Rental Property Cleanouts in Orlando: A Turnover Guide

A rental turnover in Orlando starts on the day the unit is legally back in your hands, not the day the tenant stops answering. Until then, what is inside is still the tenant’s, and Florida makes a landlord who clears it early liable for actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and the tenant’s attorney’s fees. From that day on, the job is what our junk removal crew and our dumpster do every week: a half truck from $395 or a 14 yard container on the driveway from $295, photos before anything moves, and the unit swept and ready on the date you promised the next tenant.

The Census Bureau counts 250,869 rented homes in Orange County and 66,716 in Seminole County, and nearly three in ten of the people living in rentals in Orange County moved in the past year. What follows is the order of operations we see work, with the law described first because it sets the calendar.

This guide describes how the process works under Florida law and cites the statutes. It is not legal advice. Whether a particular unit is surrendered, abandoned or evicted is a decision for the owner's attorney, and nothing here replaces that call.

Before anything leaves the unit: who owns what is still inside

Florida’s landlord and tenant law is explicit. A landlord shall not remove the tenant’s personal property from the dwelling unit unless it is after surrender, abandonment, recovery of possession because the last remaining tenant died, or a lawful eviction. Four doors, and the cleanout waits until you are through one of them. The penalty for guessing is in the same section: actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney’s fees.

That is why we ask how the unit came back before we book it: not to practice law, but because the truck is the one part of this that cannot be undone.

Surrender, abandonment and eviction: three of the four doors

Surrender: the tenant hands back the keys

The clean case. The tenant moves out, returns the keys and the tenancy ends. What is left behind is still personal property under Chapter 715, which is the next section, unless your lease has the clause that section describes.

Abandonment: what the statute actually presumes

Florida does not say “fifteen days.” It says that, absent actual knowledge, a tenant is presumed to have abandoned the unit when absent for a period equal to one half the time for periodic rental payments, which on a monthly lease works out to about fifteen days and on a weekly lease to about three and a half. The presumption does not apply if the rent is current or the tenant told you in writing about a planned absence. A unit that has been quiet for two weeks with the rent current does not trigger that presumption.

After a writ of possession: the 24 hour notice and the property line

After a judgment for the landlord, the clerk issues a writ of possession and the sheriff puts the landlord in possession after 24 hours’ notice posted on the premises, and weekends and holidays do not stop that clock. At the time the sheriff executes the writ, or any time after, the landlord may remove personal property found on the premises to or near the property line, and neither the sheriff nor the landlord is liable for what happens to it after it has been removed. What the statute authorizes is the property line. Getting the writ is the attorney’s work.

If you have to store and notify: the 10 day and 15 day clocks

When property is left after a tenancy ends, through eviction or otherwise, Chapter 715 requires the landlord to give the former tenant written notice describing it and a date by which to claim it. The clocks are short but real.

The $500 judgment rests on what the landlord reasonably believes, in the statute’s words, and it is not ours; we do not appraise what is in a unit. One more thing to know exists: a lease may carry a clause, in capitals, that relieves the landlord of the storage and notice duties after surrender or abandonment. Whether yours has it, and whether it applies to your unit, is exactly the question to put to your attorney before the truck is booked.

The deposit clock is already running: do not haul away your own evidence

If you intend to claim any of the security deposit, Florida gives you 30 days from the end of the tenancy to send written notice, by certified mail or e-mail, stating the intention and the reason. Miss it and you forfeit the right to claim against the deposit. If you do not intend to claim, the deposit goes back within 15 days. The tenant then has 15 days to object, and if it ends in court, the loser pays the winner’s costs and attorney.

The clock runs from the end of the tenancy, not from the end of the repairs, and the cleanout is where the evidence for the claim disappears. Once the stained carpet and the broken door are on our truck, the only proof they existed is what you photographed. So before anyone loads: date stamped photos of every room, a written inventory of what was left, and the invoices for the hauling and the repairs itemized by unit. Ask us for before and after photos of the unit: on a turnover they are the cheapest piece of evidence you will ever buy.

A turnover calendar that hits the date you promised

Day zero is the day the unit is legally yours again, by whichever of the four doors your attorney confirms. Day zero: walk the unit with a camera, every room, every closet, the appliances, and write the inventory. Day one: the cleanout, one visit for most units, with the crew sorting what a charity will take from what goes on the truck. Days two to five: painter, flooring, repairs, each throwing debris into the container if you chose one. Last day: cleaners, then the listing photos of an empty, bright unit. The deposit notice, if any, goes out inside the 30 days regardless of where the repairs stand.

Truck load or dumpster: choosing for a turn, with real numbers

When a fraction of a truck wins

A light turn, furniture, bags, a mattress and a broken dresser, is a crew job: $295 for a quarter truck, $395 for a half, $595 for three quarters, $795 for a full truck, loaded, hauled and disposed of in one visit, with the $145 minimum for a single item. No lifting by your staff and no container sitting in front of the unit.

