Florida Short-Term Rental Laws: State and Local Rules
Verified August 9, 2026. Next scheduled review: October 23, 2026, or sooner if a governing rule, fee, form, or tax changes. Individual rows carry their own as-of dates.
Florida has no single statewide permission slip for short-term rentals. The state supplies one layer — vacation-rental licensing through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's vacation-rental program and tax registration through the Florida Department of Revenue — but whether your specific property can operate as a short-term rental is decided by your exact city or unincorporated county: its zoning districts, its property-type and owner-occupancy rules, any local ordinance adopted on or before June 1, 2011, and its registration, inspection, and tax programs. Private documents — HOA and condo declarations, leases, loan documents, and insurance policies — can stop an otherwise permitted use. A DBPR license does not replace local approval, and a platform listing is not evidence that an operation is legal. Verify the address before you forecast revenue, buy tools, or accept a booking.
The five gates. Do not list the property, or accept a booking, until each gate that applies to your address is cleared and documented. Each gate names the step of the Florida Pre-Listing Sequence that executes it:
- Jurisdiction and zoning (Sequence steps 1–2) — which city or unincorporated county governs, and whether its zoning permits the intended rental model for your property type.
- Local operation (Sequence step 4) — registration, Business Tax Receipt, Certificate of Use, inspection, occupancy, local-contact, and listing-display rules, where the jurisdiction imposes them.
- State license (Sequence step 5) — a DBPR vacation-rental license where the whole-unit trigger applies.
- Tax accounts (Sequence step 6) — state sales tax and any county surtax, plus the county or municipal transient-rental tax, each with the correct administrator.
- Private and risk (Sequence steps 3 and 8) — HOA or condo, lease, lender, and insurer permission, confirmed in writing.
What the state layer costs. A single-unit Florida vacation-rental license is a $50 application fee plus a $170 full-year license fee — $220 in the first year, or $140 where the application lands in the half-year window, and $170 at each renewal — under DBPR's published lodging fee schedule, verified August 9, 2026. Local registration, inspection, and business-tax costs sit on top of that and vary by jurisdiction: among the nine jurisdictions profiled below, the published local cost to become authorised runs from about $136 for unincorporated Miami-Dade County's certificate to $600 in unincorporated Pinellas County for the certificate and first inspection, with several jurisdictions publishing no figure at all. The worked example in the licensing section shows the full stack and what it excludes.
First action. Pull the property's record from the county property appraiser or the county's official jurisdiction lookup and confirm whether the address sits inside city limits or in unincorporated county territory. Then open that government's current planning, zoning, or short-term-rental program page and record the authority's name, the rule you found, its date, and what remains unresolved. The order matters: jurisdiction and private documents come first; DBPR licensing and tax registration only matter once the address clears; furnishing, pricing, and software wait until every gate is documented.
Where this leaves you.
- Start down the whole-home vacation-rental path if your Florida city or unincorporated county confirms in writing that the use is permitted for your address and property type, and you are prepared to hold a DBPR license and every applicable tax account.
- Start down an owner-occupied home-sharing path if your Florida jurisdiction limits short stays to a registered, owner-resident model and you actually live in the property.
- Choose a long-term rental path instead if zoning, an ordinance adopted on or before June 1, 2011, or your HOA, condo, lease, lender, or insurer restricts short stays at your Florida address.
- Choose neither yet if you have not confirmed which Florida government governs your address or what its current rules say — or if a long-term tenant is still in the property.
Get a Florida real-estate attorney, CPA, or licensed insurance professional involved if a pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance, conflicting official sources, disputed private documents, a sitting tenant, or an enforcement notice is in play.
What the rest of this article settles. Which state definitions catch your rental and which do not; what the state licence costs for your county and application timing; what the state and local tax stack looks like and who administers each part; how nine named Florida jurisdictions actually treat short stays, field by field; how to resolve any Florida jurisdiction that is not covered; and what to do when a tenant, a guest, an association document, or an insurer has rights that come before yours.
This page is educational information published by Rental Income HQ, an independent site. It is not legal, tax, or insurance advice, and Rental Income HQ is not a law firm, tax preparer, insurer, brokerage, or property manager. It is written for owners of one to four Florida units deciding whether short-term rental is available to them at a specific address. Rules change, and outcomes are address-specific: confirm requirements with the responsible planning, zoning, licensing, and tax authorities, and involve qualified Florida counsel or a licensed tax or insurance professional when a rule, document, or set of facts is disputed. If a figure, date, or requirement on this page no longer matches its official source, tell us at hello@rentalincomehq.com and we will correct it and restamp the row.
On this page
- Start with the exact address, not the state license
- What counts as a vacation rental in Florida
- What Florida preemption does and does not do
- DBPR license, fees, forms, and operating requirements
- State and local taxes on Florida short stays
- Selected Florida local rules by jurisdiction
- Florida jurisdictions at a glance
- Miami Beach
- Unincorporated Miami-Dade County
- City of Key West
- City of Orlando
- Unincorporated Orange County
- Fort Lauderdale
- Osceola County (unincorporated)
- Pinellas County (unincorporated)
- Monroe County (unincorporated): the Florida Keys
- If your Florida jurisdiction is not listed
- If someone else already has rights in the property
- Private property and risk gates
- The Florida Pre-Listing Sequence
- Which path fits your situation
- Choosing short-term rental help at a glance
- Frequently asked questions
- Your next step
- Sources and last verified date
Start with the exact address, not the state license
Most compliance mistakes in Florida start with geography, not law. A mailing address is assigned by the postal service, not by a government's boundary, so a property with a "Miami," "Orlando," or "Kissimmee" address can sit outside those city limits in unincorporated county territory — governed by a different authority, a different program, and different fees. The county property appraiser's record, or the county's official jurisdiction lookup, is the reliable way to establish which government you answer to. That single fact decides everything downstream.
Once you know the jurisdiction, three local variables usually decide the outcome: the zoning district, the property type, and whether you will live in the home. A single-family house, a condominium unit, and a duplex can face different rules at the same intersection. A whole-home rental, a room-only rental, and an owner-occupied home share are often treated as different uses entirely — permitted, conditioned, or prohibited independently of one another. Never infer your answer from a neighbor's active listing: their parcel may sit in a different district, hold a legacy status, or simply be operating out of compliance.
Work the gates in this order, and stop at the first one that fails or cannot be confirmed:
| Layer | Authority and source type | Stop condition |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Address and jurisdiction | Property appraiser record; official planning, zoning, and code portals | Boundary unknown, or the use is not permitted or not confirmed |
| 2. Local operation | City or county ordinance and program pages | A required registration, receipt, certificate, inspection, or local-contact step is incomplete |
| 3. State lodging license | Chapter 509, Florida Statutes, and DBPR | The required license is inactive or covers the wrong address |
| 4. Tax | Florida Department of Revenue plus the local collector or revenue office | An account or remittance scope is unresolved |
| 5. Private and risk | Recorded documents and written confirmations | An HOA, condo, lease, lender, insurer, or building restriction is unresolved |
This address-first method is not unique to Florida — it is how short-term-rental compliance works everywhere layers of government overlap. For the national framework behind it, see short-term rental regulations explained.
What counts as a vacation rental in Florida
Florida's state layer only reaches properties that fall inside its statutory definitions, so the definitions are worth getting exactly right. The chain runs from "transient public lodging establishment" to "vacation rental," and the pattern of rentals — not the platform you use — is what places a property inside or outside the licensed category.
| Term or trigger | What the official source establishes | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Transient public lodging establishment | A unit rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less — or advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented to guests, per section 509.013, Florida Statutes | Whether the property sits in the state's transient-lodging category at all |
| Vacation rental | A unit or group of units in a condominium or cooperative, or an individually or collectively owned single-family through four-family house or dwelling unit, that meets the transient definition and is not a timeshare project, per section 509.242, Florida Statutes | Which state classification — and which DBPR license — applies |
| Whole-unit licensing trigger | DBPR licenses vacation rentals when the entire unit is rented on the transient pattern, per the DBPR vacation-rental guide | Whether you must hold a DBPR vacation-rental license before operating |
| Room-only treatment | Renting individual rooms — never the entire unit — is outside DBPR's vacation-rental public-lodging licensing under the same guidance | Whether the state license layer applies; it says nothing about local, tax, or private rules |
| Advertising trigger | "Advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented" is part of the statutory definition | Listing a whole unit can place it in the licensed category before a single booking occurs |
Two interpretation notes keep this table honest. First, the DBPR trigger is a licensing threshold, not a universal short-term-rental definition: Florida's transient-rental tax uses a different period (six months or less, covered in the tax section), and each city or county program defines its own scope. The nine jurisdiction cards below use at least five different thresholds — 28 days in unincorporated Monroe County, 28 days or less in the City of Key West, less than 30 days in unincorporated Miami-Dade County and unincorporated Pinellas County, 30 days or less in Fort Lauderdale, and 179 days or less in unincorporated Orange County. Do not substitute one threshold for another. Second, room-only treatment under DBPR does not erase city, county, tax, HOA, lender, or insurance rules. Orlando's Home Share program, set out in the Orlando card, regulates exactly the owner-occupied, part-of-home model that DBPR's licensing does not reach — and transient-rental taxes can still apply to room rentals that meet the tax statute's scope.
What Florida preemption does and does not do
Florida's preemption provision, section 509.032(7)(b), Florida Statutes, is the most misquoted rule in this subject. Read narrowly — which is how this page treats it — it does two specific things to local governments with respect to vacation rentals: a local law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals, and it may not regulate the duration or frequency of their rental. The same paragraph then states its own exception: the bar does not apply to a local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted on or before June 1, 2011.
