The Florida Senate

83.67  Prohibited practices.--

(1)  No landlord of any dwelling unit governed by this part shall cause, directly or indirectly, the termination or interruption of any utility service furnished the tenant, including, but not limited to, water, heat, light, electricity, gas, elevator, garbage collection, or refrigeration, whether or not the utility service is under the control of, or payment is made by, the landlord.

(2)  No landlord of any dwelling unit governed by this part shall prevent the tenant from gaining reasonable access to the dwelling unit by any means, including, but not limited to, changing the locks or using any bootlock or similar device.

(3)  No landlord of any dwelling unit governed by this part shall remove the outside doors, locks, roof, walls, or windows of the unit except for purposes of maintenance, repair, or replacement; nor shall the landlord remove the tenant's personal property from the dwelling unit unless said action is taken after surrender, abandonment, or a lawful eviction. If provided in the rental agreement or a written agreement separate from the rental agreement, upon surrender or abandonment by the tenant, the landlord is not required to comply with s. 715.104 and is not liable or responsible for storage or disposition of the tenant's personal property; if provided in the rental agreement there must be printed or clearly stamped on such rental agreement a legend in substantially the following form:


BY SIGNING THIS RENTAL AGREEMENT THE TENANT AGREES THAT UPON SURRENDER OR ABANDONMENT, AS DEFINED BY CHAPTER 83, FLORIDA STATUTES, THE LANDLORD SHALL NOT BE LIABLE OR RESPONSIBLE FOR STORAGE OR DISPOSITION OF THE TENANT'S PERSONAL PROPERTY.


For the purposes of this section, abandonment shall be as set forth in s. 83.59(3)(c).

(4)  A landlord who violates the provisions of this section shall be liable to the tenant for actual and consequential damages or 3 months' rent, whichever is greater, and costs, including attorney's fees. Subsequent or repeated violations which are not contemporaneous with the initial violation shall be subject to separate awards of damages.

(5)  A violation of this section shall constitute irreparable harm for the purposes of injunctive relief.

(6)  The remedies provided by this section are not exclusive and shall not preclude the tenant from pursuing any other remedy at law or equity which the tenant may have.

History.--s. 3, ch. 87-369; s. 7, ch. 88-379; s. 3, ch. 90-133; s. 3, ch. 96-146; s. 2, ch. 2001-179.