What a Florida commercial lease agreement is for
A commercial lease in Florida is mostly a matter of contract. Florida's tenant protections for homes in Part II of chapter 83 do not apply to businesses, so the lease itself decides who pays for the roof, how operating costs are shared, what happens after a hurricane, and how quickly a landlord can act when the rent stops coming in. What Florida law does add is a handful of specific rules a good lease has to get right: the notice periods for eviction, the landlord's statutory lien, the radon notice, the witness requirement, and the section 713.10 wording that keeps a tenant's unpaid contractors from liening the landlord's building.
This template is a complete lease for office, retail and flex space with a net lease as its main structure and modified gross and full-service gross options. It sets out rent and escalations, operating expenses with real exclusions and an audit right, maintenance responsibilities, insurance, hurricane procedures, casualty and condemnation, assignment, default and remedies, holdover and surrender. Eight exhibits cover the legal description, rent schedule, work letter, personal guaranty, building rules, commencement certificate, a recordable memorandum of lease and a move-in condition checklist.
When to use it
Use it when you lease a suite in an office building, a retail bay in a strip centre, or a flex or light industrial unit in Florida, for a term of one to ten years, whether you are the landlord or a tenant who wants a fair starting draft. It also works to replace an old lease at renewal, especially one that still adds sales tax to the rent.
It is not built for ground leases, regional mall leases with percentage rent and co-tenancy, build-to-suit projects, or residential property. A large tenant improvement project or a lease with a substantial personal guaranty deserves a review by a Florida real estate lawyer before signing.
What's inside
The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.
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Basic Lease Information
- Property and premises
- Tenant's share
- Term and dates
- Escalation
- Lease structure
- Deposit
- Use
- Parking
- Guarantor
- Brokers
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Premises and term
- Common areas
- As-is condition
- Delivery delays
- Commencement certificate
- Renewal option
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Rent
- Monthly Base Rent
- Abatement
- Late charge and interest
- No sales tax after October 1 2025
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Operating Expenses and Taxes
- Net modified gross or full-service gross
- Inclusions
- Exclusions
- Management fee cap
- Estimates and reconciliation
- Audit right
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Deposit, use and services
- Security deposit rules
- Permitted use and compliance
- Hazardous materials
- ADA allocation
- Utilities
- HVAC hours
- Abatement for interruptions
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Maintenance, alterations and liens
- Landlord repairs
- Tenant repairs
- HVAC option
- Consent to alterations
- Section 713.10 lien prohibition
- Recording
- Lien release or bond
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Insurance, indemnity and hurricanes
- Tenant's coverages and limits
- Landlord's insurance
- Waiver of subrogation
- Mutual indemnity
- Hurricane procedures and shutters
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Casualty, condemnation and transfers
- Restoration estimate and termination rights
- Rent abatement
- Condemnation award
- Assignment and subletting
- SNDA and estoppel
- Access
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Default, holdover and surrender
- 3-day rent demand
- 15-day cure
- Remedies
- No self-help
- Statutory landlord's lien
- Landlord default
- Holdover and double rent
- Surrender
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Radon notice and general provisions
- Section 404.056 radon notice
- Notices
- Attorneys' fees
- Jury waiver
- Force majeure
- Venue
- Signatures with two witnesses
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Exhibits A to H
- Legal description and plan
- Rent schedule
- Work letter and TI allowance
- Personal guaranty
- Rules
- Commencement certificate
- Memorandum of lease
- Move-in checklist
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Lease Signing Checklist
- 12 checks before signing
Preview pages
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Page 1 -
Page 2 -
Page 3
How to complete the lease
- Fill in the Basic Lease Information. Enter the exact legal names (check Sunbiz), the suite, square footage, tenant's share, term, escalation, deposit, use and parking.
- Choose the lease structure. Net, modified gross with a base year, or full-service gross. Delete the two you are not using.
- Complete the rent schedule. Enter the rate per square foot and monthly rent for each lease year in Exhibit B, plus any abatement months.
- Decide repair responsibilities. Choose who maintains and replaces the HVAC system.
- Set the insurance limits. Adjust the minimums to the tenant's business and the landlord's lender requirements.
- Complete the work letter. As is, landlord's work, or a tenant improvement allowance with payment terms.
- Decide on the guaranty. Unlimited, capped at a period of rent, or none.
