Florida Eviction Notice
Florida eviction notice: the 3-day pay-or-vacate and 7-day cure-or-vacate rules under Fla. Stat. Section 83.56. Free template. Attorney review available.
Introduction
Florida landlords cannot go straight to court to remove a tenant; Florida Statutes Section 83.56 requires a written notice first, and the type of notice depends on the reason for eviction. Rent nonpayment triggers a 3-day notice to pay or vacate, a count that excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. A curable lease violation, an unauthorized pet, an extra vehicle, an unkempt unit, draws a 7-day notice to cure or vacate. Conduct Florida law treats as too serious for a cure chance, intentional property damage or a continued disturbance, draws a 7-day unconditional notice to vacate instead. The template below is built to be filled out and served on a real Florida tenant, not read as a general summary of state eviction procedure. Florida's own statute does not treat these day counts the same way. Subsection (3), covering the 3-day nonpayment notice, expressly excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays from the count. Subsections (2)(a) and (2)(b), covering both 7-day noncompliance notices, include no comparable exclusion: those 7 days run as ordinary calendar days straight through weekends and holidays. That split sits inside a single statute section, and a landlord who assumes the weekend exclusion applies everywhere will miscount the deadline on either 7-day notice. The wider framework is Florida's Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Florida Statutes Chapter 83, Part II, Sections 83.40 through 83.683, which governs the notice-and-file sequence overall. Florida also holds landlords to the statute's own language: Section 83.56 spells out the substance each notice must contain, and a notice departing materially from that wording gives the tenant grounds to fight it in court. Delivery happens by mail, by handing a copy to the tenant directly, by opt-in e-mail once both sides sign a written addendum, or, when no one's home, by leaving a copy at the residence.
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Key Things to Know
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A written notice always comes before an eviction lawsuit, not alongside it: Florida law requires the landlord to serve one before ever asking a court to remove the tenant.
- 2
One count excludes weekends and holidays; the other two don't, even though all three notices come from the same statute section. The 3-day nonpayment notice skips Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays under Section 83.56(3), while the two 7-day noncompliance notices under Section 83.56(2)(a) and (2)(b) carry no such exclusion and run as calendar days instead.
- 3
For unpaid rent, the clock is 3 days, and only court-observed holidays count as legal holidays, plus Saturdays and Sundays are skipped entirely; the notice itself has to spell out the exact dollar amount owed and name where the tenant can pay it. (Florida Statutes Section 83.56(3))
- 4
Some lease violations get a second chance: an unauthorized pet, guest, or vehicle, or a unit that isn't kept clean and sanitary, triggers a 7-day notice giving the tenant a window to cure before vacating becomes necessary. (Florida Statutes Section 83.56(2)(b))
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Other violations get no second chance at all. Intentional destruction of property and a continued unreasonable disturbance both fall into that category, and both draw a 7-day unconditional notice to vacate, with the cure option removed entirely. (Florida Statutes Section 83.56(2)(a))
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Behind every notice type above sits one statute: the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, codified at Florida Statutes Chapter 83, Part II, Sections 83.40 through 83.683, which lays out both the notice rules and what happens in court if the tenant still doesn't comply.
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Four delivery methods are available, mail, hand delivery, e-mail if both sides signed a written opt-in addendum, or leaving a copy at the residence when the tenant isn't there, and none of them substitute for getting the wording right: Florida requires each notice's substance to substantially match Section 83.56's own statutory language, or a court can void it. (Florida Statutes Section 83.56(4); Section 83.505; Section 83.56(2)(a), (2)(b), (3))
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Eviction Notice in Florida, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Eviction Notice guide walks through them.
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Florida Requirements for Eviction Notice
Notice Period for Nonpayment of Rent (Florida Statutes Section 83.56(3))
3-day notice to pay rent or vacate, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays (legal holidays for this section are court-observed holidays only). The notice must follow the statute's prescribed wording, stating the exact amount owed for rent and use of the premises and where payment may be made.
Statutory Notice Wording Required (Florida Statutes Section 83.56(2)(a), (2)(b), (3))
Florida is a strict-compliance jurisdiction: Section 83.56 prescribes the required wording for the 3-day pay-or-vacate notice and both 7-day noncompliance notices ('shall be in substantially the following form' / 'shall contain a statement in substantially the following form'). A notice that alters, omits, or paraphrases the statutory wording risks being voided by the court.
Service of Notice Requirements (Florida Statutes Section 83.56(4))
Notices may be delivered by mailing a copy to the tenant, by delivering a true copy personally, by e-mail only if landlord and tenant have signed a written addendum agreeing to electronic delivery under Florida Statutes Section 83.505, or, if the tenant is absent from the premises, by leaving a copy at the residence.
Unconditional Notice to Vacate for Incurable Noncompliance (Florida Statutes Section 83.56(2)(a))
7-day notice with no cure option, for noncompliance the tenant should not be given an opportunity to fix, including but not limited to destruction, damage, or misuse of the landlord's or other tenants' property by intentional act, or a subsequent or continued unreasonable disturbance. Also applies when similar noncompliance is a subsequent or continuing violation within 12 months of a prior written warning. This 7-day count runs in calendar days, with no weekend or holiday exclusion stated in the statute.
Notice Period for Curable Lease Violations (Florida Statutes Section 83.56(2)(b))
7-day notice to cure or vacate for a fixable lease violation, such as an unauthorized pet, guest, or vehicle, improper parking, or failing to keep the premises clean and sanitary. Unlike the 3-day nonpayment notice, this 7-day count runs in calendar days: the statute contains no language excluding weekends or holidays for this notice type. If the same or similar noncompliance recurs within 12 months after notice, the landlord may proceed to evict without a further cure notice.
Governing Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Florida Statutes Chapter 83, Part II, Sections 83.40-83.683)
The statutory basis for every notice type on this page and the court process that follows if the tenant does not comply: the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, Florida Statutes Chapter 83, Part II, "Residential Tenancies," Sections 83.40 through 83.683.
No-Cause Termination Notice Period (Florida Statutes Section 83.57)
Distinct from the 3-day and 7-day for-cause notices above: ending a tenancy without a specific term requires written notice of at least 60 days for a year-to-year tenancy, 30 days for a quarter-to-quarter or month-to-month tenancy, or 7 days for a week-to-week tenancy, given prior to the end of the applicable period.