How to Evict a Roommate in Florida (and Other Household Situations)
What Florida law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: A "tenant" is any person entitled to occupy a dwelling unit under a rental agreement, which can be written or oral. A roommate with no agreement with the landlord or the leaseholder is not a tenant under that definition; a roommate who pays rent to the leaseholder under an oral or written agreement may be that leaseholder's tenant. Florida also has a separate category of "transient occupant" for short, non-lease stays. Fla. Stat. §§ 83.43 (rental agreement, tenant), 82.035(1)
| Roommate not on the lease | A "tenant" is any person entitled to occupy a dwelling unit under a rental agreement, which can be written or oral. A roommate with no agreement with the landlord or the leaseholder is not a tenant under that definition; a roommate who pays rent to the leaseholder under an oral or written agreement may be that leaseholder's tenant. Florida also has a separate category of "transient occupant" for short, non-lease stays. Whether a roommate is a tenant or a transient occupant depends on the facts, such as rent paid, a room of their own, belongings, and address records. |
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| Removing a roommate or subtenant | A leaseholder who rents to a roommate under a rental agreement must follow the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to remove them: the proper written notice (for example, 3 days for unpaid rent, or the notice ending a month-to-month tenancy) and then an eviction case in county court. Self-help (lockouts, removing belongings, cutting utilities) is prohibited; possession may be recovered only through the court process. If the roommate is a transient occupant rather than a tenant, the faster transient-occupant remedy may apply instead (Fla. Stat. § 82.035). |
| Guests who won't leave | A "transient occupant" is someone whose stay in a home has been brief, is not under a lease, and was intended to be temporary. Factors include no ownership or lease interest, no utility accounts, no government records using the address in the last 12 months, minimal or no rent, no room of their own, few belongings, and a permanent home elsewhere; small contributions to household expenses do not establish residency. A transient occupant who refuses to leave when told can be directed to leave by law enforcement on the owner's sworn affidavit, or removed through an unlawful detainer case without prior notice. If the court finds the person is actually a tenant, the owner must give the notice required by the landlord-tenant act and pursue a regular eviction. A person wrongfully removed can sue the person who requested the removal. Source: Fla. Stat. § 82.035 |
| Removing a family member or partner | No statute names family members specifically. A relative or partner who meets the transient-occupant factors (brief stay, no lease, minimal or no rent, permanent residence elsewhere) can be removed under the transient-occupant procedure; one who is a tenant under an oral or written rental agreement must be evicted under the landlord-tenant act after proper notice. Injunctions for protection against domestic violence are a separate court process that can grant exclusive use of a shared home. |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | No statute specific to lodgers in an owner's home. Transient occupancy in a roominghouse or similar public lodging is excluded from the landlord-tenant act, but a non-transient room rental under a rental agreement is generally covered like any other tenancy. A short-term, non-lease occupant may qualify as a "transient occupant." |
| Tenancy at will | An unwritten lease is a tenancy at will, measured by how often rent is paid (week to week, month to month, etc.); a written lease with no end date and periodic rent is also a tenancy at will. A tenant who holds over after a written fixed-term lease expires is a tenant at sufferance. Chapter 83 Part I sets 15 days' notice to end a month-to-month tenancy at will, but for residential dwellings Part II requires at least 30 days' written notice before the end of any monthly period (7 days for week to week). Part II of chapter 83 governs residential tenancies; Part I applies mainly to nonresidential tenancies. Source: Fla. Stat. §§ 83.01-83.04, 83.57 |
| Hotel and extended-stay guests | Transient occupancy in a hotel, condominium, motel, roominghouse or similar public lodging is excluded from the Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. "Transient occupancy" means the parties intended the stay to be temporary; no statute sets a fixed number of days after which a hotel guest becomes a tenant. A long-term stay in a hotel or apartment-style lodging that the parties treat as a residence may be covered by the act; this depends on the facts. |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
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General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.