Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Florida

Re: use of Security Deposit received from renter

Generally, in a residential lease, the items covered by a security deposit should be outlined in the lease agreement. Many big management companies that run apartment complexes will usually have a lease that has a liquidated damages provision explaining the things that the tenant may be liable for.

Otherwise, security deposits in residential situations generally may be used for things like damages to the unit, unpaid pet deposits, unpaid rent, (IE breaches of the terms of the lease).

All of this is generally speaking, of course. A lot of it would have to do with the agreement between landlord and tenant, whether it was reduced to writing, etc.