When a Florida Tenant Breaks the Lease

An early move-out raises two separate questions: has the tenant returned possession, and what financial remedy will the landlord use?

First Establish Possession

A tenant’s statement that “I moved out” may not be enough if belongings remain, other occupants are present, or keys have not been returned. Obtain written surrender whenever possible. Do not resort to self-help when possession is uncertain.

Florida’s Four Statutory Remedies

Section 83.595 provides choices after a tenant breaches and the landlord has obtained possession through a writ, surrender, or abandonment:

1. Terminate the lease and retake possession for the landlord’s own account. Future tenant liability ends.
2. Retake possession for the tenant’s account. The landlord may hold the tenant responsible for the difference between lease rent and rent recovered from reletting, while making a good-faith effort to relet.
3. Stand by and do nothing. The landlord may hold the tenant liable for rent as it comes due.
4. Use agreed liquidated damages or an early-termination fee. This is available only when the statutory requirements are met, including the tenant’s acceptance in a separate addendum. The amount may not exceed two months’ rent, and required advance notice may not exceed 60 days.

The landlord should choose deliberately and avoid actions inconsistent with the selected remedy.

Good-Faith Reletting

When the landlord retakes possession for the tenant’s account, good faith generally means using at least the same efforts used to rent the property initially or comparable units. Rent received from a replacement tenant must be credited.

Keep advertising records, showing logs, applications, approval decisions, the new lease, and the date new rent began.

Security Deposit Still Requires Timely Handling

An early termination does not suspend section 83.49. The landlord must still determine whether a deposit claim will be made and comply with the applicable deadline.

Special Termination Rights

Servicemembers may have termination rights under section 83.682, Florida Statutes, and the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. Other federal programs or lease provisions may create additional rights. As of July 23, 2026, Florida HB 107—the proposed early-termination protection for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual violence, or stalking—died in committee and did not become law. Do not publish it as an enacted 2026 protection.