Few cities feel rent increases as sharply as Miami. Roughly seven in ten occupied homes in the city are rented, the median gross rent over 2020 to 2024 was $1,758 a month, and the median household income was $62,462, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Miami city). In many neighborhoods, current rents in larger buildings run well above that historical median (Homzora Miami edition, citing RentCafe and Yardi Matrix).
Many Miami renters remember that local governments once adopted tenant protections of their own. Florida changed the rules in 2023. This guide explains what state law now allows, what it still prohibits, and how Miami renters can respond when the renewal offer arrives.
Homzora is a housing research publisher, not a law firm. This article explains Florida law in plain English and is not legal advice for your situation.
Is there rent control in Miami?
No. In 2023, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 102, which deleted the authority of local governments to adopt or maintain laws, ordinances, rules, or other measures that would control rents. The change took effect July 1, 2023, as Chapter 2023-17, Laws of Florida (Florida Senate, SB 102 (2023)). Before that change, Florida law had allowed local rent controls only in a narrowly defined housing emergency; a policy analysis by Local Progress describes the 2023 change as removing that emergency exception (Local Progress, Housing Law and Preemption in Florida).
What happened to local tenant protections?
Also in 2023, Florida enacted Section 83.425, which preempts to the state the regulation of residential tenancies, the landlord and tenant relationship, and all other matters covered by the residential landlord and tenant part of Chapter 83. It supersedes local regulations on those matters, including lease terms, fees, disclosures, and notice requirements (Fla. Stat. § 83.425). Contemporary reporting identified tenant ordinances in Miami, Miami Dade County, Tampa, and Orange County among those affected (Florida Phoenix, April 25, 2023).
The practical result is that a Miami renter’s rights on rent and notice now come from state law, primarily Part II of Chapter 83 of the Florida Statutes.
When can rent go up?
During a fixed term lease
A lease is a contract. If your lease sets the rent for a fixed term and contains no clause allowing increases, the rent generally stays the same until the term ends. Read your lease for any provision on fee changes, utility charges, or association assessments passed through to tenants.
At the end of the term
At renewal, a landlord may offer new terms, including a higher rent. Florida does regulate the notice that a lease may require before the end of the term: a lease may not require less than 30 days’ or more than 60 days’ notice, and those limits apply to both landlord and tenant (§ 83.575). If the landlord does not intend to renew, it must give notice within that notice period (§ 83.575). Watch for renewal offers in the 30 to 60 days before your term ends.
Month to month
A month to month tenancy can be terminated by either party with at least 30 days’ notice before the end of any monthly period (§ 83.57). The 2023 amendments changed this period from 15 days to 30 days (Florida Phoenix). In practice, a month to month landlord can propose new rent on about a month’s notice.
What Florida law still prohibits
Retaliatory increases
A landlord may not discriminatorily increase a tenant’s rent or decrease services, or bring or threaten an action for possession, primarily in retaliation against a tenant who in good faith complained to a government agency about a code violation, participated in a tenant organization, complained to the landlord under Section 83.56(1), terminated under the servicemember statute, paid rent to an association after its demand, or exercised fair housing rights (§ 83.64). Under the statute, “discrimination” means the tenant is treated differently from other tenants as to rent, services, or the landlord’s actions.
Discrimination
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in the terms or conditions of renting because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, or disability (42 U.S.C. § 3604). HUD accepts federal fair housing complaints (HUD, File a Complaint).
Late fees
Florida’s residential landlord and tenant law does not set a numeric cap on late fees; the lease controls the amount. What the statute does control is the process for nonpayment. A landlord may terminate for unpaid rent only after a written three day demand, with Saturdays, Sundays, and court observed legal holidays excluded from the count (§ 83.56(3)). Read your lease’s late fee clause before you sign, and compare it across buildings.
Condo owners as landlords
Many Miami renters lease from individual condo owners whose own costs, such as association assessments and insurance, can rise sharply. Those costs often show up in renewal offers. If an association demands that you pay rent directly to it because your landlord is behind on dues, Florida protects you from retaliation for complying (§ 83.64).
How to negotiate a Miami renewal
- Know your deadlines. Mark the 30 to 60 day notice window in your lease.
- Price the alternatives. Compare current listings for similar units nearby, including move in costs.
- Calculate the true cost of moving, including a new deposit, moving costs, and application fees.
