Florida Florida Statutes

§ 82.035 — Remedy for unlawful detention by a transient occupant of residential property; recovery of transient occupant's personal belongings

FS § 82.035Ch. 82

Statute text

(1)As used in this section, the term “transient occupant” means a person whose residency in real property intended for residential use has occurred for a brief length of time, is not pursuant to a lease, and whose occupancy was intended as transient in nature.(a) Factors that establish that a person is a transient occupant include, but are not limited to:1. The person does not have an ownership interest, financial interest, or leasehold interest in the property entitling him or her to occupancy of the property. 2. The person does not have any property utility subscriptions. 3. The person cannot produce documentation, correspondence, or identification cards sent or issued by a government agency, including, but not limited to, the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or the supervisor of elections, which show that the person used the property address as an address of record with the agency within the previous 12 months. 4. The person pays minimal or no rent for his or her stay at the property. 5. The person does not have a designated space of his or her own, such as a room, at the property. 6. The person has minimal, if any, personal belongings at the property. 7. The person has an apparent permanent residence elsewhere.

(b)Minor contributions made for the purchase of household goods, or minor contributions towards other household expenses, do not establish residency.

(2)A transient occupant unlawfully detains a residential property if the transient occupant remains in occupancy of the residential property after the party entitled to possession of the property has directed the transient occupant to leave. A transient occupancy terminates when a transient occupant begins to reside elsewhere, surrenders the key to the dwelling, or leaves the dwelling when directed by a law enforcement officer in receipt of an affidavit under subsection (3), the party entitled to possession, or a court. A transient occupancy is not extended by the presence of personal belongings of a former transient occupant.

(3)Any law enforcement officer may, upon receipt of a sworn affidavit of the party entitled to possession that a person who is a transient occupant is unlawfully detaining residential property, direct a transient occupant to surrender possession of residential property. The sworn affidavit must set forth the facts, including the applicable factors listed in paragraph (1)(a), which establish that a transient occupant is unlawfully detaining residential property.(a) A person who fails to comply with the direction of the law enforcement officer to surrender possession or occupancy violates s. 810.08. In any prosecution of a violation of s. 810.08 related to this section, whether the defendant was properly classified as a transient occupant is not an element of the offense, the state is not required to prove that the defendant was in fact a transient occupant, and the defendant's status as a permanent resident is not an affirmative defense.

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Legislative history

s. 1, ch. 2015-89; s. 1, ch. 2018-83; s. 5, ch. 2018-94.