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How much does it cost to file an eviction in Florida?

Unlike a Florida divorce — which is priced county by county — a Florida eviction has a statutory statewide filing fee: $185 for removal of a tenant under Fla. Stat. §34.171, plus $10 for each summons the clerk issues. Service and the writ are priced separately, by the sheriff.

Florida eviction fees at a glance

The $185 filing fee and $10 summons fee are the §34.171 amounts as published on county clerks' fee schedules — the table follows the Martin County Clerk of Court's county civil fee list, which carries "Removal of Tenant $185" and "Issuing each summons $10." The sheriff figures are Miami-Dade's: $40 to serve each summons and $115 to execute a writ of possession. Other counties' sheriffs set their own civil process rates within the framework of Fla. Stat. §30.231, so the service lines — not the filing fee — are where a Florida eviction total moves.

Adding a money claim changes the filing tier

The flat $185 buys a possession-only case. A landlord who also sues for unpaid rent moves the case onto §34.171's general county-court tiers, which scale with the amount claimed — on the Martin County Clerk's published schedule, county civil claims carry $300 filing fees through the lower tiers (small claims run $55 under $100 up to $300 at $2,500.01–$8,000, and county civil is $300 from $8,000.01 to $15,000). Pleading the rent claim is often worth it — it avoids a second suit — but price the tier before you plead the number.

How the case runs

1. Serve the statutory notice — a 3-day notice to pay or vacate for nonpayment under §83.56, or a 7-day notice for other lease violations. No court fee applies.
2. File the complaint for removal of tenant in county court $185 and have the clerk issue summonses $10 each
3. The sheriff or a certified process server serves the summons and complaint $40 per summons in Miami-Dade
4. The tenant has five business days to respond — and, in a nonpayment case, must deposit the rent claimed into the court registry under §83.60(2) to keep a defence alive.
5. On judgment for the landlord, the clerk issues the writ of possession; the sheriff posts it and returns after 24 hours to execute $115 in Miami-Dade

Why Florida is the opposite of its own divorce system

Florida is the rare state that is county-set for one family-law staple and statewide for another: its divorce fee is built by each circuit and county (see Florida divorce costs — $409 in Miami-Dade), while its eviction fee is a single statutory number a landlord in Pensacola and a landlord in Key West both pay. The difference is the source of the number: divorce filing fees were left to a state-base-plus-county structure in §28.241, while §34.171 writes the $185 eviction figure directly into the statute.

Can't afford the fee?

A landlord or tenant who cannot pay court fees can apply for indigent status with the clerk, as the fee waiver guide explains; sheriff's service charges are separate. National context and the other deep-dives — Texas ($54 filing) and California ($240–$435) — are in the eviction filing cost guide; all other Florida fees are in the Florida court costs guide.

Sources: Fla. Stat. §34.171 as published in the Martin County Clerk of Court county civil fee schedule (removal of tenant $185; summons $10; county civil tiers) · Miami-Dade Sheriff civil process fees (summons service $40; writ of possession $115) · Fla. Stat. §§83.56, 83.60(2), 28.241, 30.231. Last verified: October 2026 — confirm current figures with the county clerk.