That exception is why materially different local outcomes — including outright prohibition in parts of some cities — can coexist with the state rule. A local government whose relevant rules predate the cutoff stands on different footing from one writing new rules today, and the question of whether any particular ordinance fits the exception, or fits within the powers the statute leaves untouched, is a legal question this page does not decide. It never declares a specific local ordinance valid or invalid; if your plans collide with a legacy ordinance or a contested local rule, that is a matter for a Florida attorney, not a website.
Just as important is what the provision does not say. Florida's preemption provision is not a blanket bar on local registration, occupancy, parking, noise, or zoning administration. Local governments across the state operate registration and certificate programs, conduct inspections, set occupancy and parking standards, enforce noise and trash rules, require designated local contacts, and regulate listing display — activity you will see throughout the jurisdiction cards. Two boundaries in the same section cut in different directions: paragraph (7)(a) preempts the regulation and inspection of public lodging establishments to the state while leaving local governments able to inspect for compliance with the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code, and paragraph (7)(c) carves out a narrow exception for a local rule relating exclusively to property valuation as a criterion for vacation rental, where that rule must be approved by the state land planning agency under an area-of-critical-state-concern designation. That second provision is far narrower than the blanket "the Keys are exempt" claim that circulates online. The practical point for an owner is that "Florida preempts local rules" is not a reason to skip the local check. It never is.
What changed, and when
| Date or session | What happened | Effect on today's rules |
|---|---|---|
| June 1, 2011 | Chapter 2011-119, Laws of Florida, created the vacation-rental preemption in section 509.032(7) and set the grandfather date | Ordinances adopted on or before this date sit outside the prohibition bar; everything after it does not |
| 2014 | Chapter 2014-71 amended the preemption language now codified at section 509.032(7)(b) | The current prohibition is narrower than the 2011 version: local governments may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate duration or frequency, but may otherwise regulate |
| 2021 | Chapter 2021-99 added section 720.306(1)(h), Florida Statutes, limiting when a homeowners' association rental amendment binds existing owners | Changed the private-document layer, not the public one — see the private-gates section |
| 2024 | Senate Bill 280 would have revised the statewide framework, including registration and advertising-platform rules; it did not become law | The 2011 preemption and the local patchwork continue unchanged — check the bill's official history page rather than a summary |
| 2026 session | Senate Bill 658 is tracked for status only | No effect. A filed bill is not law |
Bills that would revise Florida's vacation-rental framework are filed most sessions, and this page treats none of them as law. As of August 9, 2026, tracked proposals are monitored for status only. Check a bill's official legislative page before relying on any claimed change, and be skeptical of any article that presents a proposal as a current rule.
DBPR license, fees, forms, and operating requirements
DBPR requirements verified August 9, 2026; next scheduled review October 23, 2026.
State requirements below were verified August 9, 2026; next scheduled review October 23, 2026.
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation, through its Division of Hotels and Restaurants, licenses Florida vacation rentals. If your rental meets the whole-unit trigger in the definitions table, the license comes before operation — and it is a state credential only. A DBPR vacation-rental license is not local zoning approval.
DBPR issues vacation-rental licenses in condominium and dwelling classifications, and in single, group, and collective license types depending on how many units are covered and how they are managed; the current DBPR vacation-rental guide defines each type and walks through the application.
| Requirement | Applies to | Trigger | Agency and official step | Fee or renewal basis | Status and limitation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vacation-rental license (condo or dwelling class; single, group, or collective type) | Whole units rented on the transient pattern | Whole-unit trigger under chapter 509, Florida Statutes | DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants; apply online or with form DBPR HR-7028 from the DBPR forms library | $50 application fee plus the license fee for the unit count and application timing, per the lodging fee schedule | Verified August 9, 2026 |
| Room-only rental | Hosts renting rooms but never the entire unit | DBPR guidance places this outside vacation-rental licensing | DBPR — see the vacation-rental guide | No DBPR vacation-rental license fee | Verified with limitation — local, tax, HOA, lender, and insurer rules still apply |
| Balcony-inspection certificate | Units in buildings three or more stories high | Application and renewal for qualifying buildings | DBPR; form DBPR HR-7020 from the forms library | Inspection cost varies by provider | Quote required — the certificate requirement is verified; the inspection price is not published |
| Human-trafficking awareness training | Employees performing housekeeping duties, or working at a front desk or reception area where guests check in or out | Ongoing operation with such employees; new employees within 60 days of starting | DBPR — requirement described in the vacation-rental guide under section 509.096 | No DBPR fee stated | Verified with limitation — confirm which of your workers fall inside the described roles |
| Sanitation and safety operating standards | Licensed vacation rentals | Ongoing operation | DBPR — current standards are listed in the vacation-rental guide | Included within licensing | Verified August 9, 2026 |
| License verification | Anyone checking a license | Confirming a license is active and matches the address | DBPR's public online license lookup, linked from the guide | No charge | Verified |
| What a DBPR license is not | Every licensee | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable | It is not zoning approval, not a Business Tax Receipt or Certificate of Use, not a tax registration, and not transferable at sale — a new owner files a change-of-ownership application with its own $50 fee |
The public lookup deserves a word: it is how you confirm your own license went active before you operate, and how a buyer or manager confirms that a property marketed "with license" actually holds one at that address. Two of the nine local programs below — unincorporated Pinellas County and Osceola County — require proof of an active DBPR license as an application document, so the state layer has to clear before the local file is even complete.
What a Florida vacation-rental license costs — worked example
DBPR publishes its lodging fees, so the state layer can be priced exactly. What it cannot be priced with is a single "annual cost" figure, because three variables move it: how many rental units the license covers, which of DBPR's seven licensing districts your county sits in, and how close to that district's renewal date you apply. The example below holds those assumptions visible.
Assumptions: vacation-rental dwelling or condominium, single or group license, new application by the owner, fees as published on DBPR's lodging fee schedule and verified August 9, 2026. The Hospitality Education Program fee is already inside the published license fee — DBPR publishes its collective-license fee as a $150 basic fee plus $10 per rental unit plus a $10 Hospitality Education Program fee, which is exactly the $170 shown for a single unit on the single and group table, and half of the first two components plus the unprorated $10 is exactly the $90 half-year figure.
| Cost line | Low: 1 unit, half-year window | Base: 1 unit, full year | Higher: 2–25 units, full year |
|---|---|---|---|
| DBPR application fee (new or change of ownership) | $50 | $50 | $50 |
| DBPR license fee (includes the $10 Hospitality Education Program fee) | $90 | $170 | $180 |
| Balcony-inspection certificate, buildings three storeys or more | Quote required | Quote required | Quote required |
| Local registration, Certificate of Use, or Business Tax Receipt | Varies by jurisdiction — see your jurisdiction card | Varies by jurisdiction | Varies by jurisdiction |
| Local inspection fee, where the program requires one | Varies by jurisdiction — see your jurisdiction card | Varies by jurisdiction | Varies by jurisdiction |
| State and local tax account registration | No DBPR or DOR registration fee published; county accounts vary | Same | Same |
| Owner time to work the Florida Pre-Listing Sequence | Not priced here — count it in hours | Not priced here | Not priced here |
| State layer, first year | $140 | $220 | $230 |
| State layer, each renewal | $170 | $170 | $180 |
The line that drives the whole spread is application timing, not unit count: a single-unit owner pays $90 or $170 for the same license depending only on where the application lands in the district's cycle. DBPR's own guidance flags the trap on the other side of that rule — apply shortly before a district renewal date and you can pay the initial fee and then pay again to renew within weeks. If you do not plan to operate until after the next renewal date, waiting to apply is the cheaper path.
A conflict worth naming. Several widely republished Florida guides state a higher single-unit first-year figure by adding the $10 Hospitality Education Program fee on top of the $170 full-year license fee. DBPR's published composition shows that fee already inside the $170, so the correct arithmetic for a new single-unit applicant is $170 plus the $50 application fee. Where a secondary source and the fee schedule disagree, the fee schedule governs.
What this model excludes, deliberately: furnishing and setup, insurance premiums, software and management, cleaning and turnover, income taxes, and the ongoing transient taxes you collect from guests and remit. It prices the cost of becoming licensed and locally authorised, not the cost of operating.
Your DBPR district and renewal date
DBPR divides Florida into seven licensing districts by county, and each district has a fixed annual renewal date that does not move with your application date. Your county decides your renewal date and, with it, whether you pay a full-year or half-year fee. All 67 Florida counties appear below, verified August 9, 2026 against DBPR's lodging fee page.
| District | Annual renewal date | Counties |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | October 1 | Miami-Dade (listed by DBPR as Dade), Monroe |
| 2 | December 1 | Broward, Martin, Palm Beach |
| 3 | February 1 | Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sumter |
| 4 | April 1 | Brevard, Indian River, Lake, Orange, Osceola, St. Lucie, Seminole, Volusia |
| 5 | June 1 | Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Columbia, Dixie, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Marion, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns, Suwannee, Union |
| 6 | June 1 | Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty, Madison, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Taylor, Wakulla, Walton, Washington |
| 7 | December 1 | Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Highlands, Lee, Manatee, Okeechobee, Sarasota |
The fee rule that sits on top of this table: DBPR charges the full-year fee if you apply during the renewal period — roughly the two months before expiration — or more than six months before the next renewal period, and allows the half-year fee only when the application falls six months or less before the next renewal period. The $10 Hospitality Education Program fee is never prorated, and the half-year rate is an application-timing concession, not a renewal rate: the following year's renewal is charged at the full-year fee.
What happens if you operate without a current license
A lapsed or missing license is not a paperwork problem to fix later. Under section 509.261, Florida Statutes, an establishment operating in violation of chapter 509, operating without a license, or operating with a suspended or revoked license may be subject to fines of up to $1,000 per offense, and the division may treat each day or portion of a day of operation in violation of a critical law or rule as a separate offense. The division posts a closed-for-operation sign on an establishment determined to be operating without a license, and opening for operation without a license, or while a license is suspended or revoked, is a second-degree misdemeanor. A license may not be suspended for more than 12 months, after which the establishment may apply for reinstatement or renewal.