- Sign with witnesses. Each party signs in front of two witnesses whose names and post-office addresses are printed below their signatures.
- Record the memorandum. Have Exhibit G notarized and recorded in the county records before the tenant's contractors start, then sign the commencement certificate within 30 days of commencement.
Example: the rent and CAM numbers
A fictional landlord, Gulf Breeze Professional Plaza LLC, leases Suite 204 (2,400 rentable square feet) in a 24,000-square-foot building in Sarasota to Coastal Ledger CPA, PLLC on a five-year net lease starting November 1, 2026.
Tenant's share: 2,400 ÷ 24,000 = 10%. Base Rent year 1: $24.00 per square foot = $57,600 a year, $4,800 a month, rising 3% a year ($4,944 a month in year 2). Estimated Operating Expenses and Taxes for 2027: $11.50 per square foot, $2,300 a month. Monthly payment: $4,800 + $2,300 = $7,100. Sales tax: none. Reconciliation: actual 2027 expenses come to $11.90 per square foot; Coastal Ledger pays the $960 shortfall within 30 days of the April 2028 statement.
Under a lease drafted before the repeal, the same tenant would have been billed 2% state tax plus Sarasota County's 1% surtax, $213 a month, on rent that is no longer taxable.
Florida rules to know
- Sales tax on rent repealed (HB 7031, 2025). Section 212.031 no longer taxes commercial rent for rental periods from October 1, 2025.
- Eviction notices (section 83.20(2)). 3 days' written demand for unpaid rent, excluding weekends and legal holidays; 15 days' written notice to cure other material breaches.
- Rent into the court registry (section 83.232). A tenant defending an eviction must pay the alleged rent into court as it falls due.
- Holdover (section 83.06). Double rent after the landlord demands possession in writing and the tenant refuses to leave.
- Landlord's lien (section 83.08). A statutory lien for rent on the tenant's property on the premises.
- Tenant-improvement liens (section 713.10). The lease must prohibit them, and the lease, a memorandum or a statutory notice must be recorded.
- Radon notice (section 404.056(5)). Required wording in every rental agreement for a building.
- Witnesses (sections 689.01 and 695.26). Two witnesses for a lease over one year, with their post-office addresses.
Clauses that cause the most disputes
Florida commercial lease fights tend to start in the same places. A CAM clause that says "all costs of operating the property" lets the landlord pass through a new roof or leasing commissions, and the tenant has no audit right to check the bill. The lease says nothing about hurricanes, so nobody knows who puts up the shutters or whether rent stops while the power is out. A tenant's contractor goes unpaid and liens the whole building because the lease never prohibited it, or the prohibition was never recorded. And after October 2025, an old form keeps adding sales tax that is no longer owed. This lease's expense exclusions, hurricane section, lien clause with memorandum, and rent clause deal with each of them.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still charge sales tax on commercial rent in Florida?
No, not for rental periods beginning on or after October 1, 2025. HB 7031 (2025) repealed the state sales tax on commercial rent in section 212.031, and the county discretionary surtax with it. Some items, such as separately rented parking spaces, can still be taxable, so check with the Department of Revenue if your lease charges for them separately.
Does a Florida commercial lease need to be witnessed?
A lease for more than one year is a conveyance of an interest in land, and section 689.01 calls for two subscribing witnesses, whose names and post-office addresses must appear under their signatures. Witnesses and a notary are needed to record the lease or a memorandum of it. Signing with two witnesses avoids any argument about the lease's validity.
How much notice does a Florida commercial landlord have to give before eviction?
For unpaid rent, 3 days' written notice demanding payment or possession, not counting weekends and legal holidays (section 83.20(2)). For other breaches, 15 days' written notice to cure. The landlord must then go to court; it cannot change the locks or cut off utilities to force a tenant out.
How do Florida landlords protect themselves from a tenant's contractor liens?
Under section 713.10, the lease must expressly say the landlord's interest is not subject to liens for the tenant's improvements, and the lease, a memorandum of it, or a notice meeting the statute must be recorded, ideally before the tenant's notice of commencement. This lease includes the clause and a memorandum ready to record.
What is a triple net lease in Florida?
A lease where the tenant pays its share of the property's taxes, insurance and maintenance (the three "nets") on top of base rent. This lease's net option defines those operating expenses, lists what is excluded, caps the management fee and gives the tenant a right to audit the landlord's annual statement.
