Florida landlord-tenant law changes for 2025 and 2026, explained

Two laws changed Florida landlord-tenant practice in 2025: F.S. 83.505, which lets landlords and tenants deliver statutory notices by e-mail once both sign an addendum, effective July 1, 2025, and F.S. 83.512, which requires a separate flood disclosure before any lease of one year or longer, effective October 1, 2025. The only 2026 change to Chapter 83 is HB 1293, which made fraudulent entry of a rental a third-degree felony and a non-curable lease violation starting October 1, 2026. Several larger proposals died in March 2026, and the November 3 ballot question on the non-homestead assessment cap is pending, not law.

What changed in 2025?

The first change is electronic delivery. HB 615, now F.S. 83.505, allows either party to "electronically deliver via an e-mail address any notices required under this part" if both have signed an addendum to the lease that specifically agrees to e-mail delivery, provides a valid address for each side, and states that the election is voluntary and revocable. Under subsection (4), an e-mail notice "is deemed delivered at the time it is sent, unless the e-mail is returned to the sender as undeliverable," and subsection (5) requires the sender to keep a copy and evidence of transmission. F.S. 83.56(4) now lists e-mail for the 3-day and 7-day notices, and F.S. 83.49 allows the deposit disclosure and claim notice to go the same way. A lease clause that says "notices may be sent by e-mail" does not qualify; the statute requires the signed addendum.

The second change is the flood disclosure. F.S. 83.512 says a landlord "must complete and provide a flood disclosure to a prospective tenant of residential real property at or before the execution of a rental agreement for a term of 1 year or longer," and "the flood disclosure must be in a separate document." The form has three checkboxes: knowledge of flooding that damaged the unit during your ownership, any flood insurance claim including the National Flood Insurance Program, and any flood assistance including FEMA aid. If you skip the form and the tenant later suffers a flood loss equal to 50 percent or more of the market value of the tenant's personal property, subsection (2) lets the tenant terminate by written notice and surrender within 30 days of the damage, and you must refund advance rent for the period after termination. Because F.S. 83.49(6) treats a renewal as a new rental agreement for purposes of Part II, the safe practice is a fresh disclosure at every renewal of a year or longer.

What changed in 2026?

One bill. HB 1293, chapter 2026-143, passed the House 110 to 0 and took effect October 1, 2026. It created F.S. 817.537, which says a person may not enter into and take possession of a dwelling unit by knowingly and willfully making a materially false written statement about identity in a rental application, presenting "forged, fictitious, or counterfeit documents" to the landlord "including, but not limited to, a driver license, an identification card, a bank statement, or a paystub," or impersonating the person in whose name the application is submitted. The offense is a third-degree felony.

The same bill amended F.S. 83.56(2)(a). Fraudulent entry under 817.537(2) is now listed among the violations for which the tenant "should not be given an opportunity to cure," and the landlord may act "regardless of whether criminal proceedings have commenced." That means a 7-day notice to vacate, not a 7-day notice to fix. For owners the value is at the front end: document verification at application, covered in How to screen a tenant in Florida without breaking fair housing rules.

Key point: Nothing else in Chapter 83 changed in 2026. If a form vendor or a forum post tells you the rent notice is now 5 days or that deposits must be returned faster, it is wrong. The 2025 e-mail and flood rules plus the 2026 fraudulent-entry rule are the whole list.

Which 2026 bills died?

SB 716 would have stretched the rent demand from 3 days to 5. It died in Senate Judiciary on March 13, 2026, so F.S. 83.56(3) still reads 3 days "excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays," with court-observed holidays only. HB 107, which would have added domestic violence protections to the chapter, died in committee the same day.

The accessory dwelling unit mandate came closest. SB 48 passed the Senate 38 to 0 on February 4, 2026, then died in House messages on March 13; its House companion, HB 313, died in subcommittee, and the ADU language was stripped from HB 1389 before passage. Your city or county zoning code still decides whether you can add a garage apartment or backyard unit. HB 1389 itself, the Live Local Act update, did pass and took effect July 1, 2026, but it mostly matters to multifamily developers.

What 2023 changes still trip owners up?

HB 1417, chapter 2023-314, took effect July 1, 2023, not 2024 as many summaries say. It rewrote F.S. 83.57(3) so that a month-to-month tenancy ends only on "not less than 30 days' notice prior to the end of any monthly period," up from 15. It also set the limits in F.S. 83.575(1): a fixed-term lease "may not require less than 30 days' notice or more than 60 days' notice from either the tenant or the landlord," and only if the lease requires you to give matching non-renewal notice. The same bill preempted local tenant ordinances on these subjects.

HB 133, chapter 2023-181, created F.S. 83.491, the optional fee in lieu of a security deposit, with required disclosures. It is optional, and the deposit timeline in The Florida security deposit timeline, explained for owners is unchanged.

What is still pending?

The constitutional amendment on the November 3, 2026 ballot would cut the assessment cap on non-homestead property, which includes every rental, from 10 percent to 5 percent beginning January 1, 2027. It needs 60 percent approval. Until the votes are counted it is a proposal.

Two federal items sit alongside. The National Flood Insurance Program did not lapse on September 30; Public Law 119-103 extended it to December 11, 2026, which matters for any purchase or refinance of a flood-zone rental this fall. And on May 22, 2026 HUD's fair housing office rescinded its 2020 assistance animal guidance, but F.S. 760.27 still governs emotional support animal requests in Florida; the details are in Service animals, ESAs and pets in Florida rentals: what you can ask.

What this means in Central Florida and on the Space Coast

The flood disclosure lands hardest in Brevard County. Citizens Property Insurance carried 6,986 Brevard policies at an average premium of $2,348 in April 2026, against $1,409 in Orange County, according to Citizens county detail reported by Momentum Research, a gap that tracks flood and wind exposure on the barrier islands. If you own in Merritt Island, Cocoa Beach or Satellite Beach, answer the three flood questions from your records, because a wrong answer can cost you the lease and a rent refund after a storm.

In Orange, Seminole, Osceola and Lake counties the e-mail addendum is the change with daily value. Tenants in the Central Florida market move often and leave forwarding addresses late; a signed addendum means the claim notice is delivered the moment it is sent. On the Space Coast, military households on orders benefit the same way.

Next step

Pull your current lease packet and check for three documents: the F.S. 83.505 addendum, the separate F.S. 83.512 flood disclosure, and 83.56 notice forms that reflect the October 1, 2026 language. Sea Dog's lease packet includes all three, and the start management page explains how an existing lease is brought over without disturbing the tenant.