These are the state consequences only. Local penalties run in addition to them and are set by ordinance — your jurisdiction card below carries what its program publishes.
State and local taxes on Florida short stays
Tax facts below were verified August 9, 2026; next scheduled review October 23, 2026.
Florida taxes short-stay accommodations through several layers with different administrators, and the tax scope is wider than the license scope: the state's transient-rentals tax under section 212.03, Florida Statutes reaches living-quarters rentals for periods of six months or less — a very different threshold from DBPR's licensing trigger, which turns on stays of less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less. A rental can owe transient taxes without needing a DBPR license, and the reverse mistake — assuming one registration covers everything — is how owners end up with unfiled returns.
| Tax or obligation | Scope to confirm | Administrator | What to note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Florida sales tax on transient rentals | Living-quarters rentals for six months or less; confirm your rental pattern against the statute | Florida Department of Revenue | The state rate is 6% as of August 9, 2026, per the DOR sales and use tax page; the department's brochure GT-800034 explains the treatment in plain language. Register with DOR and file returns |
| County discretionary sales surtax | Whether the property's county levies a surtax, and the current rate for the address | Florida Department of Revenue | Rates vary by county and year; use DOR's Form DR-15DSS and the department's address and rate lookups rather than assuming a statewide add-on |
| Local option transient rental taxes (tourist development and related taxes) | The county or municipality, accommodation type, and rental period | Florida DOR for some counties; a self-administering county or local revenue office for others | Tax type, rate, and collector vary by county. Form DR-15TDT publishes the current rate for every county and identifies which counties administer the tax themselves rather than remitting through DOR |
| Municipal resort or convention taxes | Whether the specific municipality levies its own accommodations tax under its own code | The municipality's revenue office | Under DOR's local option taxes guidance, only Bal Harbour, Miami Beach, and Surfside are currently eligible to impose a municipal resort tax, and those municipalities administer, collect, and enforce it themselves. Never generalize from one city |
| Platform collection and remittance | Which platform collects which tax, for which jurisdiction and channel, over which dates | The platform plus each tax authority | Collection scope differs by platform, by tax, and by county; confirm what is actually remitted on your behalf and what you must still register for and file |
Two questions settle most Florida tax confusion, and both are answered by the same DOR form. First: what is my county's local option transient rental tax rate? Second: do I remit it to DOR with my sales tax, or open a separate account with my county? Form DR-15TDT answers both, county by county, and it also carries the municipal variations that a county-level rate hides — Miami-Dade, for instance, is listed at 6% for most of the county, 7% for Miami Beach, and 4% for Surfside and Bal Harbour.
Read those municipal figures carefully, because they are the single easiest place on this page to double-count. DOR defines the local option transient rental taxes to include the municipal resort tax, so the 7% listed for Miami Beach reflects the county levies together with that city's resort tax rather than sitting beneath it — even though the city, not DOR, administers the resort tax and requires its own account. A separate account is not the same thing as a separate rate.
This page quotes no combined local rate on purpose: a combined figure is only honest for an exact address, from current official sources, on a stated date. Build your own stack from the DOR forms and your county's collector, record each account, rate, filing frequency, and administrator separately, and never add the figures on this page together.
On platforms, hold this line: platform tax collection must be verified tax by tax and jurisdiction by jurisdiction. A platform collecting the state sales tax in your county does not establish that the county tourist tax, a municipal resort tax, a registration duty, or a filing obligation is handled — and platform coverage changes. Get the current scope in writing from the platform's own documentation and reconcile it against each tax authority.
This page owns Florida's transaction taxes and registrations. Federal income-tax treatment — the 14-day rule, Schedule E versus Schedule C, depreciation, and losses — is owned by Airbnb taxes explained; go there once your Florida accounts are mapped. Mixed personal and rental use, depreciation, losses, multiple entities, or activity in more than one state are the points at which a CPA or qualified tax professional earns their fee.
Selected Florida local rules by jurisdiction
Scope and methodology. The nine jurisdictions below were selected because they are high-demand markets whose rules differ in ways that change an owner's decision — not because they are the only regulated places in Florida. This is selected coverage, not a statewide dataset. Every row was built from the jurisdiction's current official program page, using identical fields in an identical order; each card carries its own verification date, because they were not all checked on the same day. Where a program page summarizes rather than reproduces its underlying code, the row says so.
Missing values are labelled, and the label tells you what to do next:
- Verified — the official source states it, on the date shown.
- Verified with limitation — the official page supports what the row states, but property-level legality still requires an address-specific zoning and code check. It is never a green light for a particular parcel.
- Not published — the authority operates the requirement but does not publish the figure or schedule; the row names who to ask.
- Quote required — the cost is priced per job by a third party, not set by the authority.
- Varies by parcel — the answer is determined address by address, usually by zoning district or a planned-development document.
- Not verified on this pass — this page has not confirmed it; treat it as open and check it yourself.
An omitted city or county is unverified, not unrestricted. If your jurisdiction is not listed, follow the routing block that closes this section.
Florida jurisdictions at a glance
One row per jurisdiction, on the five fields that most often decide whether a property is worth pursuing. The cards below carry the detail; this table exists so you can rule a market in or out before reading nine of them. It cannot answer the question that matters most — whether your parcel's zoning district permits the use — and no table can.
| Jurisdiction | Boundary type | Permission pathway | Whole-home short stays | Published local cost to become authorised | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Beach | City limits only | Zoning first, then Business Tax Receipt and Resort Tax account | Prohibited in single-family homes and many multifamily buildings in certain districts | Not published on the pages verified | Aug 9, 2026 |
| Unincorporated Miami-Dade County | Unincorporated only | Certificate of Use, with inspection | Permitted in named land use designations; residency requirement in others | $136.17 or $139.44 per certificate — the county publishes both | Aug 9, 2026 |
| City of Key West | City limits only | Existing transient licence, plus a city Business Tax Receipt | Only where the property already holds a transient entitlement | Not published on the pages verified | Aug 9, 2026 |
| City of Orlando | City limits only | Home Share registration for owner-resident, part-of-home use | Generally outside Home Share; treated as a Commercial Dwelling Unit | $275 first year; $100 renewal if the owner lives there, $125 if not | Aug 9, 2026 |
| Unincorporated Orange County | Unincorporated only | Zoning district first, then Business Tax Receipt via zoning review | Only in named commercial, industrial, or expressly permitting PD districts; under 30 days only in R-3 | No county STR permit fee published; Business Tax Receipt fee set by the Tax Collector | Aug 9, 2026 |
| Fort Lauderdale | City limits only | Registration, inspection, and Certificate of Compliance | Permitted with registration; verify parcel zoning separately | $100 per inspection after the first; registration fee invoiced, amount not published | Aug 9, 2026 |
| Osceola County (unincorporated) | Unincorporated only | Zoning designation first, then DBPR licence, then Business Tax Receipt | Only in a designation that allows it, including the STRPD pathway | Not published on the pages verified | Aug 9, 2026 |
| Pinellas County (unincorporated) | Unincorporated only | Certificate of Use, with inspection | Permitted with a certificate; room-only stays are exempt | $450 certificate plus $150 initial inspection; $450 annual renewal | Aug 9, 2026 |
| Monroe County (unincorporated) | Unincorporated only | Zoning district first, then an annual special vacation rental permit | Prohibited outright in districts where vacation rental use is barred | $110 manager application; permit fee not published | Aug 9, 2026 |
Miami Beach
Verified August 9, 2026.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Governing boundary | City of Miami Beach (Miami-Dade County); city limits only |
| Rental models in scope | Short-term rentals of residential property; treatment turns on zoning district and property type |
| Permission pathway | The city's program page states that vacation and short-term rentals are prohibited in all single-family homes and in many multi-family housing buildings in certain zoning districts, citing Resiliency Code 7.5.4.13(d)(E) and 7.5.4.11(a). The city's Practice Safe Renting page states the same prohibition — rentals of less than six months and one day in single-family homes and other multifamily residential buildings in certain areas — under the predecessor Land Development Regulations at section 142-1111. The two official pages cite different codifications of the same prohibition; the substance matches, but confirm which provision the city is currently applying to your address |
| Pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance status | Not verified on this pass — the city operates prohibitions that reach uses the state bar would otherwise cover, but this page does not characterise which specific provisions qualify for the statutory exception; that is a legal question for Florida counsel |
| Minimum stay or duration rule | Miami Beach: where the prohibition applies, the rule is framed as a floor of six months and one day rather than a nightly cap |
| Local steps | Confirm the address against the city's short-term-rental zoning map and its published list of apartment buildings authorized for short-term rental; obtain zoning authorization, a city Business Tax Receipt, and a Resort Tax account before operating; register the property as a business through the city's Citizen Access Portal |
| Fees and renewal | Miami Beach: not published on the pages verified — confirm current amounts and cycles with the city before applying |
| Occupancy and operating rules | Not published on the pages verified — confirm the current standards with the city program |
| State-license interaction | A DBPR vacation-rental license applies at the state layer where the whole-unit trigger is met, and does not authorise operation in a district where the city prohibits it |
| Taxes and administrator | Three separate registrations: state sales tax with DOR; the Miami-Dade local option transient rental tax, which Form DR-15TDT lists at 7% for Miami Beach — a figure that already reflects the municipal resort tax component rather than sitting beneath it; and a City of Miami Beach Resort Tax account, which the city administers itself. Confirm each rate and its administrator separately |
| Listing display and local contact | Under Miami Beach City Code section 102-386, permitted short-term rentals must conspicuously display the city-issued Business Tax Receipt number and the Resort Tax certificate number in every advertisement or listing of any type |
| Penalties and enforcement | City code compliance enforces the program; the city states that occupants of an illegally operating rental are evicted and fines are assessed against the owner. This page does not restate a fine amount: the city's short-term-rental penalty schedule has been the subject of litigation over Florida's statutory caps on local code-enforcement fines. Confirm the current schedule with city code compliance |
| Official source | City of Miami Beach — Vacation Short Term Rentals, including the city's short-term rental zoning map; the city also publishes an address lookup at Practice Safe Renting |
| Status and limitation | Verified with limitation — the program pages support this row, but property-level legality requires an address-specific zoning and code check, and the two pages cite different codifications |
| Ask before you commit | Does the prohibition reach this address and district under the codification the city is currently applying, and will the city confirm that in writing? Is the building on the city's authorized-for-short-term-rental list? What penalty schedule is the city currently enforcing? Does the condominium declaration restrict short stays independently of city zoning? |
Unincorporated Miami-Dade County
Verified August 9, 2026.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Governing boundary | Unincorporated Miami-Dade County only; a property inside any Miami-Dade municipality — Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Coral Gables and the rest — follows that city's rules instead |
| Rental models in scope | Vacation rentals, defined by the county as a dwelling rented in whole or in part to a transient occupant for less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less |
