Florida Double Rent for Tenant Holdover (Fla. Stat. s. 83.58)

If a Florida tenant stays after the rental agreement expires "without the permission of the landlord," Fla. Stat. s. 83.58 lets the landlord recover possession in the manner provided in s. 83.59 and also recover double the rent due for the period the tenant refuses to surrender possession. The statute turns on permission. It does not say whether accepting rent counts as permission.

What s. 83.58 says

The full text reads: "If the tenant holds over and continues in possession of the dwelling unit or any part thereof after the expiration of the rental agreement without the permission of the landlord, the landlord may recover possession of the dwelling unit in the manner provided for in s. 83.59. The landlord may also recover double the amount of rent due on the dwelling unit, or any part thereof, for the period during which the tenant refuses to surrender possession."

So the section applies when:

• the rental agreement has expired,
• the tenant continues in possession of the unit or any part of it, and
• the landlord has not given permission.

The two remedies

1. Possession. Section 83.59(2) has the landlord file "in the county court of the county where the premises are situated a complaint describing the dwelling unit and stating the facts that authorize its recovery." It also says "A landlord's agent is not permitted to take any action other than the initial filing of the complaint, unless the landlord's agent is an attorney."
2. Double rent. The landlord "may also recover" double the rent due. Chapter 83 does not say whether to claim it in the possession complaint or separately, or how to compute it for a partial month. Unless otherwise agreed, "rent is uniformly apportionable from day to day" (s. 83.46(1)).

Worked example

A 12-month lease runs through December 31, 2026, at $1,500 a month. The landlord has given no permission to stay. The tenant remains and refuses to surrender possession until Tuesday, January 5, 2027, five days into a 31-day month. Reading "double the amount of rent due" with the day-to-day apportionment in s. 83.46(1), the rent for those 5 days is $1,500 × 5 / 31 = $241.94, and double is $483.87. If the tenant refused to surrender for all of January, double would be $3,000. The statute prescribes no formula, and the lease may provide otherwise, so treat the figure as an illustration.

Is a termination notice needed?

Sections 83.58 and 83.59 do not themselves mention a termination notice before a holdover possession action. The 3-day notice in s. 83.56(3) is the notice for failure to pay rent when due.

But a lease with a specific duration may contain a nonrenewal-notice provision under s. 83.575(1). A lease "may contain" such a provision "if such provision also requires the landlord to notify the tenant in a manner prescribed by s. 83.56(4) within such notice period if the rental agreement will not be renewed." The same subsection says "A rental agreement may not require less than 30 days' notice or more than 60 days' notice from either the tenant or the landlord." Read your lease for such a clause before relying on s. 83.58. Chapter 83 does not state what follows if a landlord skips a notice the lease requires. The history line of s. 83.575 lists s. 6, ch. 2025-16.

Accepting rent: s. 83.56(5)(a)

Under s. 83.56(5)(a), a landlord who accepts rent "with actual knowledge of a noncompliance by the tenant" waives the right "to terminate the rental agreement or to bring a civil action for that noncompliance, but not for any subsequent or continuing noncompliance." The same paragraph adds: "However, a landlord does not waive the right to terminate the rental agreement or to bring a civil action for that noncompliance by accepting partial rent for the period."

Section 83.56(5)(a) is written around "noncompliance." Section 83.58 is written around permission. Chapter 83 does not say whether rent accepted after expiration is permission under s. 83.58. Ask a Florida attorney before taking post-expiration rent from a tenant you intend to remove.

If the tenant stays with permission

Section 83.575(3) covers a different situation: "If the tenant remains on the premises with the permission of the landlord after the rental agreement has terminated and fails to give notice required under s. 83.57(3), the tenant is liable to the landlord for an additional 1 month's rent."

The cross-reference is to the month-to-month notice in s. 83.57(3): written notice "by giving not less than 30 days' notice prior to the end of any monthly period." Section 83.58 speaks of staying "without the permission of the landlord"; s. 83.575(3) speaks of staying "with the permission of the landlord." They are separate provisions. Where a rental agreement has no provision on duration, s. 83.46(2) sets the duration by the period for which rent is payable.

Common mistakes

• Treating double rent as automatic. The statute says the landlord "may also recover" it.
• Serving the nonpayment 3-day notice for a holdover.
• Ignoring a nonrenewal-notice clause the lease contains (s. 83.575(1)).
• Taking rent after expiration without asking whether it is permission, and without checking the partial-rent rule in s. 83.56(5)(a).
• Mixing up s. 83.58 (without permission: double rent) with s. 83.575(3) (with permission: an additional 1 month's rent for missing the s. 83.57(3) notice).

Chapter 83 leaves court procedure, fees, and local forms to the court. Ask the county court clerk, and see a Florida landlord-tenant attorney before filing or before accepting any payment from a tenant you are removing.

Sources

• Fla. Stat. s. 83.58 — Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes
• Fla. Stat. s. 83.59 — Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes
• Fla. Stat. s. 83.57 — Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes
• Fla. Stat. s. 83.575 — Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes
• Fla. Stat. s. 83.56 — Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes
• Fla. Stat. s. 83.46 — Florida Senate, 2026 Florida Statutes

Related guides

• Florida Security Deposit Deadline Calculator (2026) (free tool)
• Florida Security Deposit Law: The 15-Day / 30-Day Timeline (2026)
• Florida Notice of Intent to Claim a Security Deposit (Template)
• What Happens if a Florida Landlord Misses the 30-Day Deposit Deadline
• Florida 3-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Vacate: Form, Counting, Service
• Florida 7-Day Notice: Cure vs. Unconditional Quit
• Did Florida Change the 3-Day Notice to 5 Days? (SB 716, 2026)
• Can Florida Landlords Send Legal Notices by E-mail? (s. 83.505)
• Florida Landlord Entry Rules: Notice Before Entering (s. 83.53)
• Florida Month-to-Month Lease: Notice to End the Tenancy (s. 83.57)
• Florida Lockouts, Utility Shutoffs and Prohibited Landlord Practices
• Florida Landlord Repair Duty and the Tenant's Rent Defense (s. 83.60)
• Florida Preempts Local Landlord-Tenant Rules: What s. 83.425 Covers
• Florida Tenant Registry Deposit Rule (Fla. Stat. s. 83.60)
• Florida Writ of Possession: The 24-Hour Rule (Fla. Stat. s. 83.62)
• Void Lease Clauses in Florida Rentals (Fla. Stat. s. 83.47)

Informational only, not legal advice. Statute text checked against the 2026 Florida Statutes (Chapter 83, Part II) on October 4, 2026. Statutes change every legislative session and a court may read them differently than a summary does; for a dispute, an eviction or anything expensive to get wrong, talk to a Florida landlord-tenant attorney.