How long is squatters' rights in Florida?

Seven years by either route, but the route with no deed also needs seven years of paid property taxes and a filed return. And since July 2024, a Florida owner can ask the sheriff to remove squatters from a home without going to court.

If someone is living in your home now, the clock matters far less than getting them out lawfully, and that is where we can help.

Someone in your home? Get them out Start with one building

Statutory period: 7 years
What's different here: taxes and a filed return without a deed, plus a 2024 sheriff removal law
Statute: Fla. Stat. §§ 95.16, 95.18, 82.036

Someone living in your home in Florida? Dardaris helps you get them out.

Changing the locks or cutting the power turns the law against you. We hand it to people who remove squatters lawfully, for a living.

If they are moving in right now, call the police first. Once they have settled in, it takes a formal process, and that is where we come in.

Your contact at Dardaris

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Dardaris is not a law firm and removes nobody itself. If you hire the specialist we introduce, they pay us a referral fee, and you deal with them under their own terms. We pass your details on only once you agree.

Tell us what is happening, by email or on a call. Talking to us costs nothing.
We put you in touch with a removal specialist who works through the court and the sheriff, never around them.
Once the home is free, Dardaris manages the letting for you.

Florida uses one number for both routes: seven years of continuous possession. Section 95.16 covers a possessor who holds a recorded written instrument, which is color of title. Section 95.18 covers a possessor with no paper at all, and it is the demanding one. The claimant must pay all outstanding property taxes within one year of taking possession, keep paying for the remaining years, and file a return with the county property appraiser within 30 days of the first payment.

The appraiser then mails a copy of that return to the owner of record and notes the claim on the tax roll. A squatter who follows the statute therefore leaves a paper trail the owner can see, and an owner who reads the tax roll gets a warning. On the no-deed route, possession without the taxes and the return is not enough.

Removal is a separate question, and Florida changed it in 2024. House Bill 621 (chapter 2024-44), in force since July 1, 2024, created section 82.036 of the Florida Statutes. An owner or the owner's agent files a verified complaint with the county sheriff. If the sheriff confirms the owner and the conditions are met, the sheriff serves a notice to immediately vacate, puts the owner in possession and may arrest occupants for trespass. The conditions are strict: a residential dwelling, occupants who entered unlawfully and were told to leave, no tenancy, no family member and no pending lawsuit.

Where Florida sits against the rest of the United States, in years

Of 50 places in the United States on these pages, 5 have a shorter clock and 33 a longer one or none at all.

Sources checked

From the day someone moves in to the day a claim is possible

The same three stages in most places. The exact rule, and whether the last stage exists at all, is on each place's own page.

Day oneMoving inCaught in the act, it is usually a matter for the police: a trespass, not a tenancy.
Weeks to yearsSettled inOnce someone lives there, removing them usually takes a court order, the same route as for a tenant.
After 7 yearsA claim becomes possibleOnly if every test held, without a break, for the whole period. Where the law allows no such claim, this stage never comes.

Not yours to do, once they have moved inChanging the locks, cutting the water or power, or removing belongings yourself. It is illegal in every US state and most places on these pages forbid it too. Each page says how removal works there.

Letting a home in Florida? Start from a free leaseFill in a Florida residential lease with the deposit, late fee, entry and notice rules Florida law sets, then download it as PDF or Word. No account needed.Write the Florida lease

The record a court asks for, kept as you go

Wherever your property stands, removing an occupant usually comes down to showing who had the right to be there, and since when. Dardaris files every lease, message and document for a building by date, so that record already exists on the day you need it.

Start with one building

Every lease, with who signed it and when
Every message with a tenant, on the thread it was sent in
Every document, filed against the building it concerns

Frequently asked questions

What are the squatting laws in Florida?

Florida's adverse possession statutes are Fla. Stat. §§ 95.16 and 95.18: 7 years of continuous possession. What is different here: the no-deed route needs paid taxes and a filed return, and since July 1, 2024, section 82.036 lets an owner ask the sheriff to remove squatters from a home. Squatting is trespassing, and an owner never changes the locks or cuts the utilities to force someone out.

How long is squatters' rights in Florida?

Seven years of actual, continued possession. Section 95.16 applies with a recorded written instrument and section 95.18 without one, and the no-deed route also requires paid property taxes and a return filed with the property appraiser.

What applies to an ordinary squatter with no deed in Florida?

Section 95.18: seven years of actual possession, the land enclosed or kept up in the usual way, all outstanding taxes paid within a year of entry and the later years paid after that, and a return filed with the property appraiser within 30 days of the first payment. A squatter who did none of that does not meet the statute.

What is Florida's squatter removal law, section 82.036?

A limited remedy created by HB 621 (chapter 2024-44), effective July 1, 2024. The owner or agent files a verified complaint under penalty of perjury with the sheriff, who checks ownership, serves a notice to vacate and puts the owner in possession. It does not cover current or former tenants, family members, or a dispute already in court.

Can a Florida owner remove a squatter without a court order?

Yes, in the case section 82.036 covers: the sheriff acts on the verified complaint and no judge rules first. Outside it, no. Changing the locks or cutting the utilities on someone who has settled in is not the lawful route. If you catch someone while they are still moving in, call the police. A person removed wrongly can sue for possession, damages, three times the fair market rent and attorney fees.

Can someone help me get squatters out of my home in Florida?

Yes. Removal specialists do it through the court and the sheriff. Changing the locks or cutting the power would put you in the wrong. Dardaris can put you in touch with one, and once the home is free, manage the letting for you.

Elsewhere in the United States

The same question, on a different clock. Every place sets its own period and its own shortcuts.

This is general information, not legal advice.Laws change, and a county or a city can add its own wrinkle on top of the state rule, the way New York City does. Confirm the current rule for your address before acting on it, and talk to a local attorney before relying on any of it in a real dispute.