What is the Florida security deposit interest rate right now?

5% per year, simple interest — the figure Fla. Stat. § 83.49 sets for a landlord who elects the flat rate on an interest-bearing account or who posts a surety bond. No Florida agency publishes a deposit-interest rate, because the competing alternative pays a share of whatever the landlord's own account happens to pay. Florida's rate depends entirely on which of the three holding options in § 83.49(1) the landlord chooses, and the choice belongs to the landlord. Under § 83.49(1)(a) the money sits in a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution and no interest is owed to the tenant at all.

When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Florida?

Where interest is owed, § 83.49(9) requires the landlord to pay it directly to the tenant, or credit it against the current month's rent, "at least once annually." The same subsection carries the one exclusion: "a landlord is not required to pay interest to a tenant who wrongfully terminates his or her tenancy before the end of the rental term."

Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Florida?

No — Florida law does not require the account to bear interest. Section 83.49(1) gives the landlord three ways to hold deposit money and advance rent, and the choice is the landlord's: a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, a separate interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, or a surety bond posted in place of holding the money apart. Under both account options the landlord "shall not commingle such moneys with any other funds of the landlord or hypothecate, pledge, or in any other way make use of such moneys until such moneys are actually due the landlord" — a bar on mixing the deposit with any other landlord funds, which is broader than the personal-funds bar several other states use.

What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Florida?

No part of § 83.49 attaches a penalty, a damages multiplier, or a forfeiture to unpaid interest. The one forfeiture in the section is keyed to a different duty: a landlord who misses the 30-day written notice of a claim on the deposit "forfeits the right to impose a claim upon the security deposit."

Does a landlord have to pay interest on a security deposit in Florida?

Verified August 28, 2026 All Florida topics →

Enacted but not yet in force. This page reflects the law in force today. The following measure has been signed and takes effect on the date shown:

HB 1293 (ch. 2026-143, Laws of Florida) — Signed but not yet effective: from October 1, 2026 the seven-day no-cure notice under section 83.56(2)(a) gains a new listed example of noncompliance the tenant is not given an opportunity to cure — an act of fraudulent entry of a residential dwelling unit that violates new section 817.537(2) (obtaining possession through a materially false written statement of identity on a rental application, through forged or counterfeit documents, or by impersonating the person named on the application), regardless of whether criminal proceedings have commenced. The notice periods and the rest of the eviction track do not change. The Florida Statutes host already prints the amended text of section 83.56(2)(a) without an effective-date marker; until October 1, 2026 the pre-amendment list governs. Status: Approved by the Governor June 12, 2026 and filed with the Secretary of State the same day as chapter 2026-143; section 3 of the act sets the effective date at October 1, 2026. (checked September 5, 2026).

Florida requires a landlord to pay interest on a security deposit only when the landlord's own choice of how to hold the money triggers it, and the most common choice — a separate non-interest-bearing account — owes the tenant nothing.

Cited to Fla. Stat. § 83.49 (deposit money or advance rent; duty of landlord and tenant) (1)(a)-(c) and 3 more cited sources · Verified August 28, 2026

Under Fla. Stat. § 83.49(1) the landlord must either hold the deposit and advance rent in a separate non-interest-bearing Florida account, hold it in a separate interest-bearing Florida account, or post a surety bond. Holding the money in the non-interest-bearing account is fully lawful and owes the tenant nothing. The interest-bearing account owes the tenant at least 75% of the annualized average interest rate payable on that account, or a flat 5% per year simple interest, whichever the landlord elects. The bond option owes a flat 5% per year simple interest. Whenever interest is owed it must be paid to the tenant or credited against the current month's rent at least once a year, and it is not owed to a tenant who wrongfully terminates the tenancy before the end of the rental term. The exemption for landlords who rent fewer than five units excuses only the written notice in § 83.49(2); it does not excuse the interest.