- Make a specific counteroffer, such as a smaller increase in exchange for a longer term.
- Get final terms in writing before giving notice or signing.
A sample counteroffer
Hello, thank you for the renewal offer for unit [number]. I would like to stay. Comparable units nearby are listed at [amounts], and I have paid on time throughout my lease. Would you consider renewing for [term] at [specific amount]? I would appreciate your reply by 2026, within my lease’s notice window. Thank you, [name].
Help in Miami
FloridaLawHelp.org lists free legal aid organizations serving Miami Dade County (FloridaLawHelp.org).
A 90 day renewal timeline
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| 90 days before your lease ends | Find your lease’s notice requirement and mark it on your calendar. Florida limits it to between 30 and 60 days (§ 83.575). |
| 75 days before | Ask the office whether renewal pricing is available. Start collecting dated listings for comparable units. |
| When the offer arrives | Read every line, including fees, and compare the total monthly cost with your current lease. |
| Within a few days | Send a specific written counteroffer. |
| Before your notice deadline | Sign the renewal or give written notice that you will leave, so you do not risk holdover liability (§ 83.575). |
Read the renewal offer line by line
A renewal offer is more than a rent number. Look for changes to parking, pet rent, trash, pest control, amenity fees, utility billing, renter’s insurance requirements, and the late fee clause. Because Florida’s statute does not cap late fees, a change to that clause in a renewal can matter as much as the rent itself. Ask for a written comparison of your current total monthly cost and the proposed total.
If you cannot afford the increase
- Ask for a shorter or longer term. Some landlords price terms differently, and the cheapest term may not be twelve months.
- Ask about a smaller or different unit in the same community.
- Consider a roommate, but only with the landlord’s written approval under your lease.
- Contact 211 to ask about local rental assistance programs in your county (211.org).
- Give notice on time if you decide to move, so you leave on your own schedule.
At the Miami median gross rent of $1,758, a 5 percent increase adds about $88 a month, or about $1,055 over a year. Putting the increase in annual terms makes it easier to compare with the cost of moving.
What Florida law does not require
Renters moving from other states are often surprised by what Florida leaves out. State law does not cap rent increases, does not set a specific advance notice period for a rent increase at renewal, does not cap late fees in the residential landlord and tenant statute, and, since 2023, does not allow local governments to fill those gaps with their own ordinances (SB 102 (2023); § 83.425). That makes your lease, and your ability to negotiate it, unusually important. The protections that do exist, such as the 30 to 60 day limits on end of term notice, the 30 day month to month rule, and the ban on retaliation, are worth knowing well precisely because there are so few of them.
Questions to ask before you renew
- Is the renewal price fixed for the entire term, and are any fees allowed to change during it?
- Is there a lower price for a different lease length?
- Are current new resident specials available to renewing residents?
- Will the unit receive any updates or repairs as part of the renewal?
- Does the renewal lease change the late fee, the notice requirement, or the early termination terms?
- If I decline, what is the exact date by which I must give notice?
Get the answers in writing. A renewal is a new contract, and anything not written into it is difficult to enforce later.
Frequently asked questions
Can Miami pass a rent cap?
Not under current state law. SB 102 deleted local authority to adopt or maintain rent controls (Florida Senate, SB 102 (2023)).
Does my landlord need to give 60 days’ notice of a rent increase?
State law does not set a specific notice period for a rent increase at renewal. It limits the notice a lease may require before the end of the term to between 30 and 60 days (§ 83.575) and requires 30 days’ notice to end a month to month tenancy (§ 83.57).
My rent went up right after I complained to code enforcement. What can I do?
That may be retaliation under Section 83.64, which you can raise as a defense in any eviction action (§ 83.64). Keep copies of your complaint and the increase notice.
Sources
- Florida Senate, SB 102 (2023), Chapter 2023-17
- Florida Statutes § 83.425, Preemption
- Florida Statutes § 83.575
- Florida Statutes § 83.57
- Florida Statutes § 83.64
- Florida Statutes § 83.56
- Florida Phoenix, Tenant bill of rights ordinances, April 25, 2023
- Local Progress, Housing Law and Preemption in Florida
- 42 U.S.C. § 3604
- HUD, File a Fair Housing Complaint
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Miami city
- FloridaLawHelp.org