| Permission pathway | A Certificate of Use from the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources is required under section 33-28 of the county code before offering the property as a vacation rental. The county's land use plan decides where: vacation rentals are allowed in areas designated Residential Communities, Business and Office, and Office Residential, while areas designated Estate or Low Density Residential carry a responsible-party residency requirement |
| Pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance status | Not verified on this pass — the current Certificate of Use ordinance is a later enactment; its standing under the statutory exception is not characterised here |
| Minimum stay or duration rule | Unincorporated Miami-Dade County: no nightly cap is published; the definition itself keys on stays under 30 days or one calendar month |
| Local steps | Apply for the Certificate of Use online, pass the required inspection, post the certificate visibly at the property, and obtain a county Local Business Tax Receipt. A property inside a municipality needs both a city and a county business tax receipt |
| Fees and renewal | Unincorporated Miami-Dade County: the Certificate of Use is valid for one year and must be reapplied for annually; it may not be renewed while fines or liens for code violations are outstanding. Two county pages publish different amounts — $136.17 for the certificate and required inspection on the program's frequently-asked-questions page, and $139.44 per certificate on the county's short-term vacation rentals page. Confirm the amount the county will actually charge before you pay |
| Occupancy and operating rules | Varies by parcel — the operating standards sit in section 33-28 of the county code; confirm the current text for occupancy, parking, and conduct requirements |
| State-license interaction | DBPR licensing applies at the state layer where the whole-unit trigger is met, and the county states that vacation rentals must be licensed by the state and registered with the Department of Revenue |
| Taxes and administrator | Miami-Dade self-administers: anyone renting transient accommodations for six months or less must register for a county Tourist Tax account and remit Convention and Tourist Development taxes monthly to the county, separately from the state sales tax remitted to DOR |
| Listing display and local contact | The Certificate of Use must be placed in a visible location at the property, and the certificate number is required at the point of listing on a platform |
| Penalties and enforcement | Unincorporated Miami-Dade County: violations are subject to the civil penalty schedule in chapter 8CC of the county code, enforced by the county's neighborhood compliance function; operating without a Certificate of Use is itself a violation |
| Official source | Miami-Dade County — Short-Term Vacation Rentals and the program's frequently asked questions |
| Status and limitation | Verified with limitation — the county pages support this row; the fee figure is unresolved between two official pages and the land-use designation for a specific parcel must be checked individually |
| Ask before you commit | Which land use designation applies to this folio, and does the responsible-party residency requirement attach? Which fee will be charged at application? Is the address inside a municipality, which would move the whole question to that city? |
City of Key West
Verified August 9, 2026.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Governing boundary | City of Key West (Monroe County); city limits only. Unincorporated Monroe County and the other Keys municipalities — Marathon, Islamorada, Layton, and Key Colony Beach — each regulate separately |
| Rental models in scope | The city divides residential rentals into two categories: non-transient, which may not be rented for less than 29 days at a time, and transient, meaning 28 days or less |
| Permission pathway | Every residential rental property needs a City of Key West Business Tax Receipt, issued by the city's Licensing Division. Transient use of a residential dwelling additionally requires a city transient licence. The city's codified regulations on transient living accommodations state that the city intends to establish a uniform definition and to halt the use of residences for transient purposes in order to preserve the residential character of neighborhoods, with only a brief phase-out period. Treat a new transient entitlement as unavailable and verify whether the specific property already holds one |
| Pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance status | Not verified on this pass — the city's transient regulations predate the state preemption on the city's own account; this page does not characterise which provisions qualify for the statutory exception |
| Minimum stay or duration rule | City of Key West: 28 days or less is transient use; a residential property without a transient entitlement is limited to rentals of 29 days or more |
| Local steps | Establish whether the property holds an existing transient licence; obtain the City of Key West Business Tax Receipt through the Licensing Division; obtain the DBPR licence where the whole-unit trigger is met; obtain a Monroe County Business Tax Receipt; open state and county tax accounts |
| Fees and renewal | City of Key West: not published on the pages verified — the city directs applicants to its schedule of taxes at City Code section 66-109. Confirm the current Business Tax Receipt category and amount with the Licensing Division before applying |
| Occupancy and operating rules | Not verified on this pass — confirm current standards with the city |
| State-license interaction | A DBPR vacation-rental license applies at the state layer where the whole-unit trigger is met, and does not create a city transient entitlement. Monroe County sits in DBPR district 1 with an October 1 renewal date |
| Taxes and administrator | State sales tax to DOR; the Monroe County local option transient rental taxes through their own administrator — check Form DR-15TDT and the county tax collector — plus the city Business Tax Receipt |
| Listing display and local contact | The city publicly warns prospective guests to confirm the validity of a licensed vacation rental before sending payment, and its Licensing Division fields queries about advertised properties. Advertising a property that lacks a transient entitlement is an enforcement exposure |
| Penalties and enforcement | Enforced through city code compliance and the special magistrate process; the penalty schedule is not restated here |
| Official source | City of Key West — residential rental requirements, Licensing Division FAQ and the city's codified transient living accommodations in residential dwellings regulations |
| Status and limitation | Verified with limitation — the city's website disallows automated retrieval, so these rows rest on the city's published FAQ text and its codified land development regulations rather than a direct page capture. Confirm every item with the Licensing Division before acting |
| Ask before you commit | Does this specific property hold an existing transient licence, and will the city confirm that in writing before you make an offer? Which Business Tax Receipt category applies, and what is the current fee under section 66-109? Is the address inside city limits or in unincorporated Monroe County? |
City of Orlando
Verified August 9, 2026.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Governing boundary | City of Orlando (Orange County); city limits only — an Orlando mailing address can sit in unincorporated Orange County under different rules, covered in the next card |
| Rental models in scope | The city runs two categories. Home Share covers owner-resident, on-site rental of part of the home for periods of less than 30 days. Whole-property transient rental is a Commercial Dwelling Unit, limited to certain zoning districts and requiring a Business Tax Receipt |
| Permission pathway | Home Share registration, under a home share ordinance effective July 1, 2018. The registrant must live on site and be present when hosting; only one booking is allowed at a time; no more than half of the dwelling unit may be used for home sharing; and renting out an entire unit or property is a finable offense under the ordinance |
| Pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance status | Not verified on this pass — the city's program page does not address pre-2011 status; treat it as an open question for Florida counsel if a prohibition is asserted |
| Minimum stay or duration rule | City of Orlando: Home Share applies to rental periods of less than 30 days, with a one-booking-at-a-time limit rather than a published nightly minimum |
| Local steps | Apply online for Home Sharing Registration with two forms of proof of primary residence, verification of the total bedroom count, a homeowners-association approval letter where the property sits in a mandatory HOA, and notarized owner permission if the registrant is a tenant. City staff respond in three to four business days, then invoice the permit fee; a code enforcement officer schedules an interior inspection before the permit issues |
| Fees and renewal | City of Orlando: $275 for the first year. Renewal is annual at $100 where the owner lives on the property and $125 where it is non-owner occupied, invoiced 30 days before expiry, with an inspection required each year |
| Occupancy and operating rules | No more than four unrelated persons in a single booking, or a maximum of two persons per room, whichever is less. No more than half of a dwelling unit may be devoted to home sharing — in a three-bedroom house, one bedroom; in a four-bedroom house, two. One half of a duplex may be home-shared only where both units sit on the same lot under one ownership. The ordinance also bars configurations that evidence a group home, including internal locks limiting free access and separately kept household equipment |
| State-license interaction | Room-only home sharing may sit outside DBPR's vacation-rental licensing, while whole-property rental on the transient pattern generally triggers it. Orange County sits in DBPR district 4 with an April 1 renewal date |
| Taxes and administrator | State sales tax to DOR; the Orange County local option transient rental tax through its own administrator — check Form DR-15TDT for the current rate and whether the county self-administers |
| Listing display and local contact | Proof of Home Sharing Registration must be included with any online advertising, and the advertising must reflect the ordinance — a listing for one bedroom in a three-bedroom house, not the whole home. Advertising that misstates the permitted scope is a finable offense |
| Penalties and enforcement | City of Orlando: code enforcement violations and penalty fees for failing to follow the ordinance; complaints run through the city's Code Enforcement Division. The penalty schedule is not restated here |
| Official source | City of Orlando — Home Sharing Registration and Apply for Home Sharing Registration |
| Status and limitation | Verified — the city publishes the fees, occupancy limits, and process steps. Distinguish city limits from unincorporated Orange County, and Home Share from the Commercial Dwelling Unit path, which this card does not price |
| Ask before you commit | Is the property inside city limits or in unincorporated Orange County? Does the intended model fall inside Home Share, or is it a Commercial Dwelling Unit needing a qualifying zoning district? Will the homeowners association provide the approval letter the registration requires? |
Unincorporated Orange County
Verified August 9, 2026.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Governing boundary | Unincorporated Orange County only; a property inside Orlando, Winter Park, Apopka, Maitland, Windermere or any other Orange County municipality follows that city's rules instead |
| Rental models in scope | The county distinguishes short-term rental, meaning a length of stay of 179 days or less, from single-family transient rental, meaning the rental or lease of a single-family dwelling for a period of less than 30 days |
| Permission pathway | Zoning district decides it, and the permitted list is short. The county's Zoning Division states that short-term rental is permitted only in Commercial C-1, C-2 and C-3 and Industrial I-1A, I-1/I-5, I-2/I-3 and I-4 districts, or in Planned Developments where short-term rental is expressly permitted; that single-family transient rental is permitted only in the R-3 district; and that in all other zoning districts, short-term rental and single-family transient rental are prohibited. The City of Orlando's own guidance puts the practical scale plainly: although Orange County collects a tourist tax, only about four percent of the county is zoned for short-term rentals |
| Pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance status | Not verified on this pass — the county's zoning pages do not address pre-2011 status; treat it as an open question for Florida counsel if a prohibition is asserted |
| Minimum stay or duration rule | Unincorporated Orange County: two thresholds run in parallel — 179 days or less defines short-term rental, and less than 30 days defines single-family transient rental, each with its own permitted districts |
| Local steps | Establish the parcel's zoning district using the county's address-based zoning lookup, then read the use table at section 38-77 and the conditions at section 38-79 of the county code. Request a zoning verification letter for the parcel. A Business Tax Receipt is issued by the Orange County Tax Collector, but for unincorporated property the process begins with a review by the county Zoning Division to confirm the proposed use is allowed at that location; a use permit and a building permit may also be required before the receipt is approved |
