Free Florida Pet Agreement Addendum

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Free Florida Pet Agreement Addendum — overview

A Florida Pet Agreement Addendum is a bilateral lease addendum under Florida Statute Chapter 83 authorizing specific named pets in the rental property. Florida adds state-level protections (Fla. Stat. §760.27) for emotional support animals beyond the federal Fair Housing Act.

Complete the Pet Agreement Addendum

Complete the form below to generate a comprehensive Florida Pet Agreement Addendum. The form produces a multi-page PDF including pet identification, rules, fee structure, and signature blocks. Both parties must sign for the addendum to take effect.

About the Florida Pet Agreement Addendum

A Florida pet agreement addendum modifies the existing lease to authorize specific pets with agreed-upon rules, fees, and responsibilities. Florida Statute Chapter 83 governs the broader landlord-tenant relationship. Florida is notable for having TWO layers of protection for assistance animals: the federal Fair Housing Act and Florida Statute §760.27 (the ‘ESA Law,’ enacted 2020). Under §760.27, landlords may not deny ESAs based on breed, weight, or species, may not charge ESA fees, and may not require special training certificates. Landlords MAY require reliable documentation from a licensed health care practitioner. The law also penalizes false ESA claims by tenants.

Florida Pet Addendum Framework

• State law: Florida Statute Chapter 83 (landlord-tenant)
• Federal law: 42 U.S.C. §3604 (Fair Housing Act) for service animals + ESAs
• Florida ESA law: Fla. Stat. §760.27 (2020) – state-level ESA protections
• Pet deposits/fees/rent: permitted, not capped statutorily
• Reasonable accommodation: required for assistance animals; may request licensed practitioner documentation for ESAs

What This Document Covers

• Identifies specific authorized pets with details
• Sets pet deposit, pet fee, and/or pet rent amounts
• Establishes Florida-specific pet rules
• Allocates responsibility for pet-related damage
• Carves out service animals and ESAs (federal FHA + Fla. Stat. §760.27)
• Both parties sign – addendum becomes part of lease

Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals — Federal Protections

Under the Federal Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. §3604(f)), service animals trained to perform tasks for a person with a disability, and emotional support animals prescribed by a licensed healthcare provider, are handled as reasonable accommodations rather than as pets where the accommodation may be necessary to give a person with a disability equal opportunity to use and enjoy the dwelling. Where that is so, they are not subject to pet fees, pet deposits, pet rent, breed restrictions, weight limits, or species restrictions. A landlord may request documentation of the disability and the disability-related need where these are not obvious, but may not require special training certificates for ESAs or charge fees. The Department of Justice administers ADA protections for service animals in public accommodations; HUD administers FHA protections for housing.

Best Practices

Florida landlords should be particularly careful about ESA accommodations – state law (§760.27) adds penalties for both improper denial AND fraudulent claims. Document the interactive process: tenant’s request, what documentation was reviewed (licensed health care practitioner letter recommended), and the decision. For true pets, document identification thoroughly at lease signing (photo, microchip, vaccinations). Florida HOAs and condo associations may have their own pet restrictions in addition to landlord rules – check governing documents.

Related Resources

• Florida landlord tenant laws
• Florida habitability laws
• Florida security deposit laws
• Florida eviction notice laws
• Florida late fee laws
• Lease termination laws by state

Does Florida cap pet deposits, pet fees, or pet rent?

No. Florida sets no statutory dollar limit on a security deposit, a pet deposit, a pet fee, or pet rent. Part II of Chapter 83, Florida Statutes, contains no cap provision, and Fla. Stat. § 83.49 regulates how deposit money is held and returned rather than how much may be collected. The amount is a matter of contract, so the real Florida risk is procedural: not charging too much, but holding the pet money wrongly or missing a deadline in Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3).

How does Fla. Stat. § 83.49 apply to a Florida pet deposit?

A refundable pet deposit is deposit money under Florida law and is handled exactly like any other security deposit. Fla. Stat. § 83.43(4) defines “deposit money” to include, in its own words, “damage deposits, security deposits, advance rent deposit, pet deposit, or any contractual deposit agreed to between landlord and tenant either in writing or orally.” Calling it a pet deposit changes nothing.

Under Fla. Stat. § 83.49(1) the landlord must hold that money in a separate non-interest-bearing Florida account, in a separate interest-bearing Florida account paying the tenant the interest the statute specifies, or post a surety bond with the clerk of the circuit court. Commingling the pet deposit with operating funds is what § 83.49(1) forbids. The deadlines apply to the pet portion too:

• Disclosure. Fla. Stat. § 83.49(2) requires the written deposit notice in the lease itself or within 30 days after receiving the deposit. That subsection does not apply to a landlord renting fewer than five individual dwelling units.
• No claim. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a), the deposit must be returned within 15 days after termination of the rental agreement.
• Claim. Written notice of the intent to claim and the reason must reach the tenant within 30 days after termination. Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(a) states that a landlord who misses that window forfeits the right to impose a claim on the deposit.
• Objection. Under Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(b) the tenant has 15 days after receiving the notice to object, and the landlord must remit any balance within 30 days after the date of the notice.

Fla. Stat. § 83.49(3)(c) awards court costs and a reasonable attorney fee to the prevailing party in a deposit dispute.

Deposit, fee, and pet rent compared under Florida law

Is there a Florida fee in lieu of a security deposit?

Yes, and its section number is Fla. Stat. § 83.491, which lets a Florida landlord offer a tenant the option of paying a fee instead of a security deposit. Section 83.491(6) states that such a fee is not a security deposit. It carries its own written-agreement, disclosure, and 30-day post-tenancy notice duties, applies to rental agreements entered into or renewed on or after July 1, 2023, and is optional for the landlord under § 83.491(7). It substitutes for the deposit; it is not a licence to relabel pet charges.

What is a Florida landlord’s exposure if a tenant’s dog bites someone?

Florida imposes strict liability on the dog’s owner. Fla. Stat. § 767.04 makes the owner of a dog that bites a person in a public place, or lawfully in a private place including the owner’s own property, liable for the damages “regardless of the former viciousness of the dog or the owners’ knowledge of such viciousness.” Comparative negligence by the bitten person reduces that liability proportionally, and the narrow “Bad Dog” sign defence in § 767.04 does not reach a child under the age of 6 or a negligent owner.

Fla. Stat. § 767.11(4) defines “owner” broadly, reaching anyone possessing, harboring, keeping, or having control or custody of an animal. A Florida landlord who does not keep or control the animal is generally not that owner, but a landlord who takes control of a tenant’s animal invites the argument. A dog classified as dangerous under Fla. Stat. § 767.12 must be registered, confined in a proper enclosure, microchipped, and sterilized, and its owner must carry liability insurance of at least $100,000.

Fla. Stat. § 767.14 bars Florida local governments and public housing authorities from adopting dog regulations specific to breed, weight, or size. That restrains local government, not a private lease, so breed limits in a Florida pet addendum are a contract and insurance question. Landlord policies frequently exclude named breeds, and that exclusion, not a statute, is usually why a Florida landlord declines a particular dog. Check your carrier’s animal exclusions before authorizing a pet, draft the addendum to match, and require proof of renter’s insurance covering the animal wherever the lease requires renter’s insurance.

One Florida boundary applies throughout: an assistance animal is not a pet, so no pet deposit, fee, or pet rent may be imposed on it through this addendum. Fla. Stat. § 413.08(6)(b) provides that an individual with a disability who has a service animal may not be required to pay extra compensation for that animal in housing, and Fla. Stat. § 760.27(2) says the same for an emotional support animal.

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