Buying a Miami Property With a Tenant in Place: What Transfers at Closing (2026)

Last updated: August 2026

If you buy a Miami property with a tenant already in it, you buy the lease along with the walls. Florida law does not let a purchaser cancel an existing lease because title changed hands: you step into the landlord's position and take the property subject to the tenant's remaining term, the rent in the signed lease, and the duty to account for the security deposit. Section 83.49(7), Florida Statutes, is explicit on the deposit. On the sale or transfer of title, all security deposits and advance rents held for the benefit of the tenants must be transferred to the new owner with any earned interest and an accurate accounting showing the amounts credited to each tenant account [1].

So the question is not whether you inherit the tenancy. You do. The questions are what the lease says, whether the rent is collectible, whether the deposit money exists, and whether your lender and, in a condominium, the association will accept it. Verify all four before you waive contingencies, and have a Florida real estate attorney read the lease and the estoppel.

What you are actually acquiring

Chapter 83 Part II, the Florida Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, defines a landlord as "the owner or lessor of a dwelling unit" [2]. When you take title you become that landlord, and nothing in Part II lets a new owner shorten a term, raise rent mid-lease, or void an occupancy right that predates closing.

Section 83.5615, the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, gives a bona fide tenant at least 90 days' notice to vacate and generally preserves a bona fide lease through its term [3]. It applies to title taken through foreclosure, not an arm's length purchase.

The four documents that tell you what you bought

The tenant estoppel letter. Signed by the tenant, not the seller, confirming the rent and due date, the term dates, any renewal option, the deposit and prepaid rent actually paid, any concession or side agreement, and any offset the tenant claims. It is not the condominium estoppel certificate, which covers assessments rather than the tenancy and which an association must issue within 10 business days, effective 30 days by hand or electronic delivery, 35 days by mail [4].

The lease and every amendment. The statutory definition of "rental agreement" expressly includes amendments and addenda [2], so collect the signed original, every addendum, renewal notices, and any email that changed a term.

The rent roll and payment ledger. Twelve months of entries, not a summary. Chronic lateness, waived late fees, and partial payments are the underwriting story.

Proof of the deposit. Section 83.49(1) requires the landlord to hold it in a separate Florida bank account or to post a surety bond, and section 83.49(2) requires written notice to the tenant within 30 days naming the depository. That notice duty does not apply to landlords renting fewer than five dwelling units [1], so on a single condo unit ask for the bank record.

The deposit at closing is a liability, not a formality

Once the funds and records are transferred and a written receipt is transmitted, the seller is released from the holding obligation, and a rebuttable presumption arises that the new owner received the deposit, limited to one month's rent [1]. That limit is the operational point: you are presumed to hold the money, and if the deposit exceeds one month's rent and the seller never sent it, the presumption only goes so far. Take it as a closing credit, in writing, with the per-tenant accounting attached to the settlement statement.

You then own the move-out clock: section 83.49(3) requires return within 15 days after termination if you impose no claim, and written notice within 30 days if you do [1]. Under section 83.49(6), a renewal counts as a new rental agreement and a deposit carried forward as a new deposit [1].

Why the stated rent and the enforceable rent differ

A seller quotes the rent roll; the enforceable number is whatever the signed documents support. The gap shows up as an undocumented free month, a side letter, an increase never memorialized in an amendment, or a claimed offset for an unrepaired condition. The statute defines rent as payments due under the rental agreement plus other payments "designated as rent in a written rental agreement" [2], so parking or pet charges folded into the seller's number may not be enforceable as rent. A cap rate built on a disputed rent is an assumption, not a yield.

What happens at the end of the term

A fixed-term lease ends on its end date. A lease may require the tenant to give notice before vacating, but section 83.575(1) makes that mutual and bounded: the landlord must also notify the tenant within the same window if the lease will not be renewed, and a rental agreement "may not require less than 30 days' notice or more than 60 days' notice from either the tenant or the landlord" [5]. If the tenancy has rolled to month-to-month, section 83.57 requires at least 30 days' notice before the end of a monthly period, 60 days for year-to-year [6].

Local ordinances generally do not add to this: section 83.425 preempts to the state "the regulation of residential tenancies, the landlord-tenant relationship, and all other matters covered under this part," notice requirements included [7]. Ordinances predating that preemption are still quoted online, so ask counsel what applies today.

