State pet-deposit treatment, federal Fair Housing Act assistance-animal rules, and what Florida landlords can and cannot ask.
In Florida, an animal in a rental unit falls into one of two very different legal buckets, and the bucket decides everything. An ordinary pet is a matter of private contract: you can ban pets, cap their number, set breed or weight limits, charge pet rent, and collect a pet deposit. A service animal or emotional support animal is not a pet at all under the law. It is a disability accommodation, and Florida strips away most of the levers you would otherwise have.
Two Florida statutes govern the assistance-animal side. Fla. Stat. 413.08 covers trained service animals; Fla. Stat. 760.27, added in 2020, covers emotional support animals in housing. Both sit on top of the federal Fair Housing Act and HUD's 2020 assistance-animal guidance, which apply to nearly every rental in the state. The practical headline for landlords: you cannot charge a fee, deposit, or pet rent for either category, and a blanket no-pets or breed-restriction policy does not override the accommodation right.
What you can do is verify a legitimate need within the narrow limits the statutes allow, hold the tenant financially responsible for damage, and act on genuine safety threats. Florida also gives you something most states do not: real teeth against fraud, including a criminal misdemeanor for people who fake an ESA need or pass a pet off as a service animal.
Florida has no statutory cap on the security deposit or pet deposit. The amount is set by the lease. Fla. Stat. § 83.49 governs the holding and return of deposits but sets no maximum.
Your pet policy is enforceable right up until an animal qualifies as an assistance animal. For genuine pets, Florida landlords have broad freedom: no-pets clauses, breed and weight restrictions, limits on the number of animals, pet deposits, non-refundable pet fees, and monthly pet rent are all lawful and enforceable in a written lease.
None of those tools apply to a service animal under Fla. Stat. 413.08 or an emotional support animal under Fla. Stat. 760.27. Both statutes, and the federal Fair Housing Act, treat these animals as accommodations rather than pets. That means a no-pets building must still allow a qualified assistance animal, a breed-restriction policy generally yields to it, and you cannot collect a pet deposit, pet fee, or pet rent for it. The animal's species is also not your call for ESAs, though only dogs and miniature horses qualify as service animals under state law.
A service animal is a dog (or, in limited cases, a miniature horse) individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability. Florida landlords may not refuse to rent to a disabled applicant because of a service animal and may not charge extra rent, a deposit, or a fee for the animal.
Your ability to ask questions is narrow. When the disability or the animal's task is not obvious, you may confirm the animal is required because of a disability and identify the work or task it performs, but you may not demand medical records, a diagnosis, proof of training, or a demonstration. You may require proof that vaccinations and any local licensing are current, and the tenant remains fully liable for any damage the animal causes to the unit. Passing an ordinary pet off as a service animal is a second-degree misdemeanor under 413.08, punishable by up to a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail.
An emotional support animal provides therapeutic benefit through its presence but is not trained to perform a specific task, so it is not a service animal. Since 2020, Fla. Stat. 760.27 has spelled out exactly how Florida housing providers handle ESA requests. You cannot charge extra fees, deposits, or pet rent, and you cannot enforce a no-pets or breed policy against a legitimate ESA.
When the disability or the need is not readily apparent, you may request reliable supporting information. For the disability itself, that can be a government determination, disability benefits, or information from a licensed health care practitioner with personal knowledge of the person's disability acting within the scope of their practice. For the animal's role, you may request information identifying the specific support it provides. If a tenant requests more than one ESA, you may ask about the specific need for each animal. What you cannot do is insist on a particular form or a notarized statement, and an online ESA registration, certificate, ID card, or patch is not, by itself, sufficient to establish the need. You may still require proof of licensing and vaccination for each animal, and the tenant is liable for damage.
Florida backs its ESA rules with a criminal fraud provision. Under Fla. Stat. 817.265, a person who falsifies documentation or knowingly misrepresents a disability or disability-related need for an ESA commits a second-degree misdemeanor and, within 6 months of conviction, must complete 30 hours of community service for an organization that serves people with disabilities. This does not let you deny accommodations on suspicion alone, but it is a real deterrent you can cite.
