Can a Florida Landlord Retaliate Against a Tenant?

The statute gives examples of tenant conduct that a landlord may not retaliate against, and the list is not exclusive. It includes complaining to a governmental agency responsible for enforcing a building, housing or health code about a suspected violation that applies to the premises, organizing, encouraging or participating in a tenant organization, and giving the landlord the written notice of noncompliance that the landlord and tenant law provides for.

The other listed examples are a servicemember tenant's termination of a rental agreement under the state's servicemember lease law, a tenant's payment of rent to a condominium, cooperative or homeowners' association after the association demanded it to cover the landlord's obligation to the association, and a tenant's exercise of rights under local, state or federal fair housing laws.

Discrimination is a prerequisite to a finding of retaliatory conduct. It means the tenant is being treated differently as to the rent charged, the services rendered or the action being taken by the landlord. The tenant must also have acted in good faith to raise the defense.

Good cause defeats the defense. The statute does not apply if the landlord proves the eviction is for good cause, and it gives examples such as good faith actions for nonpayment of rent, violation of the rental agreement or of reasonable rules, or violation of the residential landlord and tenant statutes. The steps of an eviction case are outlined in the timeline for the Florida eviction process.