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Florida landlord · tenant screening
Download the Florida residential rental application — screens prospective tenants with application-money elections, a standalone screening-report authorization, and the disclosures federal and Florida law require — in fillable Word and fillable PDF, with the Florida Completion & Use Guide.
Renting out property in more than one state? This page is the Florida application — each state's edition is built to its own screening and application-money law.
Bundle & save $19.97
Handle tenant screening, the lease, move-in condition records, and a Florida nonpayment notice workflow if you need it.
Use each document only when appropriate. The notice packet is not a move-in document and should be used only when the facts and current law support it.
Every file below is included: the fillable Word application, a fillable PDF, the Florida Completion and Use Guide, and the federal FCRA Summary of Your Rights.
The real document — not a mockup. Page 1 of the form included in your download.
Every part of the form, in order — the application summary, 17 sections, and the office-use panel.
About this form
A residential rental application is the landlord's first line of protection: it collects the applicant's identity, household composition, rental history, employment and income, and references, and it carries the disclosures and signed authorizations that make lawful tenant screening possible before a lease is signed.
Florida law shapes three things this edition builds in. First, statewide preemption: Fla. Stat. § 83.425 reserves rental-application terms, screening processes, and fees to the state, so the statewide framework is the whole framework — no city or county rider applies. Second, the servicemember rule of Fla. Stat. § 83.683: when an applicant is a servicemember, the owner/manager must finish processing the application within seven days and deliver a written approval or denial that states the reason — the application carries an optional self-identification line, and the office-use panel tracks the seven-day deadline. Third, money discipline: Florida caps no application fee, but money taken to hold a unit is treated as a security deposit under Fla. Stat. § 83.49, so this edition authorizes only a nonrefundable application fee and never a holding deposit or earnest money.
The Florida Completion & Use Guide covers the money election and fee uniformity, the § 83.683 seven-day workflow, written screening criteria as a fair-housing defense, voluntary reusable-report practice (including the 2026 SB 48 statute watch), adverse-action notices, condominium-association fees, and recordkeeping. The kit includes the federal FCRA Summary of Your Rights as a package insert.
ILRG provides self-help legal forms and download support. PublicLegal landlord forms are provided for you to complete with your own property and screening information. Screening rules vary by state and change frequently — the Completion & Use Guide explains the rules in your state and the steps that keep this application within them. If you are not 100 percent satisfied after purchasing from us, contact us for a refund.
The Florida residential rental application in fillable Word (.docx) with a fillable PDF, the Florida Completion & Use Guide (money election, servicemember deadline, screening workflow, adverse action, and recordkeeping), and the federal FCRA Summary of Your Rights. A completed sample is available as an optional add-on.
No. Florida sets no maximum, no cost-basis rule, and no refund duty for a rental application fee, and Fla. Stat. § 83.425 preempts local governments from adding their own rules — the statewide framework is the whole framework. Charge a uniform fee to every applicant, keep it separate from rent and deposit money, and never label money taken to hold a unit as a fee: money that secures the property is treated as a security deposit under Fla. Stat. § 83.49.
Under Fla. Stat. § 83.683, when an applicant is a servicemember you must complete processing within seven days after submission and, within that period, deliver a written approval or denial that states the reason if denied; absent a timely denial you must lease the unit to the servicemember if all other terms are complied with. Section 2 of the application carries an optional self-identification box, and the office-use panel tracks the seven-day deadline.
Florida does not require acceptance and does not regulate the associated fees — acceptance is voluntary. If you accept an applicant’s report, verify it directly with the consumer reporting agency that prepared it and consider waiving the application fee. A 2026 bill that would have changed this (SB 48) stalled in the House after passing the Senate; the guide tracks it.
If a consumer report contributed in whole or in part to the denial or to a conditional approval such as a higher deposit, federal law requires an adverse-action notice identifying the reporting agency, stating that the agency did not make the decision, and explaining the applicant’s free-report and dispute rights. A servicemember denial must additionally be in writing, state the reason, and be delivered within the seven-day window. The office-use panel checklist tracks each element.