McMillan Law's office is in Tampa. I represent people in Orlando and everywhere else in Florida, and the free case review happens by phone or online, so you don't have to drive anywhere to get started.
Last reviewed October 8, 2026 by Jackson McMillan, Florida attorney
Move-out fees at big Orlando apartment communities
At a large Orlando apartment community, your final account statement might show the deposit at the top, a stack of charges underneath, and a balance due at the bottom. It often lands in a resident portal or an inbox a few weeks after you hand in your keys.
Some of those charges may be legitimate. Others are the kind of line item that shows up no matter how the unit looked: a flat cleaning fee, carpet replacement, paint for every wall, a "turnover" or "administrative" charge. If you shared a unit near UCF with roommates, or rented in a big community in Lake Nona or near College Park, the charges may not even match the space you lived in.
What Florida requires before fees come out of a deposit
A statement in a resident portal may not be the notice Florida's deposit law requires. Before keeping any part of your deposit, the landlord has to put its claim in writing: a notice, sent within 30 days after the rental agreement ends, that gives the amount and the reason. Delivery has to be by certified mail to your last known mailing address, unless you signed an e-mail addendum with the landlord.
If the landlord isn't claiming anything, the deposit has to come back within 15 days. If it misses the 30-day notice, it loses the right to make any claim against the deposit or hold any of it back, though it may still sue for damages after returning the deposit. One exception: if you broke the lease early or rented month to month and didn't give at least 7 days' written notice with an address where you can be reached, the landlord may be excused from that notice, unless your written lease says otherwise. You keep your right to the deposit either way.
The way Florida defines a security deposit, it secures, among other things, losses the landlord suffers when a tenant breaks the lease. That's why I go through every line item with you. "Turnover" tells you very little about what you supposedly did.
Upload the final account statement, any notice that came by certified mail or e-mail, and your lease to my free case review, so you know which charges were properly claimed before you pay or sign anything.
Signed up for a deposit alternative instead?
Some apartment communities offer a deposit alternative: a monthly fee you pay instead of a traditional security deposit. Florida law has set rules for these fees since July 1, 2023. The fee is not a security deposit, but the landlord still has rules to follow (Fla. Stat. § 83.491):
- Within 30 days after the tenancy ends, the landlord must give you notice of any amounts it says you owe.
- It can't file a claim with the insurer until 15 days after that notice.
- The insurer has one year to seek reimbursement from you.
- You keep all your defenses to the charges.
If you're getting letters about a deposit alternative claim after leaving an Orlando apartment, the dates on those letters matter as much as the amounts.
Renting near UCF and across Orange County
Orlando renters range from students at the University of Central Florida, one of the largest universities in the country by enrollment, to people in the area's large tourism and hospitality workforce, to families in Lake Nona, College Park, Winter Park, and Kissimmee. Florida's deposit law applies the same way in all of them.
A deposit dispute over an Orlando apartment is filed in county court in Orange County, where the rental is. Orange County is in the Ninth Judicial Circuit with Osceola County. Small claims is for amounts up to $8,000, before costs, interest, and attorney's fees are added, and anything larger, up to $50,000, stays in county court.
My office is in Tampa. I take cases from Orlando and all of Central Florida, and the review is handled by phone or online. If a move-out balance you dispute was sent to collections and landed on your credit report, my guide to credit report errors in Orlando walks through that problem.
Orlando deposit deadlines, in order
- The rental agreement ends
Both of the landlord's deposit deadlines start here. If you moved out early or on a different day, confirm the actual end date.
- Day 15
The full deposit is due back if the landlord isn't claiming any of it.
- Day 30
Last day for a written notice of claim. No proper notice generally means no claim against the deposit.
- 15 days after you receive a notice
Your written objection is due at the address listed in the notice.
- 30 days after the notice date
If you didn't object, the deduction can go through, and whatever remains is due to you by now. If you did, either side may go to court.
These are calendar days, and nothing in the deposit statute promises extra time when a deadline falls on a weekend. For your exact dates, try my free Florida deposit deadline calculator.
What's at stake, and who pays the lawyers
If your statement shows a balance due on top of a kept deposit, there are two numbers in play: what the landlord kept and what it says you still owe. Florida's fee rule is what makes disputes like this worth taking on for Central Florida renters. Florida's deposit statute awards court costs and a reasonable attorney's fee to the prevailing party, the lease can't waive that, and the court is told to give the case priority.
That cuts the other way too: a tenant who loses can be made to cover the landlord's attorney's fees, and Florida has no penalty multiplier for a wrongly kept deposit. I go through both sides of that with you first. You don't pay me unless you win. I take these cases on contingency: no attorney's fees and no case costs owed to me unless you recover money. If a case is lost, a court can sometimes order the losing side to pay the other side's court costs, and some Florida laws, including the security deposit and deceptive practices statutes, also let the winner recover attorney's fees from the loser. I explain that risk before anything is filed, and every term is in a written agreement before you sign.
You can read more about the Florida security deposit cases I take on.
Your Orlando move-out checklist
- Download the final account statement from the resident portal before your access ends.
- Save your move-in inspection and any photos or video from move-in and move-out.
- Note how each notice arrived: certified mail, e-mail, portal message, or text.
- Check your lease for a deposit alternative or an addendum about e-mail notices.
- Hold off on paying a balance or signing a payment plan until you know which charges hold up.
- Send it to me. The free case review is the quickest way to find out whether the complex followed Florida's rules.