DocDraft Logo

Florida Roommate Agreement

The Florida reality that shapes this contract: no lodger law, no roommate-sharing statute, and no joint-liability default, so the written agreement is what actually governs.

Find out where you stand in Florida

Where are you with your roommate arrangement?

DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.

Introduction

A roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants who share a home. It is separate from the lease: it does not bind the landlord, does not change who the landlord can collect rent from, and does not give either roommate any right against the landlord that the lease itself does not already give. In Florida, Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes (the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act) never uses the words "roommate," "cotenant," "sublet," or "joint and several." There is no Florida lodger-removal law, no statutory right to add a roommate, and no default rule for splitting rent liability or a security deposit between roommates. That means your written roommate agreement, not a state statute, is what actually controls how you and your roommates share the home. Some Florida counties, such as Miami-Dade, layer on their own local rules that can matter for other parts of your situation, such as roommate selection, so do not assume state law is the only law that applies.

Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    Florida has no statute addressing roommates at all. Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes never uses the words "roommate," "cotenant," or "sublet," so your written agreement is the only thing that governs rent splits, chores, and move-out terms between you and your roommates.

  2. 2

    Florida has no lodger law like California's, and no police or sheriff-assisted way to remove a roommate as a trespasser. A roommate who pays rent, even under an oral arrangement, is a statutory tenant under Fla. Stat. 83.43(17). The only non-judicial-sounding tool in Florida law, Chapter 82 unlawful detainer, works only against someone who pays no rent and has no rental agreement at all; a paying roommate can be removed only through the Chapter 83 eviction process.

  3. 3

    Removing an unwanted roommate in Florida is not fast or simple. A roommate who pays rent, even informally, is a statutory tenant, and Chapter 83's eviction remedies run to the landlord, not to a fellow roommate, so it is unclear whether a leaseholder can personally use Chapter 83 to remove a paying co-occupant, and no Florida statute or court decision resolves it. A roommate who pays no rent and has no rental agreement at all can be removed only through the separate Chapter 82 unlawful detainer court process, which requires no advance notice but is still a lawsuit, not self-help, and changing the locks or removing belongings is never a safe alternative to a court process.

  4. 4

    Florida sets no default on whether roommates share rent liability equally or only for their own portion. Chapter 83 never uses the phrase "joint and several." Whatever the lease says controls, so your roommate agreement should state, in writing, how you divide responsibility if one roommate stops paying.

  5. 5

    Florida law does not split the security deposit for you. Fla. Stat. 83.49 tells the landlord how to hold and account for a deposit, but it says nothing about dividing that money among multiple tenants, so your agreement should set the split and the move-out process yourselves.

  6. 6

    Florida does not shut out every local rule that can affect roommates. Miami-Dade County's human rights ordinance (County Code 11A-12) bans roommate-selection discrimination on a much longer list of traits than state or federal law, including sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and source of income, and it applies to an ordinary tenant choosing a roommate. Other Florida counties and cities are not confirmed to have similar ordinances, so check local rules if you rent outside Miami-Dade.

  7. 7

    A Florida roommate agreement never binds the landlord. It is a contract between you and your roommates only. It does not require the landlord to recognize a new occupant, does not change who is on the lease, and does not override any landlord-consent clause the lease already contains.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Roommate Agreement in Florida, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.

Open the Roommate Agreement guide

Customize your Roommate Agreement Template with DocDraft

Florida Roommate Agreement (Compact State Terms)

This compact set states the Florida-specific terms of a Roommate Agreement. Because Florida has no roommate-specific statute, use it with the full national Roommate Agreement template, which contains the general provisions on parties, rent splitting, shared expenses, chores, guests, and quiet hours that Florida law leaves entirely to the parties.

1. Governing Law. This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. This Agreement is a contract between the undersigned co-tenants only. It does not bind the landlord, does not modify the Lease, and does not obligate the landlord to recognize any Roommate as a tenant.

2. No Statutory Right to Add or Remove a Roommate. No Florida statute gives a tenant a right to add a roommate over the landlord's objection. Fla. Stat. ch. 83, Part II, does not use the words "roommate," "cotenant," or "sublet," and sets no lighter removal process for a roommate than the court process described in Section 3. Whether a new occupant is added, and on what terms, is governed entirely by the Lease and this Agreement.

3. Removal of a Roommate Requires a Court Process. Florida has no police or sheriff-assisted way to remove a Roommate as a trespasser. A Roommate who pays rent, even under an oral arrangement, is a statutory tenant under Fla. Stat. 83.43(17), and Chapter 83's eviction remedies run to the landlord, not to a fellow Roommate, so removing that Roommate should be assumed to require a formal court process, most likely eviction under Fla. Stat. ch. 83, and no Florida statute confirms a faster route. A Roommate who pays no rent and has no rental agreement at all may instead be removed only through the Chapter 82 unlawful detainer court process (Fla. Stat. 82.03), which requires no advance notice but is still a lawsuit, not self-help. No Party shall change the locks, remove another Party's belongings, shut off utilities, or otherwise attempt self-help removal.

