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Free Florida Eviction Complaint (Nonpayment) Worksheet

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Florida Eviction Complaint (Nonpayment) — a free preparation worksheet that organizes the parties, property, three-day-notice facts, rent owed, and relief for a Florida nonpayment eviction. It is a worksheet, not the official county court form.

Nonpayment Eviction Fla. Stat. § 83.56(3) Florida Free PDF Worksheet

A Florida landlord evicting for unpaid rent must first serve a three-day notice to pay rent or vacate under Fla. Stat. § 83.56(3), counting three days but excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. If the tenant does not pay in full, the landlord files a complaint for possession under Fla. Stat. § 83.59 in the county court where the property sits. The tenant is served a summons and, under the summary-procedure rule (Fla. Stat. § 51.011), has five days to answer — and to keep any defense alive must deposit the disputed rent into the court registry under Fla. Stat. § 83.60(2). This tool is a preparation worksheet that organizes those facts; the eviction is filed on the official form used by your county court, and this is not legal advice.

Complete the fields below to generate a Florida nonpayment eviction preparation worksheet as a PDF. Use it to organize your facts and then transfer them to the official county court complaint for possession; keep the lease, the three-day notice, and proof of how it was delivered with your file.

This page gives you a free, fillable preparation worksheet for a Florida eviction based on nonpayment of rent. It is deliberately not styled as a court pleading, because the eviction is filed on the official complaint for possession used by the county court where the property is located. What the worksheet does is make sure that before you sit down with the official form, every fact the court will want is already in one place: who the parties are, where the property is, what the lease says, when and how the three-day notice was served, exactly how much rent is owed, and what relief you are asking for. Getting those facts straight first is what keeps a nonpayment case moving instead of getting dismissed on a technicality. For the surrounding rules, our Florida eviction notice laws guide walks through the notice requirements in more depth, and our Florida security deposit laws guide covers how any deposit is applied and returned when a tenancy ends this way.

Florida gives a landlord one clean path to remove a tenant who has not paid rent, and it runs in a fixed order. First, the landlord serves the tenant a three-day notice to pay rent or vacate under Fla. Stat. § 83.56(3). If the tenant pays the rent in full inside that window, the matter ends. If the tenant does not, the landlord may file a complaint for possession under Fla. Stat. § 83.59 in the county court for the county where the property sits.

Because eviction is a summary proceeding under Fla. Stat. § 51.011, it moves fast. The clerk issues a summons, the tenant is served, and the tenant has five days to file an answer — and those five days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays because the period is shorter than seven days. If the tenant wants to fight the case on any ground other than “I already paid,” Florida law requires the tenant to deposit the disputed rent into the court registry under Fla. Stat. § 83.60(2). A tenant who does not answer, or who answers but skips the registry deposit, generally hands the landlord a fast default. If the landlord wins, the clerk issues a writ of possession to the sheriff under Fla. Stat. § 83.62, and the sheriff — not the landlord — puts the landlord back in possession after a 24-hour posted notice. Our broader Florida landlord-tenant laws overview places this process inside the rest of Chapter 83.

The three-day notice is the foundation of the whole case, and it is where landlords most often go wrong. Fla. Stat. § 83.56(3) sets out the exact demand: the tenant is told the sum owed for rent and the address of the premises, and is given three days to pay the rent or deliver possession. The statute even supplies a model form of words — a demand for “payment of the rent or possession of the premises within 3 days (excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays) from the date of delivery of this notice.”

Counting the three days correctly is critical. You do not count the day the notice is delivered, and you do not count Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays. So a notice delivered on a Thursday, with a Monday holiday, does not expire until the following Thursday. Miscount and give the tenant too few days, and a court can dismiss the case — forcing you to start over with a fresh notice and lose weeks. When in doubt, add a day of cushion rather than risk a short notice.

Once the three-day notice has expired without payment, the landlord’s complaint for possession under Fla. Stat. § 83.59 tells the court a short, specific story. It identifies the plaintiff (the landlord or owner) and the defendant (each tenant on the lease), describes the premises by address and county, and states that a landlord-tenant relationship exists under a lease. It then alleges that rent is due and unpaid, that the required three-day notice was served and expired, and it asks the court for possession of the property. Many landlords also plead a count for the unpaid rent as money damages, which requires separate service and can extend the case.

