Florida Owner's Guide

Your complete guide to owning and managing rental property in Florida — from first steps to emergency response.

Recent for Florida Landlords

The latest statewide guides, briefings, and market analysis.

Landlord Briefings

Time-sensitive Florida-wide news and what it means for your portfolio.

Getting Started

New to landlording? Inherited a property? Converting your home to a rental? Start here.

Landlord Guide

The Fake-Lease Scam: How to Keep Squatters Out of Your Vacant Florida Home

Scammers use a forged lease to turn a clear-cut squatter case into a slow eviction. Here's how to keep them out of your vacant Florida home — even from 1,000 miles away.

Orlando vs. Tampa: Where Should You Buy Your First Florida Rental?

A first-time investor's decision guide to picking between Orlando and Tampa for your first Florida rental, broken down by entry price, rent, insurance, and goal.

Landlord Quick-Start Guide: Your First Week in Florida

Just became a landlord in Florida? Here's your first week, in order — the five things to get right before your tenant moves in, and the deadlines that come with them.

A homeowner holding the key to a Florida rental property

What to Expect When You Hire a Property Manager in Florida

Thinking about handing your Florida rental to a property manager? Here's what the whole experience actually looks like — onboarding, fees, communication, and what stays your call.

Renting to Family in Florida: What to Put in Writing

Renting a Florida property to a relative? A written, at-market lease is what protects your tax deductions — here's exactly what to put in writing.

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Know Your Legal Obligations

Florida landlord-tenant law, lease requirements, notices, screening, and eviction process.

AI Tenant Screening Fraud in Florida: How to Verify

AI-forged pay stubs and synthetic IDs now pass a visual check. The fix isn't a sharper eye for fakes — it's one source-of-truth verification you run on every Florida applicant, so you catch the fraud and stay fair-housing clean.

Tenant Arrested in Florida: What Landlords Can Do

Your tenant just got arrested and the unit looks empty. Before you touch the locks, here's what Florida law lets you do — and the move that triggers a three-months'-rent penalty.

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When Things Go Wrong

Tenant not paying? Property damage? Pest problems? Step-by-step responses for the situations that keep landlords up at night.

Tenant Arrested in Florida: What Landlords Can Do

Your tenant just got arrested and the unit looks empty. Before you touch the locks, here's what Florida law lets you do — and the move that triggers a three-months'-rent penalty.

Someone Cloned Your Rental Listing: How the Scam Works and How to Shut It Down

Scammers copy your real rental listing, post it cheap on Facebook, and pocket deposits — then the angry calls come to you. Here's how to shut a clone down fast.

The Fake-Lease Scam: How to Keep Squatters Out of Your Vacant Florida Home

Scammers use a forged lease to turn a clear-cut squatter case into a slow eviction. Here's how to keep them out of your vacant Florida home — even from 1,000 miles away.

Florida's Fraudulent-Entry Law: When Someone Moves In on a Forged Lease

Florida's new fraudulent-entry law makes forged-document move-ins a felony — and hands you a faster way to terminate. Here's exactly what it covers and what to do.

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Money and Taxes

1031 exchanges, LLCs, depreciation, insurance, and the hidden costs nobody warns you about.

Florida Condo Financing Rules 2026: What Landlords Miss

Everyone watched the August 3 deadline. It was the least important of the four changes. Here's what the new condo financing rules actually do to a Florida rental — including the one change that helps landlords.

How to Require Renters Insurance in a Florida Lease

Requiring renters insurance is the cheapest risk-transfer a Florida landlord controls. Here's the exact lease clause, the one designation most owners get wrong, and how to enforce it.

Florida's 2026 Property-Tax Amendment: What the 10%-to-5% Cap Means for Landlords

The headline is a bigger homestead exemption — which won't touch your rentals. The part that does is a quieter cap change. Here's what the 2026 amendment means for landlords.

Florida single-family rental home, the kind investors finance with DSCR loans

DSCR Loans for Florida Rental Investors: Qualify on the Property

A DSCR loan qualifies on the property's rent, not your paycheck or tax returns. Here's how it works for Florida investors—and why our insurance and taxes make the math tighter than you'd expect.

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Day-to-Day Operations

Inspections, rent collection, lease renewals, maintenance calendars, and when to hire a property manager.

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Landlord Toolkit

Keep these on hand — during tax season, before hurricane season, or your first week as a landlord.

Download the Florida Landlord Tax Cheat Sheet

Every Schedule E deduction on one page, a repairs-vs-improvements guide with 10 examples, and a fill-in depreciation worksheet. Print it. Hand it to your CPA.

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Download the Hurricane Prep Countdown Checklist

The 30-day timeline that keeps your rental property insured and your tenants safe — with the documentation protocol adjusters want to see.

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Download Your First 30 Days as a Florida Landlord

The week-by-week checklist for new and accidental landlords in Orlando and Tampa — with the specific statutes, market numbers, and local requirements national guides leave out.

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Looking for market-specific content? See our Orlando and Tampa property management guides.

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