For owners who do not live here
You own a rental in Central Florida. You live somewhere else.
That is a workable arrangement right up until it is not. Here is exactly what goes wrong, what it costs, and the premier level of management I provide so it does not happen to you.
Start with the math
One bad tenant costs about $7,000. Management costs $2,280.
Most owners compare a management fee against the hours they think they will spend. That is the wrong comparison. Compare it against what a single bad outcome costs.
$185
Court filing fee
Orange County
$1,000 to $1,400
Uncontested eviction
3 to 6 weeks start to finish
2 to 3 months
Contested eviction
$3,800 to $5,700 in lost rent alone
11,500+
Eviction filings
Orange County, 2025
At Orlando's median rent of roughly $1,900, a contested eviction costs $3,800 to $5,700 in lost rent on top of $2,000 to $3,500 in fees. Call it $7,000 or more from the last payment received to a new lease signed. Management at 10% of that rent runs $2,280 a year, so one prevented eviction pays for roughly three years of management. And screening is the entire ballgame, which is harder than it was: forged pay stubs and synthetic identities now routinely pass visual inspection, so verification has to go to the source.
Source: Orange County Clerk of Courts filing schedules and Florida Statutes Chapter 83
Where remote owners actually lose
Four traps, and each one is individually fatal
These are not edge cases. They are the recurring failures I see from owners managing Florida property from another state, and Florida treats most of them as strict liability.
Your deposit is probably in the wrong bank
Fla. Stat. § 83.49Florida law requires a tenant's security deposit to be held in a Florida financial institution, in a separate account, never commingled with your own funds. An owner in New Jersey holding it in a New Jersey bank is out of compliance on its face. If you intend to claim against the deposit you must give written notice within 30 days of the tenancy ending. Miss that window and you forfeit the right to claim against it at all, and the prevailing party in the dispute gets attorney's fees.
A late fee on the three-day notice voids the whole thing
Fla. Stat. § 83.56A three-day notice for nonpayment must demand base rent only. Add a $50 late fee to an $1,800 demand and the entire notice is defective: dismissal, restart, another filing fee, another three weeks. And three days means three business days, excluding weekends, legal holidays and the day of service. Serve on a Wednesday and day three is Monday.
The notice period changed and the internet has not caught up
Fla. Stat. § 83.57, HB 615For a month-to-month tenancy with no cause, the required notice went from 15 days to 30 days in July 2023, in both directions. A great deal of advice still online is wrong about this. Separately, since July 2025 you may serve notices by email, but only where the tenant has signed a separate addendum stating the choice is voluntary and revocable. No addendum, no email service.
Never change the locks. This is the one that ruins people.
Fla. Stat. § 83.67Self-help eviction, meaning changing locks, shutting off utilities or removing belongings, exposes you to damages of up to three months' rent plus the tenant's attorney fees, even when the tenant owed you months of back rent. You can end up writing a check to the person who stopped paying you. This is precisely what a frustrated owner a thousand miles away does after the fourth ignored voicemail, and distance is the risk factor.
Costs your home state did not have
Florida is not like where you bought your first rental
Your hurricane deductible is a percentage
Not a flat amount. Typically 2% to 10% of dwelling value. On a $400,000 home a 5% deductible is $20,000 out of pocket before the policy pays anything. Flood is excluded entirely and bought separately.
A small claim can cost you the policy
Premiums are up 60% to 150% since 2020 and many carriers will not renew after a single claim, even a minor one. Deciding whether a $4,000 roof claim is worth risking non-renewal is a judgment call, and it is not one to make from another state on the phone.
The tax cap resets when you buy
The non-homestead assessment cap resets on transfer, and the owner has an affirmative duty to notify the property appraiser of a change in ownership or control. Absentee buyers miss this constantly and are surprised by the bill.
Short-term rental rules change at the county line
Orange County contracts with the booking platforms so the 6% tourist tax is collected automatically. Osceola does not: the owner or manager collects and remits directly by the 20th of the following month, and also needs a state license, a county license, a business tax receipt and the right overlay district. Polk differs again. Owners who assume the platform handles it accrue liability quietly.
A question worth asking everyone
Ask for the license number
Under Florida law, leasing a property, collecting rent, negotiating a lease or advertising a vacancy for another owner, for compensation is regulated real estate activity. It requires an active license held under a broker. If someone offers to manage your property and cannot give you a license number, you have your answer.
Mine is SL3494680, held under Realty Hub. That is not a slogan, it is a verifiable fact you can check with the state in about a minute, and you should check it for anyone you are considering.
What this costs
Published, because you should not have to call to find out
These are the prevailing ranges for Central Florida management. Anyone quoting far below them is making it up somewhere else, usually in maintenance markups.
8% to 12%
Monthly management
of collected rent
50% to 75%
Tenant placement
of one month's rent
18% to 20%
All-in, first year
of gross annual rent, less thereafter
Compare total cost, not the headline percentage. A low management rate paired with high leasing, renewal, inspection and maintenance coordination fees frequently costs more than a higher rate with fewer add-ons. Ask any manager for a full fee schedule in writing.
Next step
Tell me about your property
Where it is, what it rents for, and what is going wrong. I will tell you honestly whether you need management or just need a few things fixed, and I will say so if self-managing is genuinely working for you.
Nothing on this page is legal advice. Florida landlord and tenant law is technical and the consequences of getting it wrong fall on the owner. Statutes cited are current as of publication. For a specific situation, talk to a Florida attorney.