Florida deposit interest at a glance

Interest owed to the tenant	Conditional — owed only in certain circumstances
How the rate is set	The landlord chooses between stated options
Current figure	5% per year, simple interest — the figure Fla. Stat. § 83.49 sets for a landlord who elects the flat rate on an interest-bearing account or who posts a surety bond. No Florida agency publishes a deposit-interest rate, because the competing alternative pays a share of whatever the landlord's own account happens to pay.
Rate rules	Florida's rate depends entirely on which of the three holding options in § 83.49(1) the landlord chooses, and the choice belongs to the landlord. Under § 83.49(1)(a) the money sits in a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution and no interest is owed to the tenant at all. Under § 83.49(1)(b) the money sits in a separate interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, and the tenant "shall receive and collect interest in an amount of at least 75 percent of the annualized average interest rate payable on such account or interest at the rate of 5 percent per year, simple interest, whichever the landlord elects." Three drafting details decide real cases: the 75 percent figure is a floor on the first alternative only, the 5 percent alternative is a flat figure carrying no "at least," and the landlord rather than the tenant picks between them — so the tenant is not entitled to whichever is larger. Under § 83.49(1)(c) the landlord posts a surety bond instead of holding the money in a separate account and must "pay to the tenant interest at the rate of 5 percent per year, simple interest." That sentence appears twice in the paragraph — once for the bond posted with the clerk of the circuit court, and again for the single bond a landlord renting dwelling units in five or more counties may post with the Secretary of State instead of one per county. Both are mandatory. The 75 percent alternative is tied to the rate that particular account pays. It is not a published index and not a Treasury or prime rate, so the figure can only come from the bank holding the money.
Accrual and payment	Where interest is owed, § 83.49(9) requires the landlord to pay it directly to the tenant, or credit it against the current month's rent, "at least once annually." The same subsection carries the one exclusion: "a landlord is not required to pay interest to a tenant who wrongfully terminates his or her tenancy before the end of the rental term." At move-out, a landlord who does not intend to claim against the deposit must return it "together with interest if otherwise required" within 15 days after the rental agreement ends (§ 83.49(3)(a)). If the property or the rental agent changes hands, deposits and advance rent pass to the new owner or agent "together with any earned interest" and with an accounting showing the amounts credited to each tenant (§ 83.49(7)).
Who and what is covered	Whether interest is owed turns on the landlord's own election among the three options in § 83.49(1) — not on the size of the deposit, the length of the lease, or the number of units rented. The often-quoted small-landlord exemption does not reach interest. The sentence "This subsection does not apply to any landlord who rents fewer than five individual dwelling units" sits inside § 83.49(2), and by its own words disapplies subsection (2) only: the written notice telling the tenant how the deposit is being held, including the requirement in § 83.49(2)(c) to state whether the tenant is entitled to interest on the deposit. A landlord with four rentals who elects the interest-bearing account or the bond still owes the interest, and still owes it at least annually. The test is a pure unit count: § 83.49 contains no natural-person, individual-owner, or owner-occupancy element anywhere. Section 83.49 does not reach transient rentals by hotels or motels as defined in chapter 509, or tenancies in which the rent or deposit is regulated by law or by a public body — including public housing authorities and federally administered or regulated programs under sections 202, 221(d)(3) and (4), 236 or 8 of the National Housing Act — other than for rent stabilization. Housing authorities and public housing agencies created under chapter 421 are outside the section except for subsections (3), (5) and (6).
Statute controls where or how the deposit is held	Yes
Interest-bearing account required	No
Custody rules	Section 83.49(1) gives the landlord three ways to hold deposit money and advance rent, and the choice is the landlord's: a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, a separate interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, or a surety bond posted in place of holding the money apart. Under both account options the landlord "shall not commingle such moneys with any other funds of the landlord or hypothecate, pledge, or in any other way make use of such moneys until such moneys are actually due the landlord" — a bar on mixing the deposit with any other landlord funds, which is broader than the personal-funds bar several other states use. The bond is a real escape from the separate-account duty. It runs to the Governor for the benefit of any tenant injured by the landlord's violation of the section, in the total amount of the deposits and advance rent held or $50,000, whichever is less; a landlord renting dwelling units in five or more counties may instead post one bond with the Secretary of State in the amount held or $250,000, whichever is less. Either way the 5% simple interest duty rides with it. Because the statute names a non-interest-bearing account as one of the three lawful options, Florida law does not require a deposit to earn anything.
Penalty for violation	No part of § 83.49 attaches a penalty, a damages multiplier, or a forfeiture to unpaid interest. The one forfeiture in the section is keyed to a different duty: a landlord who misses the 30-day written notice of a claim on the deposit "forfeits the right to impose a claim upon the security deposit." What a tenant owed interest has instead is this. Section 83.49(3)(c) gives the prevailing party in an action to decide the right to the security deposit court costs plus a reasonable attorney's fee, and directs the court to advance the cause on its calendar. Where the landlord chose the bond option, the bond runs to the Governor for the benefit of any tenant injured by a violation of the section, so it is itself a source of recovery for unpaid interest. And § 83.49(8) allows a fine, suspension or revocation by the Division of Hotels and Restaurants, but only against a person licensed under § 509.241. Those three are what § 83.49 itself provides.
Local rules	None noted for this state

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Florida Security Deposit Interest Laws (verified August 28, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/deposit-interest/florida/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Calculate Florida security deposit interest — free, no signup, built on the same verified Florida law as this page.

