison, some other states see many cases dismissed or tenants moving out before a formal writ of possession, but in Florida, a filed eviction is very likely to result in a judgment and lockout if the tenant cannot resolve the issue quickly.

Florida’s court procedures for eviction have largely returned to business-as-usual, with a few local tweaks. Pandemic-era eviction moratoriums and rental assistance programs (like the OUR Florida rent relief fund) have ended, so there are currently no statewide eviction bans or pauses in effect. Florida courts never adopted a right-to-counsel requirement, so most tenants still go unrepresented while most landlords have attorneys in eviction cases. One recent procedural update: effective 2023, Florida’s legislature clarified and standardized the notice periods for lease non-renewal (as noted, 30 days for month-to-month, 60 days for quarter-to-quarter or annual leases). Landlords must also disclose certain information in the eviction complaint (for instance, some municipalities require citing any local rental registration compliance, but statewide law will preempt those as of 2024). Florida’s courts remain very landlord-friendly in terms of timeline – a typical uncontested eviction for non-payment can still be completed in a matter of 3–8 weeks under state law, which is one of the faster processes in the nation.

It’s also worth noting that rent control is not coming to Florida. In late 2022, Orange County voters had approved a one-year rent cap ordinance (amid double-digit rent spikes), but it was swiftly challenged in court. In 2023, the Florida Supreme Court declined to take up Orange County’s appeal, effectively striking down the rent control measure before it ever took effect. Furthermore, the Live Local Act (2023) explicitly prohibits Florida localities from enacting rent control and instead focuses on incentivizing affordable housing development. For landlords, this means no jurisdiction in Florida can lawfully cap your rent increases – you remain free to set rents at market rates with proper notice. However, be mindful of the new notice requirements for large rent hikes: for instance, Miami-Dade County (under a 2022 ordinance that survived because it doesn’t conflict with state law) requires 60 days’ notice for rent increases over 5% . Royal Palm Beach has a similar rule. These local notice rules are about notification rather than limiting the amount of increase, and they appear to remain valid alongside state law. Always check your county’s current notice ordinances (keeping in mind the July 2024 preemption law, which suggests such ordinances must align with state statute timing).

Market Factors: Rent Hikes, Migration, and Post-Pandemic Pressures

 

Several broader market trends are contributing to Florida’s heightened eviction activity. First, rent prices in Florida have surged since 2021, consistently ranking among the fastest-growing in the U.S. Florida’s desirable job market and influx of new residents (including remote workers and retirees) drove vacancy rates to low levels and pushed rents up. By early 2025, many areas (Miami, Tampa, Orlando, etc.) saw rents 20–30% higher than pre-pandemic. This rapid rent inflation has strained tenants’ budgets, especially as general inflation (utilities, groceries) also climbed in 2022–2023. More renters have fallen behind on payments as a result, leading to more eviction filings for non-payment. Central Florida officials explicitly link the population growth and housing shortage to the spike in evictions – more people competing for units means higher rents and a larger pool of tenants at risk of falling into arrears.

Secondly, the expiration of emergency rental assistance programs has removed a key safety net. During 2021–2022, federal and state programs (like the OUR Florida Emergency Rental Assistance) injected hundreds of millions in aid, allowing tenants to catch up on rent and avoid eviction. Those funds are now exhausted. By mid-2023, Florida’s eviction filings began rising sharply as Covid-era subsidies dried up. Unlike some states, Florida did not extend a formal “eviction diversion” court program; thus, if a tenant can’t pay, the eviction proceeds quickly. Some nonprofit and county-level assistance still exists, but nothing on the scale of the federal relief. Landlords are now less likely to receive government-backed rent payments on behalf of struggling tenants, and some report that tenants who were managing to pay during the relief period have begun defaulting once on their own.

Finally, economic pressures like inflation and higher interest rates indirectly affect evictions. Florida landlords face higher costs for property insurance, property taxes, and maintenance (insurance costs in particular have ballooned in the last couple years). This puts pressure on landlords to raise rents or strictly enforce payment to cover expenses. Many mom-and-pop owners can’t afford to be lenient on late rent when their own carrying costs are rising. Similarly, with high home prices and interest rates locking many would-be buyers into renting, the rental demand stays high – giving landlords confidence that if a tenant can’t pay, they can evict and quickly fill the unit with a new tenant. Florida’s low unemployment rate (around 3% in 2025) also means most renters are presumed to have income, so judges are less sympathetic to non-payment defenses now than during the height of COVID disruptions. All these factors create an environment where evictions have normalized at a high level. Florida landlords should stay up to date on legal changes (like the notice delivery law) and work proactively with at-risk tenants (payment plans or referrals to charities) because the courts are processing evictions swiftly and competition for replacement tenants remains strong in most markets.

Sources

 

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