Commercial Eviction in Florida: Notices and Service Rules
Chapter 83, Part I plays by different rules than residential eviction — the lease drives the notice, and the tenant is usually a corporation you serve through a registered agent.
Key takeaways
- Commercial (nonresidential) evictions are governed by Chapter 83, Part I, Florida Statutes — the residential protections in Part II do not apply.
- The lease largely controls notice: §83.20's 3-day nonpayment notice is the default, but commercial leases routinely set their own cure periods and delivery methods, and courts enforce them.
- Corporate and LLC tenants are served under §48.081 and §48.062 — usually through the entity's registered agent on file with Sunbiz.
- §83.22 allows the eviction summons to be posted on the premises when the tenant cannot be found, but a posted serve supports possession only, not a money judgment.
- Distress for rent (§§83.11–83.19) is a commercial-only remedy that lets a landlord freeze and levy on the tenant's property at the premises.
Every commercial eviction Florida landlords file runs on Chapter 83, Part I, Florida Statutes — a shorter, older, and far more lease-driven framework than the residential eviction rules most people know. The notice a commercial tenant gets, how it must be delivered, and who can accept the lawsuit that follows are all different, because the tenant is usually a corporation or LLC rather than a person. Golden Process Service has served commercial eviction notices, summonses, and distress writs across all 67 Florida counties since 2018.
This guide walks through how Part I differs from residential eviction, what notice the statute and the lease each require, how to serve an entity tenant correctly, and where the distress-for-rent writ fits. It's general legal information, not legal advice for your specific matter.
Commercial Eviction Florida Basics: Chapter 83, Part I vs. Part II
A commercial eviction is an action to remove a nonresidential tenant — an office, retail, warehouse, or restaurant occupant — under Part I of Chapter 83, Florida Statutes (§§83.001–83.251). Residential evictions live in Part II, the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, with its mandated notice forms, deposit rules, and tenant defenses. Almost none of that carries over to commercial space.
The practical difference is freedom of contract. Part II protections cannot be waived by a residential lease; Part I mostly defers to whatever the commercial lease says. Notice periods, cure rights, how a default notice must be delivered, even whether notice is required at all — sophisticated parties can and do write their own rules, and Florida courts hold them to it. What stays constant is the procedure at the courthouse: the possession count still moves under the summary procedure of §51.011, so deadlines are short and defective paperwork is punished quickly. Our Florida eviction process guide covers the residential track if that's what you're facing.
Notice Requirements: Read the Lease First, Then §83.20
Before filing a commercial eviction, the landlord must give whatever default notice the lease requires — and only if the lease is silent does the statutory default apply. For nonpayment of rent, §83.20(2) supplies that default: a written notice demanding the rent or possession of the premises within 3 days. Holdover tenants and tenants in material breach are addressed by the other subsections of §83.20.
Commercial leases rarely leave it there. A typical lease sets a 5-, 10-, or 15-day cure period, names who must receive the notice (often an officer, with a copy to counsel), and dictates the delivery method — certified mail, overnight courier, or hand delivery. Serve the notice exactly the way the lease says. A notice that shortens the bargained-for cure period, or that was mailed when the lease demanded hand delivery, gives the tenant a clean motion to dismiss weeks later.
This is why attorneys hand commercial default notices to a professional server rather than a mail clerk. Golden Process Service delivers eviction notices with the date, time, GPS coordinates, and recipient details logged on every attempt, then returns a notarized affidavit of service — proof the cure clock actually started. The mechanics mirror what we describe in our Florida 3-day notice guide, with the lease's own terms layered on top.
Serving the Eviction Summons on a Corporate Tenant
Once the notice period expires without payment or cure, the landlord files the eviction complaint and the summons must be served under Chapter 48 — and because most commercial tenants are entities, that means corporate service rules, not a knock on a residence. Corporations are served under §48.081, Florida Statutes, and LLCs under §48.062. Both statutes point first to the entity's registered agent, with fallback options if the agent can't be served.
Handing the papers to whoever is behind the counter is the classic mistake. A cashier or shift manager is usually not authorized to accept service, and a serve on the wrong person invites the kind of challenge we break down in defective service of process in Florida. Part I does give landlords one safety valve: under §83.22, if the tenant cannot be found in the county and no one authorized is available at the premises, the summons may be served by posting it conspicuously on the property. A posted serve supports the possession count only — if you also want a money judgment for back rent, the entity must be served properly. Our guide to serving an LLC in Florida walks the entity hierarchy step by step.
Registered Agents: The Fast Lane for Corporate Service
The fastest way to serve a corporate tenant is through its registered agent, whose name and address are public on Sunbiz. Most national tenants — franchisees, chain retailers, logistics companies — list a commercial registered agent, and those agents cluster in three Florida locations: CT Corporation System and NRAI in Plantation, Corporate Creations in North Palm Beach, and Corporation Service Company (CSC) in Tallahassee.
