Florida splits a landlord's repair duty in two. One set of duties applies to every rental. A second set applies to apartments and other buildings, and not to a single family home or duplex.
Florida landlord repair obligations come from section 83.51 of the Florida Statutes. Every landlord must follow local building, housing and health codes. Where no code applies, the landlord keeps the structure sound and the plumbing working. Other buildings carry more duties. There, the landlord also covers pest control, locks and keys, common areas, garbage, winter heat, running water and hot water. If you do not fix a covered problem within 7 days of the tenant's written notice, the tenant may withhold rent or end the lease. This guide reflects the statutes as of October 2026. Check your local code, and speak to counsel before acting on a dispute.
What section 83.51 makes you fix
The table below sets out each duty, which homes it covers, and whether a written lease can move it to the tenant. Read it column by column for the property you manage.
| Duty | Single family home or duplex | Any other dwelling | Can a written lease change it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comply with building, housing and health codes | Yes | Yes | For a single family home or duplex, yes. Otherwise no. |
| Where no code applies: roof, windows, doors, floors, steps, porches, outside walls, foundation and other structural parts in good repair | Yes | Yes | Same as above |
| Where no code applies: plumbing in reasonable working condition | Yes | Yes | Same as above |
| Screens in reasonable condition at move in, then repaired once a year when needed | Yes | Yes | Same as above |
| Extermination of rats, mice, roaches, ants, wood destroying organisms and bedbugs | No | Yes | Yes, if agreed in writing |
| Locks and keys | No | Yes | Yes, if agreed in writing |
| Clean and safe common areas | No | Yes | Yes, if agreed in writing |
| Garbage removal and outside bins | No | Yes | Yes, if agreed in writing |
| Heat during winter, running water and hot water | No | Yes | Yes, if agreed in writing |
| Working smoke detectors at the start of the tenancy | Yes | Not in this section | Yes, if agreed in writing |
The full text is on the Florida Senate statutes site. Our overview of Florida landlord tenant law places these repair duties beside deposits, notices and entry.
Codes come first
Subsection (1) has two parts. Part (a) says comply with the local codes. Part (b) only matters where no code applies. Many Florida cities and counties have a housing code, and where one exists, part (a) does the heavy lifting. Your local code may require more than the statute lists, such as minimum room temperatures or working appliances. Pull the code for each county you operate in and note the items that go beyond 83.51.
The extra list for apartment buildings
Subsection (2) adds five duties for any dwelling other than a single family home or duplex. A triplex, a fourplex and a 200 unit complex all fall here. The extermination rule has its own steps. If the tenant must leave for treatment, give 7 days' written notice. The stay away cannot exceed 4 days. You must abate the rent for that time, though you are not liable for other damages.
One detail changes what a tenant can argue in court. Subsection (2)(c) says a tenant cannot use a breach of subsection (2) alone as a defense to an eviction. The hot water rule sits in (2). If your local code also requires hot water, though, the same outage breaks (1) as well. Treat it as a (1) problem.
Problems the tenant caused
Under 83.51(4) you are not responsible for conditions caused by the negligence or wrongful act of the tenant, their family or their guests. Fix the problem anyway when it affects safety. Then record the cause with photos and the technician's notes before you bill it.
The 7 day notice, day by day
The tenant's written notice starts every statutory remedy in Florida. The clock below assumes the tenant delivered it by hand on a Monday.
- Day 0. The tenant delivers a written notice. It names the problem and says they will withhold rent, or that they intend to end the lease. They can give it to you, your designated agent, a resident manager or whoever collects the rent.
- Days 1 to 6. This is your repair window. Log every visit, call and parts order. If a delay is outside your control, the statute softens the result only while you keep trying.
- Day 7. Once 7 days have passed, a tenant who gave a withholding notice may keep back rent. A tenant who gave a termination notice may end the lease.
- Next rent date. The rent goes unpaid. You may serve a 3 day notice under 83.56(3). Our Florida eviction timeline covers the court steps from there.
- After you file. Under 83.60(2), a tenant who raises any defense other than payment must pay the rent into the court registry, or ask the court to set the amount. They have 5 days after service, not counting weekends and legal holidays. Miss that and they waive every defense except payment.
- The hearing. If the court finds a material breach of 83.51(1), that is a complete defense to possession. The court then sets how much the rent drops for the period of the breach.
