A Florida 7 Day Notice To Vacate is a letter that complies with state legal requirements to begin eviction against a tenant for damaging property or repeating a lease violation within a 12-month period. The tenant is not given an opportunity to take corrective action, and must move out within seven (7) calendar days of receiving notice.
When To Use a Florida 7 Day Notice To Vacate
A Florida 7 Day Notice To Vacate begins the eviction process for the following tenant violations:
- Destruction, damage or misuse of property by intentional act
- Unreasonable disturbance
- Repeat or continuing lease violation within a 12-month period of a previous notice of noncompliance
Some types of Florida lease termination notice may allow different reasons for termination, or different notice periods. This may also apply to an eviction notice issued because of a lease or legal violation.
How To Write a Florida 7 Day Notice To Vacate
To help ensure the legal compliance of a Notice To Vacate:
- Use the full name of the receiving parties, and address of record, if known
- Specify the termination date of the lease or tenancy
- Specify the basis upon which the tenancy will terminate
- Fill in the full address of the rental premises
- Provide updated/current address and phone number information
- Print name and sign the notice
- Complete the certificate of service by indicating the date and method of notice delivery, along with printed name and signature
It is easy to lose an otherwise justified legal action because of improper notice. Check carefully to ensure enough time after notice is delivered, not when it’s sent.
How To Serve a Florida 7 Day Notice To Vacate
Florida landlords may deliver an initial Notice To Vacate by any of the following methods:
- Hand delivery to the other party
- If hand delivery fails: Leaving a copy of the notice at the property
- Delivery by mail
Mailed notice extends a notice period by five (5) calendar days, to account for variable delivery times.
Sources
- 1 FL Stat § 83.56
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If the tenant materially fails to comply with s. 83.52 or material provisions of the rental agreement, other than a failure to pay rent, or reasonable rules or regulations, the landlord may:
(a) If such noncompliance is of a nature that the tenant should not be given an opportunity to cure it or if the noncompliance constitutes a subsequent or continuing noncompliance within 12 months of a written warning by the landlord of a similar violation, deliver a written notice to the tenant specifying the noncompliance and the landlord’s intent to terminate the rental agreement by reason thereof. Examples of noncompliance which are of a nature that the tenant should not be given an opportunity to cure include, but are not limited to, destruction, damage, or misuse of the landlord’s or other tenants’ property by intentional act or a subsequent or continued unreasonable disturbance. In such event, the landlord may terminate the rental agreement, and the tenant shall have 7 days from the date that the notice is delivered to vacate the premises.
Source Link - 2 Fla. Stat. § 83.56(4)
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The delivery of the written notices required by subsections (1) [termination due to material noncompliance by the landlord], (2) [termination due to material noncompliance by tenant, EXCEPT nonpayment of rent], and (3) [tenant failure to pay rent] shall be by mailing or delivery of a true copy thereof or, if the tenant is absent from the premises, by leaving a copy thereof at the residence. The notice requirements of subsections (1), (2), and (3) may not be waived in the lease.
Source Link - 3 Fla. R. Civ. P. 2.514(6)
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Additional Time after Service by Mail. When a party may or must act within a specified time after service and service is made by mail, 5 days are added after the period that would otherwise expire under subdivision (a).
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