Evicting a Commercial Tenant in Florida: The Process for Removing a Business Tenant

Evicting a commercial tenant in Florida is a statutory process, not a self-help remedy. Chapter 83, Part I of the Florida Statutes governs nonresidential tenancies and gives a landlord one path to possession: file suit, win, and have the clerk issue a writ. Section 83.05 says a landlord recovers possession only through a court action, a surrender, or an abandonment. Changing the locks is none of those.

The process is fast by civil litigation standards and unforgiving about sequence. Most commercial evictions that fail do not fail on the merits. They fail because the wrong notice went out, or because the landlord took a rent check after filing.

What Does the Eviction Process Actually Look Like?

A Florida commercial eviction has five steps: serve the statutory or contractual default notice, file a complaint for possession in the county where the property sits, serve the tenant, obtain judgment, and have the clerk issue a writ to the sheriff.

The entire action is tried under summary procedure, which compresses the tenant’s response window to five days rather than the twenty days a defendant gets in an ordinary civil case.

That speed is the landlord’s principal advantage, and it is why the front end matters. There is no amendment practice to fix a defective notice.

Which Notice Is Required Before Filing?

The answer depends on the ground for removal. Section 83.20, Florida Statutes recognizes three causes for removing a tenant, and each carries a different notice obligation.

Nonpayment of Rent

Nonpayment requires three days’ written notice demanding payment of the rent or possession of the premises. Service is by delivering a true copy to the tenant or, if the tenant is absent, by leaving a copy at the premises.

Section 83.20(2) supplies no statutory form, so borrowing the residential three-day notice is a mistake. It does not list mail as a permitted method, and unlike the residential statute it contains no express exclusion of weekends and holidays.

A Material Breach Other Than Rent

For a non-rent breach, the statute calls for fifteen days’ written notice to cure. Section 83.20(3) applies only when the lease is silent on the subject or when the tenancy is an oral one at will, so a negotiated lease with its own notice-and-cure clause displaces the fifteen-day default entirely.

Serving a statutory fifteen-day notice when the lease prescribes something different can sink the case. Review the monetary and non-monetary default provisions of the lease before drafting anything.

Holding Over After the Term Ends

Section 83.20(1) imposes no notice requirement for a tenant who holds over after the term expires without permission. An expired written lease converts the tenant into a tenant at sufferance under section 83.04, and mere acceptance of rent does not renew the term absent the landlord’s written consent.

A tenancy at will is different and does require advance notice under section 83.03. Our overview of a tenant who holds over after the lease expires covers the distinction, including the landlord’s ability to demand double rent under section 83.06.

Where Is the Case Filed, and How Fast Does It Move?

The complaint is filed in the county where the premises are located, and it is entitled to summary procedure under section 51.011, Florida Statutes. Under section 34.01, Florida Statutes, county court has jurisdiction over money claims up to $50,000 for actions filed on or after January 1, 2023.

Under summary procedure, all defenses must be contained in an answer filed within five days after service of process, and no other pleadings are permitted. Because that period is shorter than seven days, intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays are excluded when counting it.

Discovery is narrower but not closed. Depositions may be taken by any party at any time, while written discovery requires a court order setting the time for compliance. Our discussion of filing the eviction complaint covers the pleading mechanics.

Why the Court Registry Deposit Decides Most Cases

Section 83.232, Florida Statutes requires the tenant to deposit the rent alleged unpaid into the court registry, plus rent accruing during the case. Failure to pay into the registry pursuant to a court order is deemed an absolute waiver of the tenant’s defenses, and the landlord is entitled to an immediate default for possession.

The deadline is not a freestanding five days. It is on or before the date the answer to the possession claim is due, or, if the amount is contested, on the day the court determines it. The statute expressly permits the court to extend those periods upon good cause shown.

If the tenant contests the amount, the hearing is limited to two questions: whether the tenant was properly credited for payments made, and what constitutes rent under the lease. A counterclaim for damages does not excuse the deposit. See Florida’s pay-to-play rent deposit requirement and the defenses a commercial tenant is likely to raise.

What Changed for Eviction Defaults in 2026?

Rule 1.500 of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure was amended effective January 1, 2026. A party seeking a clerk’s default must now file and serve a motion for default after the time for a response has expired, rather than simply requesting entry of a default from the clerk.

Commercial evictions are among the highest-volume default practices in Florida county courts, so this is a workflow change landlords and their counsel should not discover at the courthouse. Local clerk packets may not yet reflect the amendment.

One wrinkle is unresolved. Section 83.232(5) says the landlord is entitled to an immediate default for possession “without further notice or hearing thereon,” while the amended rule calls for a filed and served motion. Courts are still working through how the two fit together, so build the motion practice into the case plan.

How Does the Landlord Regain Possession?

If the issues are found for the landlord, section 83.231 directs entry of a judgment for possession. A money judgment is available only if damages were expressly pleaded, only within the court’s jurisdictional limits, and only where the tenant was personally served. A tenant served by posting under section 83.22 can be evicted but cannot be assessed money damages.

Section 83.241 then directs the clerk to issue a writ commanding the sheriff to put the landlord in possession. Note what the commercial statute does not say: there is no twenty-four hour posted notice requirement. That provision lives in section 83.62(1), which governs residential tenancies. Many sheriffs post anyway as local practice, so confirm the procedure in your county.

Our discussion of the risks of resorting to self-help collects what happens to landlords who retake possession without a writ, and the firm handles unlawful eviction, entry, and detainer claims from both sides.

What Happens to Rent Owed and Property Left Behind?

Possession and money are separate questions. Unpaid rent, accelerated rent, and restoration costs must be pleaded, and mitigation issues follow. See whether the landlord must mitigate its damages and the damages available in a commercial eviction.

Attorney’s fees are not automatic. Section 83.251 awards costs to the prevailing party, and Part I has no prevailing-party fee statute, so fees generally come from the lease.

As for the tenant’s inventory, equipment, and files, there is no commercial equivalent of the residential rule letting a landlord move property to the property line and walk away. A commercial landlord must run the Disposition of Personal Property Landlord and Tenant Act, including written notice and a claim window of at least ten days if hand delivered or fifteen days if mailed. Our post on property the tenant leaves behind walks the procedure.

If the tenant files bankruptcy, the automatic stay halts a pending commercial eviction. The exception in 11 U.S.C. section 362(b)(22) reaches only residential property in which the debtor resides, so a commercial landlord needs stay relief first. See treatment of commercial leases in bankruptcy.

Two Ways Landlords Undercut Their Own Case

First, accepting rent. Section 83.202 provides that accepting the full amount of past due rent with knowledge of the nonpayment waives the right to proceed on an eviction claim for that rent. Conduct inconsistent with reasonably prompt return of a tendered payment counts as acceptance, so sitting on an uncashed check is not a safe harbor.

Second, moving too fast on a tenant with a real dispute. A tenant claiming the premises are untenantable has a statutory withholding path under section 83.201 and may raise a constructive eviction counterclaim. Where the relationship is salvageable, resolving the dispute short of filing suit often preserves more value than a vacant suite.

Talk to a Florida Commercial Eviction Attorney

The statutory sequence for evicting a commercial tenant in Florida rewards preparation and punishes improvisation. Reading the terms of the commercial lease itself before serving any notice is the highest-value hour in the case.

Jimerson Birr represents commercial landlords and tenants across Florida in commercial eviction and commercial landlord-tenant leasing matters, and the related business litigation when a dispute grows beyond possession. For background, see the basics of a commercial eviction.