Fla. Stat. § 83.40 et seq. § 83.46
Rent; duration of tenancies.
Operative Text
(1) Unless otherwise agreed, rent is payable without demand or notice; periodic rent is payable at the beginning of each rent payment period; and rent is uniformly apportionable from day to day. (2) If the rental agreement contains no provision as to duration of the tenancy, the duration is determined by the periods for which the rent is payable. If the rent is payable weekly, then the tenancy is from week to week; if payable monthly, tenancy is from month to month; if payable quarterly, tenancy is from quarter to quarter; if payable yearly, tenancy is from year to year. (3) If the dwelling unit is furnished without rent as an incident of employment and there is no agreement as to the duration of the tenancy, the duration is determined by the periods for which wages are payable. If wages are payable weekly or more frequently, then the tenancy is from week to week; and if wages are payable monthly or no wages are payable, then the tenancy is from month to month. In the event that the employee ceases employment, the employer shall be entitled to rent for the period from the day after the employee ceases employment until the day that the dwelling unit is vacated at a rate equivalent to the rate charged for similarly situated residences in the area. This subsection shall not apply to an employee or a resident manager of an apartment house or an apartment complex when there is a written agreement to the contrary.
Florida Statute § 83.46 establishes default rules for when rent is due and how long a tenancy lasts when a lease is silent on those points. Absent a specific agreement, rent is owed at the start of each payment period without any demand or notice from the landlord, and the length of the tenancy mirrors the rent-payment cycle — weekly payments create a week-to-week tenancy, monthly payments create a month-to-month tenancy, and so on. A separate rule under § 83.46(3) covers housing provided as a job benefit: if no duration is agreed upon, the tenancy tracks the wage-payment schedule, and once employment ends, the former employer may charge fair-market rent until the unit is vacated.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Under Fla. Stat. § 83.46, operators do not need to send a rent demand each cycle — rent is legally due at the start of each payment period by default. When a lease omits a stated term, the tenancy type is automatically defined by how rent is collected, so landlords generally keep clear records of payment frequency to establish the applicable tenancy duration. Landlords who provide housing as an employment benefit should be aware that § 83.46(3) allows them to charge area-equivalent rent once employment ends, but a written agreement with resident managers or apartment-complex employees can override this subsection entirely.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
Fla. Stat. § 83.46 means that even without a written lease spelling out a term, a tenant's tenancy type is not indefinite — it is defined by how often rent is paid, which affects how much notice is required to end the arrangement. Tenants living in employer-provided housing should understand that § 83.46(3) may allow the employer to charge rent at a local market rate after employment ends, unless a written agreement says otherwise. Tenants who believe a landlord is misapplying these default rules may find it useful to review the statute directly, consult a tenant-rights organization, or seek guidance from a Florida legal aid office.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated October 28, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
Effective Timeline
References Out
No outbound references recorded yet for this provision.
References In
Rules and statutes that cite this regulation