| Fees and renewal | Unincorporated Orange County: no county short-term-rental permit fee is published, because the county does not run a standalone STR permit — the cost sits in the zoning review, any use or building permit, and the Business Tax Receipt fee set by the Tax Collector. Confirm current amounts with each office |
| Occupancy and operating rules | Varies by parcel — governed by the zoning district and, in a Planned Development, by the PD's own conditions; confirm the current text for your district |
| State-license interaction | DBPR licensing applies at the state layer where the whole-unit trigger is met, and a state licence does not make a prohibited zoning district permissible. Orange County sits in DBPR district 4 with an April 1 renewal date |
| Taxes and administrator | State sales tax to DOR; the Orange County local option transient rental tax through its own administrator — check Form DR-15TDT for the current rate and administrator. The Business Tax Receipt is separate from both |
| Listing display and local contact | Not verified on this pass — confirm current requirements with the Zoning Division before advertising |
| Penalties and enforcement | Enforced through county code enforcement; the penalty schedule is not restated here |
| Official source | Orange County Zoning Division, including its short-term rental answer, address-based zoning lookup, and zoning verification letter process |
| Status and limitation | Verified with limitation — the county publishes the permitted districts and the Business Tax Receipt sequence; the district for a specific parcel and any PD conditions must be confirmed individually |
| Ask before you commit | What is this parcel's exact zoning district, and will the county issue a zoning verification letter confirming short-term rental is permitted there? If the parcel sits in a Planned Development, does the PD expressly permit short-term rental? Is the address unincorporated, or inside a municipality with its own rules? |
Fort Lauderdale
Verified August 9, 2026.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Governing boundary | City of Fort Lauderdale (Broward County); city limits only |
| Rental models in scope | Any residential single-family, two-family, three-family or four-family house or dwelling unit, or condominium, advertised to transient occupants for periods of 30 days or less; timeshares are excluded from the program |
| Permission pathway | Registration under Article X of Chapter 15 of the city's Code of Ordinances, administered under Ordinance No. C-16-25 by the Community Enhancement and Compliance Division. The property may not operate until the city issues its Certificate of Compliance. Parcel zoning should be verified separately from registration |
| Pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance status | Not verified on this pass — the city's program page does not address pre-2011 status; treat it as an open question for Florida counsel if a prohibition is asserted |
| Minimum stay or duration rule | Fort Lauderdale: the program keys on advertised stays of 30 days or less; no separate nightly minimum is published on the pages verified |
| Local steps | The order is fixed: state and county licences first, then the city application. Obtain the DBPR licence, register with the Florida Department of Revenue, and obtain the Broward County Business Tax Receipt and tourist development tax registration; then apply to the city. On approval, pay the vacation rental registration fee and the city Business Tax fee, after which the property is scheduled for its safety inspection. A Certificate of Compliance is issued within three business days of passing |
| Fees and renewal | Fort Lauderdale: $100 for each inspection after the initial inspection — safety inspection, reinspection, or no-show inspection alike. The registration fee itself is invoiced after the application is approved and is not published on the pages verified; secondary sources circulate several different figures, including an obsolete $75 inspection fee that the city's current page supersedes. Ask the Vacation Rental program for the current registration amount before you budget. An application left in pending status for more than 30 days after notification is closed, and an account that is not renewed is closed six months after the certificate expires |
| Occupancy and operating rules | Minimum housing and life safety standards under Article X of Chapter 15. A September 19, 2023 amendment added a requirement that each vacation rental be equipped with a noise level detection device alerting the owner or responsible party and the occupants to noise from the property, with the data retained for 180 days and made available to the city on request |
| State-license interaction | The city will not process the application without the state licence, so DBPR clearance is a prerequisite rather than a parallel step. Broward County sits in DBPR district 2 with a December 1 renewal date |
| Taxes and administrator | State sales tax to DOR; the Broward County local option transient rental tax through its own administrator — check Form DR-15TDT for the current rate and administrator. The city Business Tax account is invoiced alongside the registration |
| Listing display and local contact | Not verified on this pass — confirm the city's current advertising and local-contact requirements with the program office |
| Penalties and enforcement | Fort Lauderdale: the 2023 amendment increased the civil penalty for each uncontested violation from $200 to $250, and for each contested violation from $275 to $325. Enforcement runs through the Community Enhancement and Compliance Division |
| Official source | City of Fort Lauderdale — Vacation Rental Registration and the program's Property Registration page |
| Status and limitation | Verified with limitation — the city publishes the sequence, the inspection fee, the penalties and the operating amendment; the registration fee amount is not published on the pages verified, and parcel zoning must be confirmed separately |
| Ask before you commit | What is the current registration fee for this folio, and how many units does it cover? What does the current inspection checklist require, and what is the occupancy standard for this unit? How long is the queue right now — the city warns that processing can take 10 to 12 business days during the August-to-September peak renewal season? |
Osceola County (unincorporated)
Verified August 9, 2026.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Governing boundary | Unincorporated Osceola County only; Kissimmee, St. Cloud, and the county's other municipalities follow their own rules |
| Rental models in scope | Whole-home short-term rentals through the county's zoning pathway |
| Permission pathway | Zoning first: confirm the parcel sits in a designation that allows short-term rental — including the county's short-term-rental planned-development pathway — before any application |
| Pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance status | Not verified on this pass — the county's program page does not address pre-2011 status; treat it as an open question for Florida counsel if a prohibition is asserted |
| Minimum stay or duration rule | Varies by parcel — governed by the zoning designation and any planned-development documents; confirm for the parcel |
| Local steps | After zoning, obtain the DBPR licence, then the county Local Business Tax Receipt from the Osceola County Tax Collector, whose registrant instructions require a copy of the state licence, receipt, or the submitted HR-7028 application to accompany the local business tax application. Planned developments can add their own private restrictions. A property inside Kissimmee or St. Cloud city limits may also need a city licence |
| Fees and renewal | Unincorporated Osceola County: not published on the pages verified — confirm current county amounts and cycles with the Zoning Division and the Tax Collector before applying |
| Occupancy and operating rules | Varies by parcel — governed by the zoning designation and any planned-development documents; confirm for the specific parcel |
| State-license interaction | The county's published sequence places the DBPR license before the local Business Tax Receipt, and the Tax Collector will not process the business tax application without evidence of the state licence |
| Taxes and administrator | State sales tax to DOR; the Osceola County local option transient rental tax remitted directly to the Osceola County Tax Collector rather than through DOR — check Form DR-15TDT for the current rate. The Tax Collector's registrant instructions warn that failure to maintain the short-term-rental Local Business Tax Receipt may result in loss of zoning approval, which makes the tax registration a land-use question as well as a tax one |
| Listing display and local contact | Not verified on this pass — confirm the county's current requirements before advertising |
| Penalties and enforcement | Enforced through county code enforcement; the penalty schedule is not restated here |
| Official source | Osceola County — short-term-rental planned development district and the Osceola County Tax Collector's transient rental registrant instructions (document revised March 3, 2010; treat its rate figures as superseded and confirm current rates with the Tax Collector and Form DR-15TDT) |
| Status and limitation | Verified with limitation — the county page disclaims a formal zoning determination; request one for the specific parcel. Fee amounts are not published on the pages verified |
| Ask before you commit | Will the county issue a written zoning determination for this parcel? Does a planned-development document add private restrictions the county does not administer? What are the current Business Tax Receipt and tourist tax registration amounts, and what happens to zoning approval if the receipt lapses? |
Pinellas County (unincorporated)
Verified August 9, 2026.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Governing boundary | Unincorporated Pinellas County only; properties inside St. Petersburg, Clearwater, Gulfport, St. Pete Beach and the county's other municipalities follow their own city rules |
| Rental models in scope | Any property owner or entity renting a unit in unincorporated Pinellas County more than three times per year for stays of less than 30 days. Renting a room or rooms within your home while you live there does not require a Certificate of Use, provided the advertisement clearly shows guests are renting part of the home rather than the whole property |
| Permission pathway | A Certificate of Use, per unit, with a safety inspection before it issues |
| Pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance status | Not verified on this pass — the county's program page does not address pre-2011 status; treat it as an open question for Florida counsel if a prohibition is asserted |
| Minimum stay or duration rule | Unincorporated Pinellas County: the program keys on stays of less than 30 days occurring more than three times per year; no separate nightly minimum is published |
| Local steps | Apply for the Certificate of Use through the county's Access Portal with a parking plan showing the number and location of on-site spaces, a recorded deed or current property appraiser profile, proof of an active DBPR vacation rental licence, Division of Corporations active-status verification if the property is corporately owned, and owner and agent affidavits where the registered agent is not the owner. Pay the inspection fee, pass the inspection, then post the required guest notice |
| Fees and renewal | Unincorporated Pinellas County: $450 Certificate of Use fee, split into two payments; $150 initial inspection fee; $100 re-inspection fee if the property fails; $450 annual renewal fee; and a $100 re-inspection fee every two years. Certificates are non-transferable — a new owner must apply within 30 days of purchase |
| Occupancy and operating rules | Maximum occupancy is two per bedroom plus up to two in one common area, capped at 10 total occupants. One off-street parking space is required per three guests, rounded up, each space sized for a standard car 8 feet by 18 feet. Quiet hours run 10 p.m. to 9 a.m. Occupancy is reduced where bedrooms do not meet the county's minimum dwelling-space standard or parking falls short. A single-page notice must be displayed inside the property near the main entrance carrying the responsible party's name and phone number, the maximum occupancy and vehicle count with a parking sketch, the quiet hours, the trash and recycling schedule, the nearest hospital, the after-hours monitoring hotline, and a good-neighbor reminder |
| State-license interaction | A DBPR state licence does not replace the Certificate of Use, and the county requires proof of an active DBPR licence as an application document and as a condition of continued compliance. Pinellas County sits in DBPR district 3 with a February 1 renewal date |
| Taxes and administrator | State sales tax to DOR; the Pinellas County local option transient rental tax through the Pinellas County Tax Collector — check Form DR-15TDT for the current rate and administrator |
| Listing display and local contact | A responsible party's name and phone number must appear on the posted in-property notice. Room-only advertisements must clearly state that guests are renting part of the home only |
| Penalties and enforcement | Unincorporated Pinellas County: failing to obtain or renew a Certificate of Use can result in penalties, citations, or daily fines, enforced by the county's Code Enforcement Division |
| Official source | Pinellas County — Short Term Rental / Certificate of Use FAQs |
| Status and limitation | Verified — the county publishes the fees, occupancy standard, inspection scope, and application documents. This row covers unincorporated areas only |
| Ask before you commit | Is this address actually unincorporated rather than inside a municipality? How many of the rooms meet the county's bedroom definition, and how many off-street spaces does the parcel have — together these set your maximum occupancy? What triggers a renewal inspection? |
Monroe County (unincorporated): the Florida Keys
Verified August 9, 2026.
