Florida Landlord Entry: Is the Notice 12 or 24 Hours?

For ordinary repair entry under Florida's residential landlord-tenant statute, reasonable notice is at least 24 hours. The reasonable repair-entry hours are 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The older 12-hour figure is outdated for this current-law question.

Legal references checked October 18, 2026.

Why do some materials say 12 hours?

The repair-notice provision changed from 12 to 24 hours through section 3 of Chapter 2022-222, commonly called Miya's Law. That change took effect July 1, 2022. Other provisions of the legislation had different effective dates. See the enrolled legislation, sections 3 and 6.

An older video, book edition, or answer explanation may preserve the previous number. The age of a resource does not establish what a current examination tests. Do not assume there is a fixed two-year delay before a legal change can appear on an exam.

Identify the reason for entry

Florida Statutes section 83.53 distinguishes repair entry from other grounds for access:

• Ordinary repairs: at least 24 hours' notice and entry during the stated reasonable hours.
• Protection or preservation of the premises: entry may occur at any time when justified for that purpose.
• Other authorized access: the statute addresses tenant consent, emergencies, unreasonable withholding of consent, and specified tenant absences.

For the absence provision, the threshold is half the periodic rent-payment interval. If rent is current and the tenant notified the landlord of the intended absence, entry is limited to consent or protection/preservation. The landlord may not abuse access or use it to harass the tenant.

For studying, first mark the purpose of the entry. A question describing a routine repair and a question describing an urgent burst pipe contain different facts. “The landlord owns the property” alone does not answer either question.

Worked example: count elapsed hours

Assume an ordinary repair, no separate consent or emergency, and notice delivered Monday at 2:00 p.m. A planned Tuesday 10:00 a.m. visit is only 20 hours later. Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. reaches 24 hours and is within the repair-entry time window.

This is an elapsed-hours exercise. Do not turn “24 hours” into “the next calendar day” or a business-day count.

Try three practice questions

1. An older lesson says 12 hours and a current-law question asks for minimum reasonable notice for ordinary residential repair entry. Which figure applies?
2. Notice is delivered Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. A routine repair is scheduled Thursday at 9:00 a.m. How much notice has elapsed?
3. Water is actively flooding a unit from a broken pipe. Should a student automatically apply the ordinary repair-notice waiting period without considering any exception?

Answers and explanations

1. 24 hours. Use the current rule for a current-law question. A question explicitly tied to an earlier date needs the law applicable to that date.
2. 16 hours. Seven hours to midnight plus nine hours the next morning. The arithmetic is a useful check before choosing an answer.
3. No. The facts call for analyzing emergency access and protection or preservation of the premises.

If course materials conflict

Submit a support request with the course, textbook edition/page or video timestamp, and practice-question number. See My Textbook, PDF, or Practice Question Seems Wrong.

Entry notice is separate from notice to terminate a month-to-month tenancy. Return to the exam-prep guide for other concepts. These original exercises explain course concepts; an actual access dispute depends on its facts and applicable law.