The constraints on getting a tenant out

You generally cannot terminate a valid lease because you bought the building. If the tenant breaches, remedies run through section 83.56 notices and a county court possession action under section 83.59 [8]. Section 83.67 bars interrupting utility service, preventing reasonable access by changing locks or using a bootlock or similar device, and removing the tenant's personal property except after surrender, abandonment, or a lawful eviction; a violator owes actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney's fees [9].

A negotiated buyout is an agreement, not a right, so price it into your offer if vacancy is the plan. Section 83.53 permits entry to exhibit the unit to prospective purchasers but bars abusing that access or using it to harass the tenant [10], so negotiate inspection windows into the contract.

Financing an occupied property

Under the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac uniform security instrument, a borrower financing a principal residence must occupy the property within 60 days after executing the instrument and keep it as a principal residence for at least one year [11]. If the tenant has eight months left you cannot truthfully certify that, and the answer is an investment-property loan with a larger down payment and different pricing.

Expect the lender to want the lease, the estoppel, and the ledger, and to credit only part of the rent toward qualifying. In a condominium, investor concentration, delinquencies, litigation, and reserve status also bear on financeability. Check the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the current weekly average rather than anchoring on a figure you read somewhere [12], and treat any payment math as a labeled illustration.

The condominium case

Approval of your purchase. The declaration may require board approval of the transfer and may include a right of first refusal, both disclosed on the section 718.116(8) estoppel certificate [4].

Leasing restrictions that bind you but not the seller. Section 718.110(13) provides that an amendment prohibiting owners from renting, altering the duration of the rental term, or limiting the number of times owners may rent "applies only to unit owners who consent to the amendment and unit owners who acquire title to their units after the effective date of that amendment" [13]. A seller grandfathered out of a leasing cap passes you no such protection, so pull the declaration and every recorded amendment and check effective dates.

Approval of the tenant, and where the rent goes. Where the declaration requires lease approval, section 718.112(2)(i) allows a capped screening fee per applicant and lets the association require a prospective lessee to escrow up to one month's rent [14]. Section 718.116(11) lets an association demand rent directly from the tenant when the owner is delinquent [4], and under section 718.116(1)(a) a purchaser is jointly and severally liable with the previous owner for unpaid assessments that came due up to the transfer of title [4].

Existing condominium inventory in Miami-Dade stood at 12.3 months of supply in June 2026, with a median existing condo sale price of $431,000, down 3.15 percent year over year [15], so tenant-occupied resales are common in dense rental submarkets such as Brickell.

A pre-closing checklist

Condition the contract on your approval of the lease, all amendments, the ledger, the signed tenant estoppel, and proof of the deposit.
Take the deposit and advance rent as a closing credit with the written accounting and a receipt, as section 83.49(7) contemplates.
Get a written assignment of the lease and notify the tenant of the new ownership, including the landlord address disclosure under section 83.50 [8]. In a condominium, also obtain the estoppel certificate, the declaration with all amendments, the leasing rules, and the delinquency status.
Have a Florida real estate attorney review the lease and the estoppel before your inspection period expires, and start with a buyer consultation to set that timeline.

Frequently asked questions

Does a lease end automatically when the property is sold in Florida?

No. The buyer takes title subject to the tenancy and becomes the landlord for the remaining term. Chapter 83 Part II gives a purchaser no right to cancel a lease because ownership changed.

Who is responsible for the security deposit after closing?

It follows the property. Section 83.49(7) requires deposits and advance rents to be transferred to the new owner with earned interest and an accounting, and creates a rebuttable presumption, limited to one month's rent, that the new owner received them [1].

Can I raise the rent right after I buy?

Not during a fixed term. The rent is whatever the signed lease says until the term ends or the tenant agrees in writing. At the end of a term, or in a month-to-month tenancy, sections 83.575 and 83.57 govern notice timing [5][6].

Does the condo association have to approve me and the existing tenant?

It depends on the declaration. Many Miami declarations require board approval of both the transfer and any lease, and some impose leasing caps or minimum lease terms. Because section 718.110(13) applies rental amendments to owners who take title after the amendment, restrictions the seller escaped can still bind you [13]. More questions are on the FAQ page.

Gabriel

Sources

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Gabriel A. Moyers, PA. eXp Realty. Florida License #3407280. Equal Housing Opportunity. This article is general information as of August 2026 and is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Verify current figures against authoritative sources before acting.