Golden Process Service runs these offices constantly — our headquarters sits minutes from the CT Corporation and NRAI suites in Plantation, and our Palm Beach office covers Corporate Creations. That geography is why attorneys route registered-agent serves to us for same-day completion: the summons goes out, the agent's intake desk accepts it, and the notarized affidavit is back for e-filing before the summary-procedure clock gets tight. See our walkthroughs on serving CT Corporation System and serving CSC in Tallahassee for how each intake works, and our flat-rate pricing for what a serve costs — no hourly surprises, whether it's one summons or a portfolio of defaults across Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties.
How Golden Process Service Helps
Most commercial eviction Florida matters reach us the same way: an attorney or landlord has a defaulting business tenant and a lease with its own notice terms. We take the default notice, the summons, or the distress writ and get each one served correctly under Chapter 83, Part I, so the summary-procedure clock actually starts and nothing gets quashed on a technicality later.
Before we serve, have three things ready: the signed lease (so we honor its cure period and delivery method), the tenant's exact legal entity name, and its registered-agent address from Sunbiz. With those in hand, a commercial eviction Florida serve moves fast — we confirm the agent, attempt the correct recipient, and skip the cashier-at-the-counter mistake that invites a motion to dismiss.
In practice, we log the date, time, GPS coordinates, and recipient on every attempt, then return a notarized affidavit ready for e-filing. For a lease default notice we deliver exactly as the lease dictates. For the summons we follow §48.081 for corporations and §48.062 for LLCs, serving the registered agent first.
Timing depends on the county and the recipient. A registered agent in Plantation or Tallahassee is often a same-day serve; a tenant who has gone quiet takes longer. When principals scatter, our skip tracing desk locates officers and agents so the case does not stall while the distress or possession count is pending.
Because a commercial eviction Florida landlords file often pairs the possession count with a distress-for-rent writ, we coordinate both: service on the entity, court filing of the returns, and correct addresses for the sheriff's civil division. One point of contact handles the notice, the summons, and the writ across all 67 counties.
Ready to move on a defaulting tenant? Send work with the lease and entity details, or call (888) 766-7497 and we will map out exactly which serves your matter needs.
Commercial tenant in default? We serve the notice, the summons, and the writ.
Distress for Rent: Florida's Commercial-Only Writ
Distress for rent is a remedy available only to nonresidential landlords, codified at §§83.11–83.19, Florida Statutes. It lets a landlord ask the court to seize the tenant's property located on the leased premises as security for unpaid rent — inventory, equipment, fixtures the tenant owns — before that property disappears out the back door.
The sequence runs in parallel with, or instead of, the eviction count:
- The landlord files a verified distress complaint stating the rent owed (§83.11).
- The court issues a distress writ commanding the tenant not to remove property from the premises until the rent claim is resolved (§83.12).
- The summons and complaint are served on the tenant like any other lawsuit — this is where a certified process server comes in — while the writ itself is enforced by the sheriff, who can levy on the property.
- The tenant can dissolve the writ or post bond to release the property; otherwise the levied property can ultimately be sold to satisfy the judgment.
Because a distress action stands or falls on clean service and tight timing, our team coordinates the pieces: we complete service on the entity, handle the court filing of returns, and keep the sheriff's civil division supplied with correct addresses. When the tenant's principals have scattered, our skip tracing desk locates officers and agents so nothing stalls. Timelines vary by county — the Palm Beach County eviction timeline shows how the possession side typically moves. Questions about a pending commercial default? Contact us and we'll map out the serves.
Related Reading
- The Florida Eviction Process, Step by Step — the residential track under Chapter 83, Part II.
- How to Serve a Registered Agent in Florida — intake procedures at CT, NRAI, Corporate Creations, and CSC.
- How to Serve an LLC in Florida — the §48.062 hierarchy when your tenant is an LLC.
- Process Server vs. Sheriff in Florida — who serves what in an eviction and distress action.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much notice is required before a commercial eviction in Florida?
For nonpayment of rent, §83.20(2), Florida Statutes, requires a written notice demanding the rent or possession within 3 days — but only as a default. If the commercial lease sets its own notice period, cure rights, or delivery method, the lease controls and must be followed exactly.
Can I serve the eviction papers on an employee at the business?
Usually not. Corporate tenants are served under §48.081 and LLCs under §48.062, which point first to the registered agent and specified officers or managers. A cashier or shift manager is generally not authorized to accept service, and serving the wrong person can get the serve quashed.
Can a commercial eviction summons be posted on the door?
Yes, in limited circumstances. Under §83.22, Florida Statutes, if the tenant cannot be found in the county and no authorized person is available at the premises, the summons may be posted conspicuously on the property. Posting supports the possession count only — a money judgment for unpaid rent still requires proper service on the entity.
What is a distress for rent writ?
A distress writ is a commercial-only remedy under §§83.11–83.19, Florida Statutes. After the landlord files a verified complaint for unpaid rent, the court issues a writ barring the tenant from removing its property from the premises, and the sheriff can levy on that property as security for the rent claim.
Do commercial tenants get the same protections as residential tenants?
No. The Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Chapter 83, Part II) — with its deposit rules, mandatory notice forms, and retaliation defenses — applies only to residential tenancies. Commercial tenancies fall under Part I, which largely enforces whatever the parties negotiated in the lease. Call (888) 766-7497 when you're ready to serve.