| Field | Detail |
|---|---|
| Governing boundary | Unincorporated Monroe County only. Key West, Marathon, Islamorada, Layton, and Key Colony Beach each regulate separately; Key West has its own card above and its rules are among the strictest in the state |
| Rental models in scope | Vacation rental use, which the county defines as rental for less than 28 days — a stricter threshold than the state's 30-day licensing line |
| Permission pathway | Zoning first, and prohibition is real: the county states it is unlawful to rent, lease, advertise, or offer for rent any dwelling unit for vacation rental use in any district where vacation rental use is prohibited. Where the district allows it, an owner or agent must obtain an annual special vacation rental permit from Planning and Environmental Resources |
| Pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance status | Not verified on this pass — the county's vacation-rental restrictions predate the state preemption in the county's own account; this page does not characterise which provisions qualify for the statutory exception. Treat it as a question for Florida counsel |
| Minimum stay or duration rule | Unincorporated Monroe County: where a property does not qualify for a permit, the practical model is 28 days or longer |
| Local steps | Confirm the district; obtain the annual special vacation rental permit; engage a vacation rental manager who holds a special vacation rental manager licence from the county; pass fire and life safety inspection; obtain a business tax licence, which the county requires for all rentals, long-term and short-term |
| Fees and renewal | Unincorporated Monroe County: the special vacation rental manager application fee is $110. The permit is annual and is nontransferable between owners — a change of ownership requires the new owner or agent to obtain a new permit. The permit fee itself is not published on the pages verified; confirm it with the county before applying |
| Occupancy and operating rules | Varies by parcel — the county's land development code sets the operating conditions, including manager availability; confirm the current text for your district |
| State-license interaction | DBPR licensing applies at the state layer where the whole-unit trigger is met, and Monroe County sits in DBPR district 1 with an October 1 renewal date |
| Taxes and administrator | State sales tax to DOR; the Monroe County local option transient rental taxes through their own administrator, and areas of critical state concern can carry an additional tourist impact tax — check Form DR-15TDT and the county tax collector |
| Listing display and local contact | Advertising a prohibited use is itself unlawful under the county's framing, and permitted rentals must have a licensed local manager on call |
| Penalties and enforcement | Unincorporated Monroe County: code compliance enforces the program, and the county maintains an enforcement list for vacation-rental violations. The current fine structure is set by county code; confirm it with code compliance rather than relying on a secondary summary |
| Official source | Monroe County — Special Vacation Rental Program |
| Status and limitation | Verified with limitation — the county program page supports this row; district-level eligibility and any gated-community exemption must be confirmed for the specific parcel |
| Ask before you commit | Does this parcel's land use district permit vacation rental use at all, and will the county confirm that in writing before purchase? Is a qualifying manager available for this property? Is the address in unincorporated county territory or in one of the five municipalities? |
If your Florida jurisdiction is not listed
An omission on this page means this page has not verified that jurisdiction. It never means no rules exist. Florida has 67 counties and more than 400 municipalities, and the nine cards above are a sample chosen for contrast. To resolve any Florida address yourself, work the same four authorities in the same order and record the answer at each step:
- County property appraiser — establish whether the address is inside a municipality or in unincorporated county territory, and confirm the recorded bedroom count while you are there, since several programs set occupancy from it. This is the fact everything else depends on, and it is free to check.
- That government's planning or zoning department — ask whether the intended rental model is permitted for this parcel's district and property type, and whether the jurisdiction issues a written zoning determination or verification letter. Ask for the answer in writing. Orange County's zoning verification letter process is a useful model for what to request elsewhere.
- That government's licensing or code-compliance program — ask which registration, certificate, business tax receipt, inspection, local-contact, occupancy, and listing-display requirements apply, what they cost, what the queue is, and what the penalty is for operating without them.
- The county tax collector or revenue office, and Florida DOR — confirm the local option transient rental tax rate, who administers it, and which accounts you must open. Form DR-15TDT names the administrator for every one of Florida's 67 counties and is the single document that resolves this step statewide. For the state layer, DBPR's lodging fee page names your county's licensing district and renewal date.
Record the authority, the answer, the source, and the date for each. That record is what turns a phone call into evidence you can rely on later.
If someone else already has rights in the property
Before the state and local layers matter, check whether another person already holds a right in the property that your plan would override. This gate sits first because it is the one owners most often clear last, and the consequences are personal rather than administrative.
A long-term tenant is a property right, not a scheduling problem. If a tenant is living in the property under a lease, converting it to short stays requires that tenancy to end lawfully — on the notice the tenancy type requires under Florida's residential landlord-tenant framework, for a reason the law allows, and without self-help of any kind. Wanting to convert does not shorten a notice period, and changing locks, cutting utilities, or removing belongings to accelerate a departure is unlawful regardless of what the lease says. If you are in this position, resolve the tenancy first, with Florida counsel where the facts are contested, and treat everything else here as the second step. Florida landlord-tenant law is outside this page's scope.
A guest who will not leave is a legal process, not a confrontation. Florida provides lawful procedures for removing a transient occupant, and an operator's rights and their limits are set by statute rather than by house rules. Do not lock a guest out, shut off power or water, or remove their possessions. Call the process what it is, follow it, and get counsel if the situation escalates — the exposure created by an unlawful removal usually exceeds the booking that caused it.
Guest selection and listing language stay inside fair-housing limits. A short stay does not switch off anti-discrimination obligations. The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability, and familial status covers households with children under 18. Write listing copy and screening criteria you can apply consistently to every enquiry, and keep protected characteristics out of both. A municipal occupancy cap — two per bedroom plus two in unincorporated Pinellas County, four unrelated persons or two per room in Orlando — is a building and code limit. It is not a permissible basis for turning away a family with children, and using it that way converts a compliance rule into a discrimination claim.
Private property and risk gates
Public permission is not the last gate. A property can clear every government layer above and still be blocked by documents you agreed to — or that run with the land.
Start with the recorded documents. HOA and condominium declarations, bylaws, and rules can restrict rental duration, frequency, and guest use, and building-specific house rules or a master association can add more. Read the actual recorded documents and current rules, not a summary, and get the association's position in writing.
Florida law also limits how far an association can reach backwards, and the limit works differently for condominiums than for homeowners' associations — in a way that matters specifically to short stays. Under section 718.110(13), Florida Statutes, a condominium declaration amendment that prohibits renting, alters the duration of the rental term, or limits how many times a unit may be rented applies only to unit owners who consented to it and unit owners who acquired title after its effective date. Section 720.306(1)(h) sets a comparable rule for homeowners' associations for governing documents and amendments enacted after July 1, 2021 — but it then carves out exactly the case short-term hosts care about, allowing an association to amend its documents to prohibit or regulate rental agreements for a term of less than six months, and to prohibit rentals more than three times in a calendar year. In practical terms, a condominium owner who bought before a restrictive amendment and did not consent to it ordinarily keeps the rental rights that existed at purchase, while a homeowners'-association parcel owner in the same position generally does not keep short-term rental rights.
Three dates therefore decide it: when the restriction was recorded, when it took effect, and when you took title. Pull all three before you assume you are grandfathered. Whether a particular cap, queue, or approval procedure falls inside these provisions is a question for Florida counsel with the documents in hand, and this page draws no conclusion about any specific document.