When a 14 yard dumpster on the driveway wins

When several trades will be throwing things out over a week, a 14 yard dumpster in the driveway is the cheaper tool: $295 for one day, $395 for three, $495 for seven with two tons of disposal included, $895 for thirty. On the property’s own driveway it needs no permit in Orlando, Winter Park, unincorporated Orange County or unincorporated Seminole County, the four governments we checked; on a public street inside the City of Orlando it needs a right of way permit, and the city’s published fee for a storage container in the right of way is $50 plus $10 a day, with the permit fee explained with the rest of the costs. Apartment turnovers without a driveway are usually a crew job. The prices we publish are the ones you budget with, one door or forty.

What can be donated, what has to be recycled, and what the container cannot take

The mattress and the fridge show up in almost every turnover, and they are the two things with rules. Goodwill of Central Florida does not accept mattresses, large appliances or televisions; the West Orange Habitat ReStore in Winter Garden picks up furniture in good condition free but not used mattresses; refrigerators cannot go in a dumpster at all, because Florida keeps large appliances out of landfills and their refrigerant has to be recovered first, so they ride with the crew. Paint and chemicals left under the sink go to the county hazardous waste sites, free for residents. Orange County says it accepts no commercial waste, and Seminole’s program is for waste generated by households and free to county residents, so on a rental it is the owner or the tenant who drops them off, not a contractor’s truck. Where a mattress or a fridge can go has the addresses, and an estate cleanout is a different job with its own law.

What we need from you before the crew shows up

Access and a lockbox code or a meeting time. Where the truck can park and whether there are stairs or an elevator. Whether anything inside stays, marked with tape. Who signs, and whether you want the invoice per unit and the before and after photos sent to the owner. If you turn several doors a month, tell us how many and we will put a number on it.

When to stop reading and call your eviction attorney

Call the attorney, and do not book the truck, if the tenant is still answering or has said they are coming back; if the rent is current; if there is no judgment and no writ and you are unsure which of the four doors applies; if what was left looks like it could be worth $500 or more; if the last tenant died; or if you are not sure whether your lease has the storage clause. Every one of those is cheaper to ask about than to get wrong.

Have a unit coming back this month? Call (407) 904-5577 or send us the photos with the date you promised the next tenant, and we will tell you the price and the tool.

Sources consulted

• Florida Legislature, Fla. Stat. § 83.67, prohibited practices, § 83.59, right of action for possession, § 83.62, restoration of possession to landlord, § 83.49, deposit money or advance rent and § 715.104 and following, Disposition of Personal Property Landlord and Tenant Act
• U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates, table B25003, Tenure and table B07013, Geographical Mobility in the Past Year by Tenure
• Goodwill Industries of Central Florida, FAQs; West Orange Habitat for Humanity, ReStore

Eco Haul Services hauls junk and rents dumpsters in Winter Park, Orlando and 22 other Central Florida communities. Our prices are the ones on our pricing page. The statutes above were read in September 2026; they are described here, not applied, and the decision on any unit belongs to the owner’s attorney.

Questions we get about this

Can I throw away what a tenant left behind?

Not until the unit is legally back in your hands. Florida's landlord and tenant law says a landlord shall not remove a tenant's personal property unless it is after surrender, abandonment, recovery of possession because the last tenant died, or a lawful eviction, and a landlord who gets it wrong owes the tenant actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney's fees. Which of those four you are in is a question for your attorney, not for the crew with the truck.

Is it cheaper to rent a dumpster or hire a junk removal crew for a turnover?

For a light turn, a few pieces of furniture and bags, our crew is the simpler tool and usually the cheaper one: a single item is $145 and a quarter truck $295, loaded and gone in one visit, with nobody on your staff lifting anything. For a unit where the painter, the flooring crew and the cleaners will all be throwing things out over a week, the 14 yard dumpster on the driveway is cheaper: $295 for a day, $395 for three, $495 for seven with two tons of disposal. The crossing point is whether the debris shows up all at once or over several days.

How long does a rental property cleanout take in Orlando?

The hauling itself is usually one visit, and the crew tells you at the door if the load needs a second. What sets the real length of a turnover is the day zero, the day the unit is legally yours again, because until then nothing should leave. From that day, photos and inventory come first, the cleanout the same or the next day, and the painter and cleaners after the unit is empty.

Do I need a permit for a dumpster at a rental property?

Not on the property's own driveway in Orlando, Winter Park, unincorporated Orange County or unincorporated Seminole County. If the only place for it is a public street inside the City of Orlando, the container needs a right of way permit. The city's commercial fee schedule lists storage containers in the right of way at $50 plus $10 a day, and Permitting Services confirms which line applies to a roll off before you book; we wrote that up separately. Most single family rentals and townhomes have the driveway; most apartment turnovers are a crew job for that reason.

Do you work with property managers on a recurring basis?

Yes. Turnovers are the kind of work we are set up for, and the things property managers ask for are the things we plan around: a fixed date, a swept and empty unit, photos before and after, and an invoice per unit. Tell us how many doors you turn a month and we will put a number on it.