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Free Florida Eviction Complaint (Nonpayment of Rent)

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Florida Eviction Complaint — Nonpayment of Rent — organize the complaint for possession and the past-due rent after a 3-day notice under F.S. § 83.56(3) expires. A preparation worksheet, not the official court form.

Nonpayment of Rent F.S. § 83.56(3) Possession + Money Free PDF

A Florida eviction for nonpayment of rent is really two claims in one case: the landlord asks the court for possession of the unit and for a money judgment for the past-due rent. It starts with a written 3-day notice to pay rent or vacate under F.S. § 83.56(3), whose 3 days are counted excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays. When the notice expires without full payment, the landlord files a complaint for possession under F.S. § 83.59 and, in the same action, seeks the unpaid rent as a money judgment under F.S. § 83.625. If the tenant fights the case, the court registry rule in F.S. § 83.60(2) requires the disputed rent to be paid into the court. This worksheet organizes every piece of that money-and-possession claim; it is not the official court form and not legal advice.

Complete the fields below to generate a preparation worksheet for a Florida eviction complaint based on nonpayment of rent. The worksheet organizes the parties, the property, the 3-day notice, the rent and damages claimed, and the relief requested — ready to transfer onto the official county court complaint. It is not the official court form and does not itself start a case.

A Florida eviction for nonpayment of rent is the landlord’s remedy when a tenant does not pay the rent due under the lease. Unlike an eviction for a lease breach other than rent, this action turns on a single, provable fact: money owed and not paid. That is what makes the money side so central. The complaint does not merely ask a court to remove the tenant; it also asks for a judgment for the rent that piled up while the tenant stayed without paying. Both requests live in one case, and Florida’s landlord-tenant statutes in Chapter 83 set out how each is proved.

Because the whole case rests on the rent figure, accuracy matters more here than anywhere else in a Florida eviction. The amount in the 3-day notice, the amount in the complaint, and the amount your ledger supports should all agree. If they drift apart — because a late charge crept into the rent total, or a partial payment was not credited — the tenant gains an argument and the court may pause the case to sort it out. The worksheet above keeps the rent, the added rent, and any lease-allowed charges in separate lines for exactly this reason.

The path from missed rent to a judgment follows a fixed order, and each step feeds the next. First, the rent becomes due and the tenant does not pay. Second, the landlord delivers a written 3-day notice to pay rent or vacate. Third, the 3 days — counted without Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays — run out without full payment. Only then may the landlord file the complaint for possession and the past-due rent. A court will look backward through that sequence, so a defect early on (a bad notice, a wrong amount) undermines everything that follows.

Florida evictions move under a fast track called summary procedure (Chapter 51), which is why possession cases resolve quickly when the paperwork is clean. Once the tenant is served, a short window opens for a response. If the tenant does nothing, the landlord can seek a default; if the tenant answers, the case turns on whether the notice, the amount, and the service were all correct — and on whether the tenant met the court registry rule discussed below. The money judgment for the unpaid rent rides along in the same case, so a single clean filing can produce both possession and a rent judgment.

Throughout, Florida forbids self-help: a landlord may not change the locks, remove the tenant’s belongings, or shut off utilities to force a move-out. The only lawful route to possession is the court process. A landlord who takes matters into their own hands can face liability that dwarfs the unpaid rent, which is another reason to treat the complaint — and this worksheet — as the disciplined, documented path.

The 3-day notice under F.S. § 83.56(3) is the gateway to a nonpayment eviction, and it is where more cases fail than anywhere else. The notice must be in writing, name the amount of rent owed, identify the premises, and demand payment of the rent or possession within 3 days. The statute’s own sample language tells the tenant they must pay the rent or deliver possession “within 3 days (excluding Saturday, Sunday, and legal holidays) from the date of delivery of this notice.”

Counting those 3 days is the part landlords most often get wrong. The day the notice is delivered does not count. You then count forward 3 days, skipping every Saturday, Sunday, and legal holiday. A notice handed over on a Thursday, for example, commonly does not expire until the middle of the following week once the weekend is skipped. Filing even one day early can void the case, so it is safer to add a cushion day than to risk a short count. The amount demanded should be the rent, and only the rent — folding a late charge into the rent figure is a classic way to make the notice defective.

Here is the money side that sets this action apart. A Florida landlord does not have to choose between getting the unit back and getting paid — the law lets the landlord pursue both in one case. Possession is claimed under F.S. § 83.59, the right-of-action statute, using the county court summary procedure. The unpaid rent is claimed as a money judgment under F.S. § 83.625, which directs the court, when it awards possession, to enter a money judgment “for the amount of money found due, owing, and unpaid,” together with costs, when service and the rules are satisfied.

In practice the two requests are pleaded as separate counts: a count for possession and a count for damages (the unpaid rent). Keeping them distinct matters because they are proved a little differently and because the registry rule below is measured against the rent count specifically. The damages count should track the rent stated in the 3-day notice, plus any rent that came due after the notice was served, plus any charges the lease actually allows. A landlord who wins can also recover court costs, and attorney’s fees when the lease or a statute provides for them.