If you rent the property yourself, your lease and any management agreement decide whether you can offer short stays at all — subletting a unit you lease requires your landlord's documented consent, not silence. Loan documents are next: mortgages and notes commonly contain occupancy and use covenants, and a change of use is a question for the lender in writing, not an assumption. Disputed or ambiguous documents are exactly what the escalation triggers at the top of this page are for.
Insurance is its own gate, and the vocabulary matters. A homeowners policy is not automatically "void" because you host — but the rental use may be excluded, limited, subject to different underwriting, or require an endorsement, and it can affect renewal and how a claim is handled. The only reliable answer is written confirmation from your insurer or a licensed insurance professional describing how your intended use is treated. Platform host-protection programs are platform terms, not an insurance policy you negotiated — read their current terms and do not treat them as a substitute for coverage.
Coverage structures for rental use
| Structure | What it is | Who holds the relationship | What it changes for the decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homeowners policy | Residential coverage underwritten for owner occupancy | The owner and their insurer | Short-stay rental use may be excluded or limited; written confirmation or a coverage change is often needed before hosting |
| Landlord or dwelling policy | Coverage underwritten for a non-owner-occupied rental | The owner and their insurer | Built for tenancy; short-stay guest use may still require disclosure or an endorsement |
| STR or home-sharing endorsement or policy | An endorsement or dedicated policy written for short-stay guest use | The owner and their insurer | Matches the actual use; availability and terms vary by carrier and property |
| Commercial policy | Business-classified coverage for larger or high-frequency operations | The owner or entity and their insurer | May be required where the use is classified as a business; underwriting decides |
These are category definitions under this site's data standard, not policy conclusions. A policy's actual scope comes from its current contract, endorsements, and exclusions — confirm it in writing with the insurer, and treat anything unconfirmed as not verified.
The Florida Pre-Listing Sequence
Work the steps in order, document each one, and stop at the first failure or unresolved answer. "Documented" means you can produce the source, the date, and the confirmation for every step.
- Confirm the governing jurisdiction. Use the county property appraiser record or official jurisdiction lookup to establish city versus unincorporated county.
- Confirm zoning and use permission in writing for your property type and rental model with the planning or zoning authority; request a written determination or zoning verification letter where the jurisdiction offers one.
- Pull your private documents — HOA or condo declaration and rules with their recorded dates, lease and management agreements, loan documents, and insurance policy — and obtain written confirmations for the intended use. If a long-term tenant is in place, resolve the tenancy lawfully before anything else.
- Complete the local steps: registration, permit, Certificate of Use, or Business Tax Receipt; inspections; local-contact designation; and any listing-display requirements.
- Apply for the DBPR vacation-rental license if the whole-unit trigger applies, timing the application against your district's renewal date, and verify the license shows active at your address before operating. Several local programs will not accept your file without it.
- Open the tax accounts: Florida DOR for sales tax and any surtax, plus the county tourist development tax or municipal resort tax with its correct administrator.
- Verify platform tax collection tax by tax, in writing, and set your own filing calendar for everything not covered.
- Align insurance in writing with the actual use before the first booking.
- Record every authority, account number, status, and renewal date, and calendar renewals plus a quarterly re-check of the rules — local short-term-rental ordinances move fast, and a lapsed licence means the property cannot be legally operated until it is current again.
If any gate fails or stays unresolved, do not list the property. If a public or private gate fails, compare a compliant long-term path instead of looking for a workaround — the honest comparison lives at Airbnb vs. long-term rental, and a genuine legal ambiguity belongs with Florida counsel. Once every gate is documented, continue with the step-by-step checklist for starting an Airbnb legally, which picks up from this point with operations rather than repeating it.
Which path fits your situation
Find the row that matches your position, then work the Florida Pre-Listing Sequence from the step it names. Every row assumes the address has not yet been resolved.
| Your situation | The gate that decides it | Likely path | Jurisdiction dependency | What to confirm first | Start at step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inherited or vacated a Florida condo and want to host | The condominium declaration, before any government layer | Whole-home if the declaration and the city both allow it; long-term rental if either does not | Total — city versus unincorporated county, plus the association | The recorded declaration, every amendment and its effective date, and your deed date | 3 |
| Converting a primary residence you will keep living in | Whether your jurisdiction registers an owner-resident model | Owner-occupied home sharing, which may sit outside DBPR licensing | High — some Florida cities register this model and most do not | Whether the local program covers part-of-home rental at all | 1 |
| Second home you would rent a few weeks a year | Whether the state licensing trigger is crossed at all | Whole-home if the local layer permits, and the state trigger may or may not attach | Moderate at state level, total at local level | Your intended booking count against the more-than-three-times threshold, and whether you will advertise publicly | 1 |
| Buying specifically to short-term rent | A written zoning answer before the contract goes hard | Contingent purchase, or walk away | Total, at district grain | A zoning determination or verification letter for the parcel, plus the association documents and whether any existing licence transfers | 2 |
| Out-of-state owner of an unincorporated-county property | Whether the jurisdiction requires a local contact or resident responsible party | Whole-home with an operational agent | Total | The local-contact or responsible-party rule, and whether a residency requirement attaches | 1 |
| Owner-occupant with a lender occupancy covenant | Whether the loan permits the intended guest use | Owner-occupied home sharing, lender-confirmed | Moderate | The loan's occupancy and use covenants, confirmed by the lender in writing | 3 |
| Address in a jurisdiction with a legacy prohibition | The zoning district, at parcel level | Long-term rental unless zoning confirms otherwise | Total, at district grain | A written zoning determination before any purchase or listing | 2 |
| A long-term tenant is still in the property | The tenancy itself | Neither yet — the tenancy must end lawfully first | State landlord-tenant law plus any municipal overlay | The lease terms and the notice the tenancy type requires | 3 |
| You are a tenant considering subletting short-term | Your landlord's written consent | Neither yet — consent first, then the same gates as an owner | Total | Written landlord consent and the lease's subletting clause | 3 |
Choosing short-term rental help at a glance
No purchase in this section changes anything above: these picks assume the gates are cleared and documented, and none of them makes an impermissible use legal. Free and official actions come first; paid help is for executing or resolving what the official record already supports.
- Best if any gate is unconfirmed: none yet. Clear the jurisdiction, zoning, private-document, license, tax, and insurance gates first — no tool, manager, or service changes that order.
- Best for a genuine legal question — a pre–June 1, 2011 ordinance, a contested local rule, disputed HOA or condo documents, a sitting tenant, or an enforcement notice: a Florida-licensed real-estate attorney with land-use experience in your county.
- Best for a multi-layer tax setup — state sales tax, a self-administered county tourist tax, and platform scope that will not reconcile: a CPA or tax professional experienced with Florida transient-rental taxes.
- Best for coverage alignment: a licensed insurance professional who will document, in writing, how your intended short-stay use is treated under each of the coverage structures set out in this article.
- Best for a cleared, self-managing host: short-term-rental management software shortlisted on documented characteristics — current published pricing with a stated per-unit, per-month basis; listing-channel integrations; and fields for recording local registration and tax numbers where display is required. Named options are compared on the Airbnb management software comparison, and only belong on your list after every gate is documented.
| Your situation | Shortlist move | Ask before you sign or pay |
|---|---|---|
| One Florida property, gates documented, self-managing | Shortlist software and tools by the documented characteristics above, then compare named options on the software hub | Is pricing published with a per-unit, per-month basis and a current date? Can it record and display local registration and tax numbers where required? What are the data-export and cancellation terms? |
| Out-of-area owner who wants local operating help | Shortlist an operational agent — a property manager or co-host — under a written agreement stating the fee basis (a percentage of collected booking revenue, or a flat monthly fee) | Which licenses, registrations, and tax accounts remain in the owner's name? Who is the designated local contact for the jurisdiction? What is excluded from the fee, and on exactly what basis is it calculated? |
| Blocked, or the legal posture is disputed | Escalate to a Florida real-estate attorney or tax professional — or compare the long-term path at Airbnb vs. long-term rental | Has the attorney handled short-term-rental or land-use matters in your county? What written deliverable will you receive — a zoning-determination request, an opinion letter, a tax-registration map? Which recorded documents do they need from you? |
Whoever you shortlist, use one scorecard for every candidate: the nine-step Florida Pre-Listing Sequence. Ask each provider to show, in writing, which steps they perform, which remain in your name, and which they exclude — the same card, in the same order, for everyone.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take before I can legally host in Florida?
There is no universal Florida timeline, and the clock is set by the slowest dependency for your address. Where jurisdictions publish a figure, it is short: Orlando reviews a Home Share application in three to four business days before invoicing, and Fort Lauderdale warns that applications and renewals can take 10 to 12 business days during the August-to-September peak renewal season. Neither figure includes the inspection, HOA or condo approval, or insurance binding, and most Florida programs publish no processing time at all. Ask your local program office for its current queue and confirm it in writing.
How much does it cost to get a Florida vacation rental legal?
The state layer is knowable: $50 application fee plus a $170 full-year or $90 half-year single-unit license fee, so $220 or $140 in the first year and $170 at renewal, per DBPR's fee schedule as of August 9, 2026. The local layer varies by an order of magnitude and several jurisdictions publish nothing. Among the nine profiled here, published first-year local costs run from unincorporated Miami-Dade County's certificate, published at either $136.17 or $139.44 depending on which county page you read, through $275 in the City of Orlando, to $600 in unincorporated Pinellas County for the certificate plus initial inspection. Price the state layer from the worked example in the licensing section, then add your jurisdiction's published figures and treat anything unpublished as an open question rather than a zero.
How much can a Florida short-term rental earn?
This page publishes no revenue figures, and no revenue figure changes a legality answer. Keep the measures separate: gross booking value is what guests pay, host payout subtracts platform fees, and net operating income before debt subtracts real operating costs — none is "profit" without a definition. The site's current, dated market figures, net of real costs, live at how much Airbnb hosts actually make; read them only after every gate here is documented.
