How to Remove Squatters in Florida Under the 2024 Law (and When You Can’t)

What changed in 2024

Before July 1, 2024, a Florida owner who found strangers living in a vacant house usually had to file an unlawful detainer or ejectment lawsuit and wait weeks or months for a judgment and a writ of possession — while the occupants stayed. House Bill 621 (2024) created section 82.036, Florida Statutes (amended in 2025 and 2026), an alternative remedy: a sworn complaint to the county sheriff that can lead to removal without a court case. It also created new criminal offenses for unlawfully occupying or damaging a dwelling and for fraudulently advertising or renting out property you don’t own.

Who counts as an “unauthorized person” under s. 82.036

The sheriff remedy is narrow on purpose. To use it, the owner (or the owner’s authorized agent) swears, under penalty of perjury, that all of the following are true:

• You are the owner of the residential property (since July 1, 2025 a parallel remedy, s. 82.037, covers commercial property).
• The occupant unlawfully entered and remains without permission, on property that was not open to the public when they entered.
• You have told them to leave and they haven’t.
• The occupant is not a current or former tenant under a rental agreement authorized by the owner — no lease, no rent, no permission to live there at any time.
• The occupant is not an owner, a co-owner, or an immediate family member of the owner.
• There is no litigation pending between you and the occupant about the property.

If any of those fail — a former tenant who stopped paying, a relative who moved in with permission, a person who claims a lease even a fake one — the sheriff will generally decline and you’re back to the court process.

The step-by-step sheriff process

1. Complete the statutory complaint form (the statute includes it), attach a copy of your government-issued ID, and sign it under penalty of perjury.
2. File it with the sheriff of the county where the property sits — Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office or Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office — and pay the fee the sheriff charges for serving a writ of possession.
3. The sheriff verifies that you are the record owner and that the complaint is complete, then serves notice on the occupants to leave.
4. Removal. If the occupants don’t leave, the sheriff removes them and, if requested, a deputy stands by (at an hourly fee) while you change the locks. The sheriff can arrest an occupant for trespass if they return.

Timing varies by agency and workload; it is typically days to a couple of weeks, not months.

The risk if you get it wrong

A person wrongfully removed can sue you for three times the fair market rent, actual damages, costs, and attorney fees. The occupant can also challenge the removal in court. That is why the sworn complaint has to be accurate — and why, if there is any history of permission or tenancy, the safer route is court.

When the sheriff route doesn’t apply: eviction vs. ejectment

• Eviction (Chapter 83) — for anyone who was a tenant: written notice (3-day for non-payment, 7-day for other lease breaches, 30-day to end a month-to-month tenancy under the 2023 amendment), then a complaint in county court, service, a 5-day window for the tenant to answer and deposit rent into the registry, a judgment, and a writ of possession executed by the sheriff after 24 hours’ posting. Uncontested cases in Pinellas and Hillsborough often take 3–6 weeks; contested ones longer.
• Ejectment (Chapter 66) — for occupants who were never tenants but don’t fit s. 82.036 either (a relative, an ex-partner, a buyer whose deal fell through). It is a circuit court case and typically takes a couple of months or more.
• Unlawful detainer (Chapter 82) — a faster county-court action for occupants with no claim of title or tenancy; still a lawsuit, still weeks.

What you can never do: shut off utilities, change locks on an occupied house, or remove doors or belongings. Florida treats self-help removal of tenants as a violation with statutory damages, and courts are unfriendly to it in other contexts too.

Protecting a vacant house

• Keep the lawn cut and mail collected — a vacant look invites both squatters and code enforcement.
• Record a current deed and keep the tax collector’s mailing address right so notices reach you.
• Post no-trespass signs and consider a monitored alarm or camera.
• Check the house, or have someone check it, at least monthly. Fraudulent “leases” get created fast.
• If you’re an heir and the owner has died, open the probate: squatters and relatives exploit houses in limbo.

Or sell it occupied

Every path above costs time and money and carries some risk, especially if you live out of state. The alternative is to sell the house with the occupants in place to a buyer who handles this routinely. We buy occupied houses in Pinellas and Hillsborough County for cash, close in a couple of weeks, and take on the lawful removal afterward at our cost. Details on our squatter and problem-occupant page.

This guide is general information about Florida law and local process from a cash home buyer, not legal, tax or financial advice. Laws and procedures change; confirm details with a Florida attorney or the relevant county office.