One special case sharpens the money angle further. Under F.S. § 83.58, if a tenant stays in possession after the rental agreement has expired without the landlord’s permission — a bad-faith holdover — the landlord may recover double the amount of rent due for the holdover period, on top of possession. Double rent is a holdover remedy, not an ordinary nonpayment remedy, so it applies only when the term itself has ended and the tenant refuses to leave. The worksheet flags it as an optional relief item precisely so it is not claimed by mistake in a routine nonpayment case.

The court registry rule is the feature that most distinguishes a Florida nonpayment case, and it strongly favors a landlord with clean paperwork. Under F.S. § 83.60(2), once the tenant is served, a tenant who wants to raise any defense other than payment — including the defense that the 3-day notice was defective — must pay the accrued rent alleged in the complaint into the registry of the court, or file a motion to have the court set the amount, within 5 days, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays, after service of process.

The consequence of missing that deadline is severe for the tenant. The statute states that failing to pay the rent into the registry, or to timely move to set the amount, “constitutes an absolute waiver of the tenant’s defenses other than payment,” and the landlord “is entitled to an immediate default judgment for removal of the tenant with a writ of possession to issue without further notice or hearing.” In other words, a tenant who wants their day in court on a defense generally has to put the disputed rent on the table first.

This rule is why the rent figure in the complaint must be exactly right. The registry amount is measured by the accrued rent alleged in the complaint, so overstating it can invite a motion to determine the amount, and understating it can leave money on the table. Keeping the past-due rent as its own line — separate from late charges or other damages — makes the registry number clean and the landlord’s position strong. If the tenant does deposit the rent and litigates a genuine defense, the deposited funds are held by the court and disbursed with the final judgment.

A Florida nonpayment eviction is filed in the county court for the county where the property is located, under the Chapter 51 summary-procedure rules. The landlord files the complaint for possession with the damages count, pays the county filing fee, and files the 3-day notice, the lease, and a rent ledger as the supporting record. Many Florida clerks require electronic filing, and several offer a self-help center that can point a landlord to the correct official complaint form; the worksheet on this page is designed to make that transfer quick and accurate.

After filing, the tenant must be served with the summons and complaint by a sheriff or a certified process server. Proper service is what starts the tenant’s response clock and the 5-day registry clock, so service defects are a common reason a case stalls. Once service is complete and proof is filed, the landlord watches the calendar: if the tenant does not respond and does not deposit rent, a default and writ of possession can follow; if the tenant answers, the court sets the matter for hearing. Because acceptance of the full rent with knowledge of the default can waive the eviction under F.S. § 83.56(5), a landlord who receives money after filing should give a receipt and account for it carefully rather than simply banking it.

• Miscounting the 3 days. Including a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, or counting the day of delivery, shortens the notice and can void the case (F.S. § 83.56(3)).
• Wrong dollar amount. Demanding an amount that does not match the ledger, or lumping late charges into the rent figure, gives the tenant a defense and muddies the registry amount.
• Filing before the notice expires. The complaint cannot be filed until the 3-day period has fully run without payment.
• Defective service. A bad delivery of the notice, or improper service of process, resets or derails the case and the 5-day registry clock.
• Accepting full rent, then proceeding. Taking the full amount owed with knowledge of the default can waive the eviction under F.S. § 83.56(5); partial rent does not, but must be receipted and accounted for.
• Using self-help. Changing locks, removing belongings, or cutting utilities is unlawful and exposes the landlord to liability far larger than the unpaid rent.
• Claiming double rent by mistake. Double rent under F.S. § 83.58 is a holdover remedy; asserting it in a routine nonpayment case is an error.

• Serve an exact 3-day notice that demands rent only and counts the 3 days without Saturdays, Sundays, or legal holidays.
• Keep a running rent ledger so the notice amount, the complaint amount, and the registry amount all agree.
• Plead both counts — possession under F.S. § 83.59 and the past-due rent under F.S. § 83.625 — in the same case.
• Separate rent from other charges so the registry deposit under F.S. § 83.60(2) is measured against a clean rent figure.
• Retain proof of delivery of the notice and proof of service of process, and file both with the court.
• Handle any payment carefully — receipt partial rent, never accept full rent as a settlement unless you intend to drop the case (F.S. § 83.56(5)).
• Screen future tenants thoroughly — verifying income, rental history, and prior eviction filings up front is the cheapest way to avoid the next nonpayment case.
• Consult counsel for a contested case or any unusual, subsidized, or high-value tenancy.

Once the worksheet is complete, it becomes your transfer sheet. Sit down with the official Florida county court complaint for possession and its damages count and copy the organized details across — the parties, the property, the 3-day notice date and delivery, the rent claimed, and the relief requested. Because the worksheet keeps rent, added rent, and lease-allowed charges on separate lines, the numbers slot cleanly into the possession count and the money count without cross-contaminating the registry figure.

Keep the worksheet with the underlying record — the lease, the 3-day notice, the proof of delivery, and the rent ledger — as a single package. If the tenant answers and invokes the registry rule, that package is what lets you show the court the accrued rent alleged and respond quickly. And when the case ends, the same discipline that produced a clean filing — exact dates, an accurate ledger, and separated charges — is what supports both the writ of possession and the money judgment. This worksheet is a preparation tool; the official court forms and current local rules always control the filing itself.

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