Florida's deposit law (§83.49, part of the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) is a deadline machine — three interlocking clocks decide most disputes before anyone argues about the actual damage. Landlords who miss a step forfeit their entire claim; tenants who miss theirs hand the landlord the deduction. Knowing the timeline is knowing the law.
How much can a landlord charge?
Florida sets no statutory cap on deposit amounts. What it regulates instead is where the money sits: in a separate Florida bank account (interest-bearing or not, the landlord's choice) or backed by a surety bond — never commingled with the landlord's own funds — with written disclosure to the tenant of how it's held within 30 days of receipt. If the account is interest-bearing, the tenant gets the interest.
The 15/30/15 timeline
15 days — if the landlord makes no claim, the full deposit (plus any interest) must come back within 15 days of the tenancy ending. That's one of the fastest no-claim deadlines in the country.
30 days — if the landlord intends to keep any portion, they must send a written Notice of Intention to Impose Claim within 30 days, by certified mail to the tenant's last known address, stating the amount, the reason, and the statutorily required objection language. Regular mail, text, or a phone call doesn't count — courts enforce the certified-mail requirement strictly. Miss this notice and the landlord forfeits the right to keep any of the deposit, regardless of how real the damage was (they can still sue separately, but they must return the money first).
15 days — after receiving the notice, the tenant has 15 days to object in writing. No objection means the landlord may deduct the claim and return any balance. An objection freezes the deduction and pushes the dispute to negotiation or court. (Missing the objection window doesn't waive the tenant's right to sue later — but it surrenders the leverage.)
Tenants: leave a forwarding address in writing. The statute's own required lease language warns about this — no address, no notice, and your procedural protections wither.
The fee-shifting sword — and it cuts both ways
In a deposit lawsuit, the prevailing party recovers court costs and attorney's fees. That makes small deposits worth fighting over — and makes losing expensive for whichever side overreached. Florida deposit litigation punishes bluffing.
Why Florida deposit disputes are documentation disputes
The timeline decides procedure, but when both sides hit their deadlines, the dispute lands exactly where every deposit case lands: what condition was the unit in at move-in versus move-out? Florida's own consumer-services agency advises tenants to document condition with dated photos at move-in — the state is telling you evidence wins. With fee-shifting in play, walking into court with weak evidence isn't just risky; it's how you end up paying the other side's lawyer.
SealMove makes your evidence the strong kind. Every photo and video is cryptographically sealed the instant it's captured, independently timestamped, and locked with Face ID into a tamper-evident archive. At move-out, your walkthrough lines up room-by-room against the sealed baseline — and either party can send the other a report to review and acknowledge, no app needed.