Can my HOA or condominium association stop me from hosting?
Often, yes, and the answer differs by association type. For condominiums, section 718.110(13) limits a restrictive amendment to owners who consented and owners who took title after its effective date. For homeowners' associations, section 720.306(1)(h) sets a similar rule for documents enacted after July 1, 2021 — but expressly allows an association to prohibit or regulate rentals of less than six months and to bar renting more than three times a year, which reaches short-term hosting directly. Pull the recorded declaration, every amendment with its effective date, and your deed, and take all three to Florida counsel before assuming you are grandfathered.
Is a Florida vacation-rental license the same as a local business tax receipt?
No. A vacation-rental license is a state credential issued by DBPR under Florida's public-lodging framework. A Business Tax Receipt is a local tax instrument issued by a city or county, and a Certificate of Use or local registration is a separate local approval again. Many Florida addresses need instruments from more than one layer, plus state and local tax accounts — and none of them substitutes for another. The dependency can also run the other way: the Osceola County Tax Collector warns that failing to maintain the short-term-rental Business Tax Receipt may cost you your zoning approval.
Can I publish a listing while my applications are pending?
Be careful. Florida's transient-lodging definition in section 509.013 includes property "advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented," so listing a whole unit can place it inside the licensed category before a single booking — and several local programs regulate listings or require registration numbers in ads. Some jurisdictions go further: unincorporated Monroe County treats advertising a prohibited vacation rental as unlawful in itself, and Orlando treats an advertisement that misstates the permitted scope as a finable offense. Treat advertising as operating: complete the approvals that apply to your address first, and confirm the local program's rule for pending applications.
Your next step
Pull the property appraiser record for your address today and settle the one fact everything else depends on: which city or unincorporated county governs the property. Open that government's current short-term-rental or zoning page, record the authority, the rule, its date, and its status, and then work the five gates in order. If a gate fails, take the long-term comparison branch above rather than a workaround; if every gate clears and is documented, continue to the startup checklist — and only then to the economics.
Sources and last verified date
Last verified: August 9, 2026 Next review: October 23, 2026, or sooner if a governing rule, fee, form, or tax changes; individual rows carry their own as-of dates.
- Florida Statutes section 509.013 — definitions — Florida Legislature — transient public lodging definition, including the rental-pattern and advertising triggers.
- Florida Statutes section 509.032 — Florida Legislature — state preemption language on vacation rentals, the June 1, 2011 exception, the paragraph (7)(a) preemption of lodging regulation and inspection with the building and fire code carve-out, and the narrow paragraph (7)(c) property-valuation exception.
- Florida Statutes section 509.242 — public lodging classifications — Florida Legislature — vacation-rental classification within public lodging.
- Florida Statutes section 509.261 — revocation, suspension, and fines — Florida Senate, 2025 statutes — fines of up to $1,000 per offense, the per-day separate-offense rule, the closed-for-operation sign, the second-degree misdemeanor for unlicensed operation, and the 12-month suspension limit.
- Florida Statutes section 212.03 — transient rentals tax — Florida Senate, 2025 statutes — statutory transient-rental tax framework and the six-months-or-less scope.
- Florida Statutes section 718.110 — amendment of declaration — Florida Senate, 2025 statutes — subsection (13), limiting a condominium rental-restriction amendment to consenting owners and owners who take title after its effective date.
- Florida Statutes section 720.306 — meetings of members; amendments — Florida Senate, 2025 statutes — paragraph (1)(h), limiting post-July 1, 2021 homeowners'-association rental amendments, and the carve-out permitting prohibition or regulation of rentals of less than six months and of renting more than three times a year.
- Guide to Vacation Rentals and Timeshare Projects — Florida DBPR — whole-unit and room-only licensing treatment, license classes and types, application, renewal timing, human-trafficking awareness training under section 509.096, and operating requirements, as of August 9, 2026.
- Lodging fees — Florida DBPR — $50 application fee, vacation-rental full-year and half-year license fees by unit count, the collective-licence fee formula showing the $10 Hospitality Education Program component, the full-year versus half-year timing rule, and the seven licensing districts with their annual renewal dates for all 67 counties, as of August 9, 2026.
- Forms and Publications — Florida DBPR — application form DBPR HR-7028 and balcony-inspection form DBPR HR-7020.
- Sales and Use Tax — Florida Department of Revenue — 6% state rate as of August 9, 2026, discretionary surtax, registration, and filing.
- Sales and Use Tax on Rental of Living or Sleeping Accommodations, GT-800034 — Florida Department of Revenue — plain-language statement of the six-months-or-less transient rental treatment and the split between state and county administration.
- Local Option Transient Rental Tax Rates, Form DR-15TDT — Florida Department of Revenue — per-county local option transient rental tax rates, the municipal variations within Miami-Dade, and which counties self-administer rather than remitting through the department.
- Local Option Taxes — Florida Department of Revenue — local option transient rental tax types, the definition that includes municipal resort tax within the local option category, and the statement that only Bal Harbour, Miami Beach, and Surfside may impose a municipal resort tax and administer it themselves.
- Housing Discrimination Under the Fair Housing Act — U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — federal protected classes in the rental of housing, including familial status.
- Vacation Short Term Rentals — City of Miami Beach — the Resiliency Code 7.5.4.13(d)(E) and 7.5.4.11(a) prohibition in single-family homes and many multifamily buildings, the section 102-386 advertising display requirement for the Business Tax Receipt and Resort Tax certificate numbers, and the authorized-buildings list, as of August 9, 2026.
- Short-term rental zoning map — City of Miami Beach — the districts in which short-term rental may be authorized.
- Practice Safe Renting address lookup — City of Miami Beach — the section 142-1111 statement of the prohibition on rentals of less than six months and one day in specified areas, the eviction-and-fine consequence, and the address-level verification tool, as of August 9, 2026.
- Short-Term Vacation Rentals — Miami-Dade County — Certificate of Use requirement under section 33-28, Local Business Tax Receipt, county tourist tax account, chapter 8CC penalty schedule, and one of the two published certificate fees, as of August 9, 2026.
- Vacation Rentals frequently asked questions — Miami-Dade County — Certificate of Use application, annual renewal, land use designations where vacation rentals are allowed, the responsible-party residency requirement, and the second published certificate fee, as of August 9, 2026.
- Residential rental requirements, Licensing Division FAQ — City of Key West — the transient and non-transient categories at 28 days or less and 29 days or more, the Business Tax Receipt requirement for all residential rentals, and the section 66-109 schedule of taxes, as of August 9, 2026.
- Transient living accommodations in residential dwellings, Chapter 122, Article V, Division 7 — City of Key West Code of Ordinances — the former 28-day transient definition, the uniform definition, and the stated intent to halt transient use of residences after a brief phase-out.
- Home Sharing Registration — City of Orlando — the July 1, 2018 ordinance, the on-site residency and one-booking rule, the four-unrelated-persons and two-per-room occupancy limits, the 50 percent of dwelling limit, the advertising and HOA-letter requirements, the finable offenses, the $275 first-year and $100 or $125 renewal fees, and the statement that only about four percent of Orange County is zoned for short-term rentals, as of August 9, 2026.
- Apply for Home Sharing Registration — City of Orlando — the three-to-four business day review, the $275 permit fee, the interior inspection, and the one-year validity with a $100 renewal invoiced 30 days before expiry, as of August 9, 2026.
- Zoning Division — Orange County Government — the permitted commercial, industrial and planned-development districts for short-term rental at 179 days or less, the R-3-only rule for single-family transient rental under 30 days, the prohibition in all other districts, the address-based zoning lookup, and the zoning-review-before-Business-Tax-Receipt sequence, as of August 9, 2026.
- Zoning Verification Letter — Orange County Government — the county's written zoning determination process.
- Vacation Rental Registration — City of Fort Lauderdale — the registration program, Article X of Chapter 15, Ordinance C-16-25, the 30-days-or-less definition, the 10-to-12 business day peak-season processing time, the noise-detection device requirement with 180-day data retention, and the $250 uncontested and $325 contested civil penalties, as of August 9, 2026.
- Property Registration, Vacation Rental Program — City of Fort Lauderdale — the state-and-county-before-city licensing order, the $100 fee for each inspection after the initial inspection, the three-business-day Certificate of Compliance, the 10-day reinspection, and the 30-day pending and six-month non-renewal closure rules, as of August 9, 2026.
- Short-term-rental planned development district (STRPD) — Osceola County — zoning-first sequence and the planned-development limitation, as of August 9, 2026.
- New Local Business Tax Receipt / Tourist Tax applicant instructions — Osceola County Tax Collector — the registration order, the requirement that the state licence or HR-7028 application accompany the local business tax application, the county tourist tax remitted directly to the Tax Collector, and the warning that failure to maintain the short-term-rental Business Tax Receipt may result in loss of zoning approval (document revised March 3, 2010; rate figures in it are superseded).
- Short Term Rental / Certificate of Use FAQs — Pinellas County — the unincorporated-only scope, the more-than-three-times and under-30-days trigger, the room-only exemption, the $450 certificate and $450 annual renewal, the $150 initial and $100 re-inspection fees, the two-per-bedroom-plus-two occupancy cap at 10, the parking and quiet-hours standards, the required in-property notice, the application documents including proof of an active DBPR licence, and the non-transferability rule, as of August 9, 2026.
- Special Vacation Rental Program — Monroe County — the less-than-28-day definition, the prohibition on renting or advertising in districts where vacation rental use is barred, the annual special vacation rental permit, the manager licence and its $110 application fee, inspection, and the business tax licence requirement, as of August 9, 2026.
- Senate Bill 280 (2024) — Florida Senate — official history of the 2024 vacation-rental bill that did not become law; cited for status only.
- Senate Bill 658 (2026) status — Florida Senate — official status tracking for pending legislation; cited for status only, not as current law.
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