In short: moving out before your lease ends does not cancel the rent you owe. If you signed an early termination addendum, you pay the agreed fee, which cannot be more than two months' rent. If not, you may owe rent until the home is let again or the lease ends. Give written notice, leave the home clean, and your deposit is still yours unless your landlord sends a valid claim.
Look for an early termination addendum
Florida lets landlords and tenants agree, in a separate signed addendum, to a fixed early termination fee or liquidated damages of up to two months' rent (section 83.595). The lease cannot require more than 60 days' notice to use an early termination fee. If you agreed to one, the landlord can charge the fee, rent to the end of the month they take the home back and the cost of any damage, but no further rent.
If there is no addendum
When a tenant leaves early, the landlord chooses one of these:
| The landlord can | What you owe |
|---|---|
| End the lease and take the home back for their own account | No rent after that |
| Take the home back and let it again for your account | The difference between your rent and the rent they get, for the rest of the term. They must make a good faith effort to let it again |
| Do nothing and hold you to the lease | Rent as it falls due |
Florida Statutes section 83.595. Damage to the home can be charged in each case.
Talk to your landlord early. Ask in writing whether they will release you, accept a replacement tenant or agree a fee, and keep the reply.
Servicemembers
A servicemember can end a lease with at least 30 days' written notice and a copy of their orders, for example on permanent change of station orders to a place 35 miles or more away (section 83.682). Only rent up to the end date is owed, with no penalty, and these rights cannot be waived in the lease.
Give written notice
A tenant who moves out before the lease ends must give the landlord at least 7 days' written notice, by certified mail or by hand, with an address where they can be reached (section 83.49(5)). Without it, the landlord does not have to send the usual 30 day deposit notice, though you keep your right to the deposit. Check your lease too, as it may ask for more.
Your deposit
The landlord can claim unpaid rent, any fee you agreed to and damage from the deposit, using the written notice sent within 30 days. Anything else comes back to you. Interest is not owed if you wrongfully end the tenancy. Our Florida deposit guide covers the timeline, and what a landlord can deduct lists the charges allowed.
Leave it clean
A clean, empty home is quicker to let again, which can cut what you owe if the landlord is letting it again for your account. It also removes the most common reason for deductions.
- Clean room by room with our move out checklist, or book a move out clean and keep the receipt
- Take dated photos and a video of every room once it is done
- Return every key, fob and remote, and ask for a written receipt
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and your lease may add terms. For advice on your situation, speak to a Florida attorney or the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County.