What happens if a tenant breaks a lease in Florida?
In Florida, when a tenant breaches the rental agreement and the landlord has obtained a writ of possession, or the tenant has surrendered or abandoned the home, the landlord may choose among four remedies, including doing nothing and holding the tenant liable for the rent as it comes due. The landlord may instead treat the rental agreement as ended and retake the home for the landlord’s own account, which ends the tenant’s further liability. The landlord may retake it for the tenant’s account and hold the tenant liable for the difference between the agreed rent and what re-renting brings in, and then has a duty to use good faith in trying to re-rent. The landlord may also charge liquidated damages or an early termination fee of no more than 2 months’ rent if the tenant accepted that remedy in a separate signed addendum when the rental agreement was made. Separately, federal law lets a servicemember end a lease early after receiving qualifying military orders. This is Fla. Stat. § 83.595.
| What | Florida |
|---|---|
| Landlord’s duty to re-rent | Landlord may choose |
| What it means | The statute gives the landlord a choice of remedies |
Source
Fla. Stat. § 83.595
Read the statute in the Florida Statutes (The Florida Senate): flsenate.gov.
Checked against the statute on November 13, 2026.
This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.
How Seayora uses this rule
Seayora keeps every lease’s term, rent and signers in one record and dates every change to it. This page states the state’s rule so a lease’s own early-termination and sublet clauses can be checked against it before the lease is signed.
Guides on this rule
- Breaking a Lease by State: What the Tenant Owes — What a tenant owes after leaving a lease early, and the 34 states whose statutes say whether the landlord must try to re-rent the home.
Compare this rule in every state
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- Every Florida rule on one page
The same question in other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky