A Florida mobile home lot rental agreement is a lease of ground, and Chapter 723 writes a large part of it for you. The statute fixes the minimum term, dictates what the agreement must contain, limits what may be changed during a term, voids any provision that waives a statutory right, and restricts termination to the grounds in § 723.061. A park owner's real drafting freedom is narrower than most form leases assume, and the terms that matter most are usually the ones in the prospectus rather than in the lease itself.
The one-year minimum term
Section 723.031(4) is short and absolute. No rental agreement shall be offered by a park owner for a term of less than one year. The statute permits an initial term of less than a year for the single purpose of coordinating renewal dates across the park, so that a new resident arriving in March can be brought onto the same annual cycle as everyone else. After that, terms run a year or longer.
Month-to-month lot tenancies are not an option a park owner may offer. Where there is no written agreement at all, Chapter 723 still supplies the terms, because § 723.031(2) applies the chapter whether or not the tenancy was reduced to writing. An unwritten lot tenancy is not a tenancy at will. It is a Chapter 723 tenancy with an undocumented rent figure and a homeowner who can dispute what was agreed.
Longer terms are permitted and are sometimes useful, because § 723.031(5)(a) allows an agreement with a term exceeding 12 months to include increases disclosed in advance. A five-year lease with a stated escalation schedule is a legitimate structure. A one-year lease reserving a right to raise rent whenever the park owner chooses is not.
What the agreement must contain
Section 723.031(5) requires the agreement to contain the lot rental amount and the services included. "Lot rental amount" is a defined term. Section 723.003(6) defines it as all financial obligations, except user fees, which are required as a condition of the tenancy. That definition is broader than the number on the rent line, and it is the reason a park owner cannot move a charge out of rent and into a separately named fee without consequence.
Section 723.031(3) reinforces the point. The homeowner has no financial obligation to the park owner as a condition of occupancy in the park except the lot rental amount. User fees are permitted, but they are genuinely optional charges for optional services, and a service the homeowner was already receiving as part of rent cannot be converted into a user fee without a corresponding reduction in the rent.
Section 723.031(6) supplies the sanction. Any fee, charge or assessment that was not disclosed may not be collected, other than pass-through charges, and refusal by the mobile home owner to pay it may not be used by the park owner as a cause for eviction. An undisclosed charge is therefore worse than uncollectible: it also disarms the park owner's main enforcement tool, and an eviction filed on that basis is defective from the start. We cover the permissible grounds in our guide to evictions under Chapter 723.
The lease is only one of three documents
Section 723.031(10) provides that the rules and regulations and the prospectus are deemed to be incorporated into the rental agreement. The contract between a park owner and a homeowner is therefore three documents read together: the lease, the prospectus delivered to that homeowner, and the rules in effect.
That surprises new park owners. The lease can be silent on a subject and the park owner still have the authority, if the prospectus grants it. The lease can grant authority the prospectus does not support, and the grant will fail. Where the two conflict, the disclosure document generally governs the ability to charge and change, because § 723.031(7) bars a lot rental increase until an approved prospectus has been delivered where one is required, and § 723.035(2) bars any rule-based fee not provided for in the prospectus. Our guide to prospectus requirements covers that document.
Section 723.032 then removes the escape hatch. Subsection (1) permits a rental agreement to set a specific duration for rental payments and other conditions of the tenancy, but provides that the agreement shall neither provide for, nor be construed to provide for, the termination of any tenancy except as provided in § 723.061. Subsection (2) makes any provision void and unenforceable to the extent it attempts to waive or preclude the rights, remedies or requirements set out in the chapter or arising under law. A lease clause that shortens the 90-day notice period, waives mediation, adds an eviction ground or disclaims the statutory remedies is not a negotiated term. It is a void term sitting in an otherwise enforceable contract.
What may and may not change during a term
This is the provision to know by heart. Section 723.031(5) provides that a lot rental amount may not be increased during the term of the lot rental agreement, and then gives three exceptions.
| Exception | Provision | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| Increases disclosed in advance | § 723.031(5)(a) | The agreement runs longer than 12 months and the increase was disclosed in the agreement |
| Pass-through charges | § 723.031(5)(b) | A governmentally mandated capital improvement, itemized in the 90-day notice under § 723.037(1) |
| Taxes and utility charges | § 723.031(5) | Ad valorem property taxes, non-ad valorem assessments and utility charges, where previously disclosed, collected within the period the statute allows |
Everything outside those three columns waits for the end of the term, and even then it requires 90 days' written notice under § 723.037(1). Increases must also comply with §§ 723.033, 723.037 or 723.059(4) and may not be arbitrary or discriminatory.
The exceptions are narrower than they look. A pass-through charge is defined at § 723.003(17) as the mobile home owner's proportionate share of the necessary and actual direct costs and impact or hookup fees for a governmentally mandated capital improvement. Three elements must be present: a capital improvement, a government mandate, and actual direct cost allocated proportionately. A county-required lift station upgrade can qualify. A stormwater repair the park owner elected to make, an insurance premium increase and a management cost increase do not, however real those costs are.
The tax and utility exception in paragraph (c) depends on prior disclosure and on timely collection. A park owner who discovers an unbilled prior-year tax pass-on three years later is usually out of time. What protects this exception is an annual reconciliation, not a lease clause. Our guide to the lot rental increase procedure walks through the notice and committee process that follows.
Renewal and the 90-day notice
Chapter 723 does not give the park owner a general right to decline renewal. Section 723.032(1) bars the agreement from providing for termination except as provided in § 723.061, and § 723.031(9) points to the same place. Non-renewal as a way of removing a homeowner is a § 723.061 ground or a change of use, not a landlord election.
What the renewal cycle turns on is notice. Section 723.037(1) requires written notice to each affected mobile home owner and to the board of directors of the homeowners' association, if one has been formed, at least 90 days before any increase in lot rental amount, reduction in services or utilities, or change in rules and regulations. The notice must identify the affected homeowners by lot number, name, group or phase, with names and addresses furnished on request. Pass-through charges must be listed separately, showing the amount, the governmental entity that mandated the capital improvement, and the nature of the charge. Section 723.037(2) limits what the notice must say: the dollar amount of the portions being increased, the dollar amount of the proposed increase or a description of the reduction or rule change, and the effective date.
Count the 90 days from delivery to the effective date, not to the date the new term begins, and deliver to the association board as well as to the homeowners. A notice short by a few days, or one that went to the homeowners but not to the board, is the most common and most avoidable defect in the chapter. Section 723.037(3) then requires the park owner to file a copy of the notice annually with the Division, on or before January 1 for notices given in the preceding year.
Assumption when the home is sold
A mobile home is usually sold in place, and the buyer wants to stay. Section 723.059 governs what happens to the rental agreement.
- Approval. Under § 723.059(1) the purchaser may become a tenant if he or she meets the park's entry requirements under properly promulgated rules, and the park owner's approval may not be unreasonably withheld. The purchaser may cancel the purchase contract if approval has not been granted five days before closing.
- Assumption. Under § 723.059(3) a purchaser who intends to reside in the park has the right to assume the remainder of the term of the seller's rental agreement, and may assume the seller's prospectus, though the park owner may offer the purchaser any approved prospectus instead.
- Increase on expiration. Under § 723.059(4), when the assumed agreement expires the park owner may increase the lot rental amount in an amount it deems appropriate, provided the increase was disclosed to the purchaser before occupancy and is imposed consistently with the purchaser's prospectus and the chapter.
- Leases that do not travel. Under § 723.059(5) lifetime leases, and the renewal provisions in automatically renewable leases, are not assumable, with an exception for a transferee who is the homeowner's spouse, exercisable once.
Read subsections (3) and (4) together, because they are where park owners lose money quietly. The moment to disclose the post-assumption rent is before the purchaser occupies, not in a notice sent later. A park owner who approves a buyer, lets the buyer move in on the seller's old rent, and then finds there was no pre-occupancy disclosure has given away the increase for the rest of the assumed term. Our guide to occupancy and resident approval covers the screening side.
The drafting failures we see most often
Most lot rental agreement problems come from a form built for apartments or for an HOA and then adapted, which imports concepts Chapter 723 does not have.
- A month-to-month or six-month term. Prohibited outright by § 723.031(4) except for the initial coordinating term.
- A right to increase rent on 30 days' notice. Void under § 723.032(2) because it waives the 90-day notice in § 723.037(1), and outside the three mid-term exceptions in § 723.031(5).
- Termination or non-renewal clauses. Section 723.032(1) says the agreement may not provide for, or be construed to provide for, termination except as provided in § 723.061.
- A fine schedule with no prospectus basis. Unenforceable under § 723.035(2), and refusal to pay is not a ground for eviction under § 723.031(6).
- Charges labeled as fees to avoid the rent rules. The § 723.003(6) definition of lot rental amount captures all financial obligations required as a condition of the tenancy, except genuine user fees.
- Improvement requirements that appear only in the lease or the rules. Section 723.042 makes them unenforceable unless disclosed under § 723.012(7) before occupancy.
