The 2023 Florida Statutes (including Special Session C)

Title VI
CIVIL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE

Chapter 83
LANDLORD AND TENANT

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F.S. 83.201

83.201 Notice to landlord of failure to maintain or repair, rendering premises wholly untenantable; right to withhold rent.—When the lease is silent on the procedure to be followed to effect repair or maintenance and the payment of rent relating thereto, yet affirmatively and expressly places the obligation for same upon the landlord, and the landlord has failed or refused to do so, rendering the leased premises wholly untenantable, the tenant may withhold rent after notice to the landlord. The tenant shall serve the landlord, in the manner prescribed by s. 83.20(3), with a written notice declaring the premises to be wholly untenantable, giving the landlord at least 20 days to make the specifically described repair or maintenance, and stating that the tenant will withhold the rent for the next rental period and thereafter until the repair or maintenance has been performed. The lease may provide for a longer period of time for repair or maintenance. Once the landlord has completed the repair or maintenance, the tenant shall pay the landlord the amounts of rent withheld. If the landlord does not complete the repair or maintenance in the allotted time, the parties may extend the time by written agreement or the tenant may abandon the premises, retain the amounts of rent withheld, terminate the lease, and avoid any liability for future rent or charges under the lease. This section is cumulative to other existing remedies, and this section does not prevent any tenant from exercising his or her other remedies.

History.—s. 2, ch. 93-70; s. 438, ch. 95-147.

F.S. 83.201 on Google Scholar

F.S. 83.201 on Casetext

Amendments to 83.201

Arrestable Offenses / Crimes under Fla. Stat. 83.201

Level: Degree
Misdemeanor/Felony: First/Second/Third

Current data shows no reason an arrest or criminal charge should have occurred directly under Florida Statute 83.201.

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases from cite.case.law:

LEGAKIS L. L. C. v. LOUMPOS,, 40 So. 3d 901 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2010)

. . . is made by a lessee in accordance with an agreement between such lessee and her or his lessor”); § 83.201 . . .

VANCE REALTY GROUP, INC. v. PARK PLACE AT METROWEST, PHASES SIX AND SEVEN, LTD. a J., 909 So. 2d 516 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2005)

. . . court registry, asserting that Vance Realty failed to satisfy the statutory prerequisites of section 83.201 . . . Vance Realty’s counsel admitted that neither section 83.201 nor 83.232 applied and that the gist of the . . . Section 83.201 sets forth the procedure the tenant must follow to withhold rent after prescribed written . . .

Ae BOUDREAU, v. M H FOOD CORPORATION, 895 So. 2d 501 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2005)

. . . the Landlord’s written notice was defective; (2) the-Tenant withheld the rent -pursuant to section 83.201 . . .

STATE DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS, v. C. BROOKS,, 891 So. 2d 1 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2004)

. . . premises it occupied were “wholly untenantable” at the end of the 20-day cure period provided by section 83.201 . . . , should the trial court again find the Department’s lease termination unlawful pursuant to section 83.201 . . .

K. ALEXANDER, v. A. B. ANKS, INC., 840 So. 2d 305 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2003)

. . . summary judgment on the sole basis that Alexander failed to meet the 20 day notice requirement of section 83.201 . . . Section 83.201 permits the tenant, if the landlord is in default of the lease by failing to perform repairs . . . Section 83.201 provides specifically that it is cumulative and that the tenant has available all other . . . Instead of asserting her section 83.201 right to coerce the landlord’s compliance with its obligations . . . Section 83.201 is merely an additional remedy by which the tenant can exert pressure on the landlord . . .

CRUISE. COM, INC. a v. ELLER DRIVE PROPERTIES, INC. a, 813 So. 2d 254 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2002)

. . . Cruise.com contends that it was entitled to withhold the rent pursuant to section 83.201, Florida Statutes . . .