4. Rent Liability Among Roommates. Florida sets no default rule for whether co-tenants are liable to the landlord for the whole rent or only their own share; Chapter 83 never uses the phrase "joint and several." The Parties agree that, as between themselves, each Roommate is responsible for the following share of total rent: [insert each Roommate's share]. This section governs only the Roommates' obligations to each other and does not change any Party's liability to the landlord under the Lease.

5. Security Deposit Between Roommates. Fla. Stat. 83.49 governs only the landlord's handling of a deposit (escrow, interest, and move-out accounting); it does not apportion the deposit among multiple tenants. The Parties agree the security deposit shall be contributed and, on move-out, returned among themselves as follows: [insert split and process], regardless of how the landlord returns the deposit under Section 83.49.

6. Local Ordinances. No Florida statute confirms that state law preempts every local ordinance touching the landlord-tenant relationship, and Miami-Dade County has its own human rights ordinance addressing roommate selection. This Agreement governs only the Parties' rent, deposit, and household terms; it does not adopt or override any local ordinance, and the Parties remain responsible for complying with applicable local rules separately.

7. Execution. This Agreement is effective when signed by all Roommates. Florida law does not require notarization or witnesses for this Agreement to be enforceable between the Parties.

This compact Florida set supplements the national Roommate Agreement template. It is general information, not legal advice; attorney review is available.

Florida Requirements for Roommate Agreement

Florida Has No Statutory Removal Shortcut

Florida has no police or sheriff-assisted way to remove a roommate as a trespasser. A paying roommate is a statutory tenant under Fla. Stat. 83.43(17), and Chapter 83's eviction remedies run to the landlord, not to a fellow roommate, so removing that roommate should be assumed to require a formal court process, most likely under Fla. Stat. ch. 83, and no Florida statute confirms a faster route. A roommate who pays no rent and has no rental agreement can be removed only through a separate Chapter 82 unlawful detainer lawsuit (Fla. Stat. 82.03). Do not include self-help removal language.

Florida Sets No Joint-and-Several Default

Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes never addresses whether co-tenants are jointly and severally liable for rent. The roommate agreement should state each roommate's share explicitly, separate from whatever liability the Lease itself creates toward the landlord.

Florida Does Not Apportion the Security Deposit

Fla. Stat. 83.49 governs only the landlord's handling of a security deposit, not how it is split among roommates. Include a clause setting each roommate's contribution and the move-out division.

Local Ordinances Are Not Confirmed Preempted

No Florida statute confirms that state law preempts every local ordinance touching the landlord-tenant relationship, and Miami-Dade County has its own human rights ordinance covering roommate selection with a broader protected-class list than state law. Do not state that no local ordinance applies statewide; note that county rules can matter separately from this Agreement's terms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. A Florida roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants, enforceable like any other contract under Florida law. It does not bind the landlord and does not change the Lease; it only governs the relationship between the roommates who sign it.

No. Florida has no lodger law and no sheriff or police-assisted way to remove a paying roommate. A roommate who pays rent, even informally, is a statutory tenant, and Chapter 83's eviction process runs to the landlord, not to a fellow roommate, so exactly how one roommate removes another through the courts is not clearly settled under Florida law. A roommate who pays no rent at all and has no rental agreement can be removed only through a separate Chapter 82 unlawful detainer lawsuit. Self-help removal is never a safe option; talk to a Florida attorney before trying to remove a roommate who will not leave.

No. Florida has no statute like New York's Roommate Law giving a tenant a right to add an occupant. Whether you can add a roommate, and whether the landlord must consent, depends entirely on the terms of your Lease.

Florida statutes set no default rule on this. Fla. Stat. ch. 83 never uses the phrase joint and several liability, so whether each roommate owes the full rent or only a share depends on what the Lease and your roommate agreement say, not on state law.

No. Fla. Stat. 83.49 only tells the landlord how to hold and account for a security deposit; it does not divide that money among multiple tenants. Your roommate agreement should set the split and the move-out process yourselves.

Yes, at least in Miami-Dade. Miami-Dade County's human rights ordinance (County Code 11A-12) bans roommate-selection discrimination based on a longer list of traits than state or federal law, including sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and source of income, and it applies to an ordinary tenant choosing a roommate there. Broward, Orange (Orlando), and Hillsborough (Tampa) Counties are reported to have similar human rights ordinances, but that has not been individually confirmed, so check local county rules if you rent outside Miami-Dade.

No Florida statute requires notarization or witnesses for a roommate agreement to be enforceable between the parties. Signatures from all roommates are enough to make it a binding contract.

No. A roommate agreement is a separate contract between co-tenants; it cannot alter the Lease or bind the landlord. Any term that conflicts with the Lease, such as who is allowed to occupy the unit, is controlled by the Lease, not this Agreement.