Notes and caveats

The landlord elects, and the notice says which — Because the interest answer follows the landlord's choice of holding option, the place to find it is the written notice § 83.49(2) requires in the lease or within 30 days after the landlord receives the money. That notice must state whether the tenant is entitled to interest on the deposit, and the landlord must give a fresh notice within 30 days of changing the manner or location in which the money is held — though not merely because the bank merged, changed its name, or was sold.
The fewer-than-five-units carve-out is narrower than it sounds — It is common to see Florida described as exempting small landlords from the deposit rules. The statute does not. The carve-out is one sentence inside § 83.49(2) and says "[t]his subsection does not apply" — so it lifts the written-notice duty and nothing else. The account-or-bond duty in § 83.49(1) and the at-least-annual payment duty in § 83.49(9) apply to a landlord with one rental exactly as they apply to a landlord with a hundred. There is also no natural-person or owner-occupancy element in it: the test counts dwelling units and nothing else, and a corporate landlord with four rentals is covered by the carve-out just as an individual owner is.
What the 75 percent is a floor on — The interest-bearing option pays "at least 75 percent of the annualized average interest rate payable on such account" or 5 percent per year simple, whichever the landlord elects. The "at least" attaches to the first alternative only, and the rate it measures is the rate payable on that specific account — not an average of bank rates, not a Treasury or prime rate, and not a figure any Florida agency announces. Sources that describe Florida as paying "75% of the going rate" or "5%, whichever is greater" get both halves wrong: the landlord elects, so the tenant's entitlement is the elected one.
The bond option pays 5 percent too, in both forms — A landlord who posts a surety bond does not escape interest. Paragraph (1)(c) states the 5 percent simple interest duty twice: once for the bond posted with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the unit is located, and again for the single Secretary of State bond available to a landlord renting dwelling units in five or more counties. A description of the bond option that mentions only the county-clerk bond leaves out half the provision.
Nothing in the section punishes unpaid interest as such — Section 83.49 sets no multiplier, statutory damages figure, or forfeiture for failing to pay interest. The forfeiture it does contain costs a landlord the right to claim against the deposit after missing the 30-day claim notice, which is a different duty. A tenant chasing unpaid interest relies on § 83.49(3)(c) prevailing-party costs and fees, on the surety bond where the landlord used one, and — only against operators licensed under § 509.241 — on the Division of Hotels and Restaurants' power to fine or suspend a license.
Whole categories sit outside the section — Section 83.49(4) removes transient hotel and motel rentals under chapter 509, and tenancies whose rent or deposit is regulated by law or by a public body — public housing authorities and federally administered or regulated programs under sections 202, 221(d)(3) and (4), 236 or 8 of the National Housing Act — other than for rent stabilization. Housing authorities and public housing agencies created under chapter 421 are outside it except for subsections (3), (5) and (6). Where the section does not apply, its interest rule does not either.

Common questions: Florida deposit interest

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

What is the Florida security deposit interest rate right now?: 5% per year, simple interest — the figure Fla. Stat. § 83.49 sets for a landlord who elects the flat rate on an interest-bearing account or who posts a surety bond. No Florida agency publishes a deposit-interest rate, because the competing alternative pays a share of whatever the landlord's own account happens to pay. Florida's rate depends entirely on which of the three holding options in § 83.49(1) the landlord chooses, and the choice belongs to the landlord. Under § 83.49(1)(a) the money sits in a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution and no interest is owed to the tenant at all.
When must a landlord pay or credit deposit interest in Florida?: Where interest is owed, § 83.49(9) requires the landlord to pay it directly to the tenant, or credit it against the current month's rent, "at least once annually." The same subsection carries the one exclusion: "a landlord is not required to pay interest to a tenant who wrongfully terminates his or her tenancy before the end of the rental term."
Does the deposit have to be in an interest-bearing account in Florida?: No — Florida law does not require the account to bear interest. Section 83.49(1) gives the landlord three ways to hold deposit money and advance rent, and the choice is the landlord's: a separate non-interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, a separate interest-bearing account at a Florida financial institution, or a surety bond posted in place of holding the money apart. Under both account options the landlord "shall not commingle such moneys with any other funds of the landlord or hypothecate, pledge, or in any other way make use of such moneys until such moneys are actually due the landlord" — a bar on mixing the deposit with any other landlord funds, which is broader than the personal-funds bar several other states use.
What happens if a landlord does not pay deposit interest in Florida?: No part of § 83.49 attaches a penalty, a damages multiplier, or a forfeiture to unpaid interest. The one forfeiture in the section is keyed to a different duty: a landlord who misses the 30-day written notice of a claim on the deposit "forfeits the right to impose a claim upon the security deposit."
Do any cities or counties in Florida have their own deposit-interest rules?: None noted for this state.

Citations

Fla. Stat. § 83.49 (deposit money or advance rent; duty of landlord and tenant) · (1)(a)-(c) (verified 2026) Official source
Fla. Stat. § 83.49 (annual payment or credit; wrongful-termination exclusion) · (9) (verified 2026) Official source
Fla. Stat. § 83.49 (written notice of how the deposit is held; fewer-than-five-units carve-out) · (2), (2)(c) (verified 2026) Official source
Fla. Stat. § 83.49 (return with interest, remedies, scope exclusions, transfer on sale) · (3)(a), (3)(c), (4), (7), (8) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of Fla. Stat. § 83.49 (deposit money or advance rent; duty of landlord and tenant) in the 2026 Florida Statutes as published by the Legislature, all nine subsections read in full; the interest limbs of subsection (1) and the timing rule of subsection (9) compared word for word against the Senate's separately published 2025 edition of the same section, which carries identical wording and confirms that the 2025 amendment in the section's history line did not touch them; and the section read again for every penalty, forfeiture and remedy term to establish what attaches to unpaid interest.