The complaint must attach the documents that prove those allegations: a copy of the lease and a copy of the three-day notice that was served. This worksheet mirrors that structure — parties, property, lease, notice, rent owed, relief — so that when you complete the official court form nothing is left blank and no supporting document is forgotten.

A Florida nonpayment eviction is filed in the county court for the county where the rental property is located — not where the landlord lives, and not in a neighboring county. The landlord files the complaint for possession together with the lease and the served notice, pays the county’s filing fee, and provides copies for service. Most Florida counties now require electronic filing through the statewide portal, though the exact steps, the fee, and the local cover sheets differ from county to county.

After the complaint is filed, the clerk issues a summons, which is then served on the tenant — usually by the sheriff or a certified process server — along with a copy of the complaint. Service starts the tenant’s five-day answer clock. Because the details of filing and service are set by each court and change over time, confirm the current local requirements with the clerk of court before you file, and keep stamped copies of everything you submit.

The rule that surprises the most people — landlords and tenants alike — is the court registry deposit under Fla. Stat. § 83.60(2). When a tenant wants to raise any defense to a nonpayment eviction other than “the rent was actually paid,” the tenant must deposit into the registry of the court the accrued rent alleged in the complaint (or the amount the court determines), plus rent that comes due while the case is pending. The tenant may instead file a motion asking the court to set the amount, but that motion has to be filed within five days too.

The consequence for missing it is severe and automatic. Under the statute, a tenant who does not pay the rent into the registry — or file the motion to determine the amount — within the required period commits an “absolute waiver” of every defense except payment, and the landlord becomes entitled to an immediate default judgment for possession with a writ of possession to issue without a further hearing. For a tenant, that means a habitability complaint or any other defense simply disappears unless the rent goes into the registry on time. For a landlord, it is often the fastest route to judgment. Either way, the registry deadline is the pivot point of a contested Florida nonpayment case.

• Miscounting the three days. Counting the delivery day, or counting weekends and legal holidays, gives the tenant too few days and can void the notice (§ 83.56(3)).
• Demanding more than rent. Lumping late fees, utilities, or damages into the three-day demand as if they were rent is a classic ground for dismissal — demand rent only.
• Filing before the notice expires. The complaint cannot be filed until the three-day period has fully run without payment.
• Wrong county. Filing anywhere but the county court where the property sits invites dismissal or transfer.
• Defective service. A notice or summons that is not delivered the way the law allows undermines the whole case; keep proof of how and when each was served.
• Using self-help. Changing the locks, removing doors, or shutting off utilities to force a tenant out is prohibited by Fla. Stat. § 83.67 and exposes the landlord to damages.
• Accepting partial rent without care. Taking a partial payment after the notice can, in some situations, undercut the case; document any payment and its effect before you proceed.

• Serve a clean three-day notice that demands rent only and states the correct amount and the property address with county.
• Count the days carefully — skip the delivery day, Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays — and add a cushion when unsure.
• Keep a rent ledger that ties the demanded amount to the actual unpaid rent, so the number in the notice matches the complaint.
• Attach the lease and the notice to the complaint, and file in the correct county court with copies for service.
• Keep proof of service for both the notice and the summons, including the date and method.
• Screen tenants before you rent so you can verify income, rental history, and prior security deposit and eviction records before a lease is ever signed.
• Get help for contested cases from a Florida attorney or the clerk’s self-help center, especially when the tenant raises defenses.

When the worksheet is complete, treat it as your fact sheet, not your filing. Sit down with the official complaint for possession from your county court and copy each fact across: the parties exactly as they appear on the lease, the property with its county, the lease terms, the three-day notice date and how it was served, the rent that is due and owing, and the relief you want. Attach the lease and the served notice as the official form requires, and confirm the current filing fee and e-filing steps with the clerk.

File in the county where the property is located, keep stamped copies of everything, and calendar the key dates: when the tenant is served, when the five-day answer is due, and whether rent has been paid into the registry. If the tenant defaults, you move for judgment and the clerk issues the writ of possession to the sheriff; if the tenant answers and deposits rent, the case is set for a hearing. Throughout, remember that possession is recovered only through the court — never by changing locks or cutting off services — and that a careful notice and clean service are what carry a Florida nonpayment eviction to a clean judgment.

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