What a Florida tenant can and cannot do
Withhold rent, with conditions
Section 83.60 lets the tenant defend a nonpayment case on the ground that you materially failed to comply with 83.51(1). The 7 day written notice must come first. A tenant who withholds without that notice has no statutory defense.
End the lease
Under section 83.56(1) the tenant may end the lease after the same 7 day notice. That notice must state the intent to terminate. It covers breaches of 83.51(1) and of material lease terms. If the cause is outside your control and you keep trying, the statute softens the result. A tenant who moves out of an untenantable unit owes no rent for that period. A tenant who stays in a unit that is still livable gets a rent reduction in proportion to the lost value.
No repair and deduct
Part II of Chapter 83 has no repair and deduct section for residential tenants. A tenant who hires a contractor and subtracts the bill takes a risk. You may still agree to it in writing. Some owners prefer that to a long outage.
Protection from retaliation
Section 83.64 bars raising rent, cutting services or filing for possession mainly to punish a good faith complaint. Complaints to a code agency and repair notices under 83.56(1) are both protected. Good cause remains a defense, including a good faith case for unpaid rent.
August in a Tampa duplex
Here is a fictional example. Marisol rents unit B of a Tampa duplex at $1,850 a month. Her lease says the landlord maintains the air conditioning supplied with the unit.
On Thursday 6 August 2026 at 2:15 p.m., she logs a portal request. "The AC is blowing warm air. It's 86 inside." A technician arrives at 6:30 p.m. The compressor on the 14 year old condenser has failed. The quote for a new condenser is $5,400, and the owner approves it on Friday 7 August. The supplier needs five business days. The manager drops off two portable units that afternoon.
On Monday 10 August, Marisol hand delivers a letter. "This is my 7 day notice. The air conditioning does not work. If it is not fixed I will not pay September rent." The manager scans the letter and logs 10 August as Day 0. Day 7 falls on Monday 17 August.
Florida's statute does not mention air conditioning. For a duplex, subsection (2) does not apply at all. So does the clock run? If the Tampa or Hillsborough code requires cooling, the outage breaks 83.51(1)(a) and the withholding rules apply. Either way, the lease makes cooling a landlord duty, and 83.56(1) reaches material lease terms. The manager did not wait to find out. She treated the clock as live.
The new condenser went in on Friday 14 August at 1 p.m., three days inside the window. The owner then offered a goodwill credit. Rent of $1,850 works out to about $60.82 a day across a year. Half a day's rent for each of the 8 days without central air comes to $243.29. Marisol paid $1,606.71 on 1 September. The credit was the owner's choice, not a figure set by law.
Answers for Florida owners
Is air conditioning a required repair in Florida?
Not under section 83.51 itself. It becomes your duty when the local housing code requires it, or when the lease says you maintain it. If the unit came with central air and the lease is silent, check the code before you tell a tenant it is optional.
How long does a Florida landlord have to make repairs?
The statute sets no general deadline. The 7 days after a tenant's written notice are what count for withholding and termination. Emergencies such as a gas smell or a flood need action the same day, whatever the statute says.
Does an email count as the tenant's written notice?
It can. Section 83.505 allows email notices when both sides sign an addendum agreeing to email delivery and give valid addresses. Without that addendum, expect a letter by hand or by mail. Treat any written complaint as notice in practice, and fix the problem.
Can a duplex lease make the tenant handle repairs?
Yes, for duties in subsection (1), as long as it is in writing. Name the items clearly, such as yard work, filters or minor plumbing. Changing the lease does not change what the local code requires of the property.
Do these rules cover my commercial tenants?
No. Section 83.51 sits in Part II, which covers residential tenancies. Commercial leases fall under Part I and their own terms.
Running Florida repair requests in RIOO
In RIOO, a tenant request from the portal becomes a work order tied to the property, unit and lease in NetSuite. Each work order carries a priority, an assigned technician or vendor, and a status history the resident can see. You can attach a scanned notice and photos to the request, so the Day 0 date sits beside the repair record.
When you agree a credit, post it to the tenant ledger. It then shows on the next statement. Tenant caused repair costs can be billed to the same ledger. The service request and task management page shows how requests move from submission to close. RIOO keeps the record. It does not decide whether a condition breaks Florida law, so keep counsel in the loop on disputes.
One habit is worth keeping from the Tampa example. Write the Day 0 date on the work order the moment a 7 day letter arrives. Every other date in the case counts from it.