- A waiver of mediation or of attorney's fees. Void under § 723.032(2). The mediation track is described in our guide to Chapter 723 mediation.
- Security deposit terms that ignore § 723.031(8), which applies the Chapter 83 deposit rules where a deposit is held more than three months.
The review is the same for a park owner and for a homeowners' committee looking at a proposed form: read the lease against the prospectus and the rules, strike anything that shortens a statutory period or adds a remedy the chapter does not grant, and make sure every charge traces to a disclosure. A lease that survives is short. That is not a weakness. It reflects how much of the agreement Chapter 723 has already written.
Frequently Asked Questions About Lot Rental Agreements
Can we offer a month-to-month lot rental agreement?
No. Section 723.031(4) provides that no rental agreement shall be offered by a park owner for a term of less than one year. The only exception is an initial term shortened for the sole purpose of coordinating renewal dates within the park. After that first term, every term must be at least one year.
Can we raise rent in the middle of a lease term?
Only in three situations under § 723.031(5): increases disclosed in advance in an agreement with a term exceeding 12 months; pass-through charges for a governmentally mandated capital improvement; and ad valorem property taxes, non-ad valorem assessments and utility charges where previously disclosed. Everything else waits for the end of the term and still requires 90 days' written notice under § 723.037(1).
Is there a written agreement requirement?
Chapter 723 applies whether or not the tenancy was reduced to writing, under § 723.031(2), so an unwritten tenancy is still a Chapter 723 tenancy with a one-year minimum term. Practically, a written agreement is how the park owner proves the lot rental amount and the services included, which § 723.031(5) requires the agreement to contain.
A buyer is taking over a home in the park. Do they get the seller's lease?
Yes, if they intend to reside in the park. Section 723.059(3) gives the purchaser the right to assume the remainder of the term of the seller's rental agreement and to assume the seller's prospectus, though the park owner may offer any approved prospectus instead. Any increase at the end of that term must have been disclosed to the purchaser before occupancy under § 723.059(4).
Can we charge a fee that is not in the lease?
No, with one narrow exception. Section 723.031(6) provides that a fee, charge or assessment not disclosed may not be collected, other than pass-through charges, and that refusal to pay may not be used as a cause for eviction. Section 723.035(2) separately bars a rule from imposing a fee unless the prospectus provides for it.
Our lease says we can terminate on 60 days' notice. Is that enforceable?
No. Section 723.032(1) provides that a rental agreement shall neither provide for, nor be construed to provide for, the termination of any tenancy except as provided in § 723.061, and § 723.032(2) voids any provision that waives or precludes rights, remedies or requirements under the chapter. The clause is unenforceable even though the rest of the lease stands.
Contact Hamilton Mikes
Hamilton Mikes drafts and reviews mobile home lot rental agreements for park owners and operators in Lee, Collier and Charlotte Counties, and reviews proposed forms for homeowners' committees and resident associations. We read the lease against the prospectus and the rules, because that is where the answer usually is. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Contract Management page.
Statutes and authorities referenced
- § 723.003(6), (17), Fla. Stat. (definitions of lot rental amount and pass-through charge)
- § 723.031, Fla. Stat. (mobile home lot rental agreements)
- § 723.031(2), Fla. Stat. (chapter applies whether or not reduced to writing)
- § 723.031(3), Fla. Stat. (no financial obligation except the lot rental amount; user fees)
- § 723.031(4), Fla. Stat. (one-year minimum term)
- § 723.031(5), Fla. Stat. (required contents; the three mid-term increase exceptions)
- § 723.031(6), Fla. Stat. (undisclosed fees uncollectible; refusal not a ground for eviction)
- § 723.031(7), (9), (10), Fla. Stat. (no increase before prospectus delivery; eviction only under § 723.061; incorporation of rules and prospectus)
- § 723.031(8), Fla. Stat. (security deposits held more than three months; § 83.49)
- § 723.032, Fla. Stat. (prohibited or unenforceable provisions)
- § 723.033, Fla. Stat. (unreasonable lot rental amount, increase or provision)
- § 723.035(2), Fla. Stat. (rules may not impose fees except as provided in the prospectus)
- § 723.037(1)–(3), Fla. Stat. (90-day notice; contents of the notice; annual Division filing)
- § 723.042, Fla. Stat. (provision of improvements)
- § 723.059, Fla. Stat. (purchaser approval, assumption of the rental agreement and prospectus, increases on expiration, lifetime leases)
- § 723.061, Fla. Stat. (grounds for eviction)
- § 83.49, Fla. Stat. (security deposits)