Even a qualified assistance animal is not absolute. You may deny or remove one if the specific animal poses a direct threat to health or safety that cannot be reduced by another accommodation, or if it would cause substantial physical damage to property. Denials must rest on the individual animal's conduct, not on breed stereotypes or a general fear. When in doubt on a close call, document your reasoning and get counsel before refusing, because a wrongful denial exposes you to a Fair Housing complaint.
Handle every request the same way to stay defensible. First, decide the category: pet, service animal, or ESA. If it is a service animal with an obvious task, approve it and move on. If the disability or need is not apparent, make a limited, written request for the information the relevant statute allows, and give the tenant a reasonable chance to respond rather than issuing a routine denial.
Keep the request proportionate: confirm the disability-related need, ask about each additional animal, and require current vaccination and licensing proof. Do not demand a diagnosis, medical records, a specific proprietary form, or a notarized letter, and do not treat an internet ESA certificate as proof by itself. Approve the accommodation with the standard damage-liability terms in writing, and reserve denial for a genuine, documented direct threat or property-damage risk. Consistent, statute-anchored handling is your best protection under both 760.27 and 413.08.
The most common mistake in Florida ESA cases is responding with a flat denial, "no pets means no pets", instead of engaging in the interactive process. The interactive process is itself a substantive duty. A landlord who refuses to consider the request, demands more documentation than HUD permits, or imposes a pet fee on an accepted assistance animal will lose at HUD even if the underlying accommodation could have been reasonably denied on its merits.
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This page summarizes Florida's assistance-animal housing rules under Fla. Stat. 413.08 (service animals) and Fla. Stat. 760.27 (emotional support animals), the ESA-fraud provision in Fla. Stat. 817.265, and the federal Fair Housing Act as interpreted by HUD's 2020 assistance-animal guidance (FHEO-2020-01). It is general information for landlords, not legal advice.
No. Under Fla. Stat. 413.08 (service animals) and Fla. Stat. 760.27 (emotional support animals), and the federal Fair Housing Act, you cannot charge a pet deposit, pet fee, or pet rent for a qualified assistance animal. You can charge those for ordinary pets. In every case, the tenant is still liable for any actual damage the animal causes.
When the disability or need is not obvious, Fla. Stat. 760.27 lets you request reliable supporting information, such as a government disability determination or information from a licensed health care practitioner with personal knowledge of the disability. You cannot demand a specific form or a notarized statement, and an online ESA registration, certificate, or ID card is not, by itself, sufficient proof.
No. A blanket no-pets clause and most breed or weight restrictions do not override a qualified service animal or ESA, because these are disability accommodations, not pets. You may still deny or remove a specific animal that poses a genuine direct threat to safety or would cause substantial property damage, but the decision must be based on that individual animal, not its breed.
Under Fla. Stat. 413.08, only dogs and, in limited situations, miniature horses qualify as service animals, and the animal must be individually trained to do work or perform tasks tied to a disability. Emotional support animals are governed separately by Fla. Stat. 760.27 and are not limited to those species, but they receive housing protection, not the broader public-access rights service animals have.
Both statutes penalize fraud. Under Fla. Stat. 817.265, faking an ESA need is a second-degree misdemeanor requiring 30 hours of community service within 6 months of conviction. Under Fla. Stat. 413.08, misrepresenting a pet as a service animal is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail.
No. When the disability or task is not obvious you may confirm the animal is needed because of a disability and identify the work or task it performs, but you cannot require medical records, a diagnosis, certification, or a demonstration of training. You may require current vaccination and local licensing records for the animal.
Federal authority: 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3)(B); 24 C.F.R. § 100.204; HUD FHEO Notice 2020-01. State authority: Fla. Stat. § 83.56. Last updated July 14, 2026. For informational purposes only, not legal advice. Pet and assistance-animal questions are highly fact-specific; consult a licensed Florida attorney before refusing any request.
