STR Laws by State · Updated July 23, 2026
Florida Short-Term Rental Laws: State Overview (2026)
Florida is a partial-preemption state, and the whole picture turns on a single date: June 1, 2011. State law bars a Florida city or county from banning short-term rentals or from regulating the duration or frequency of stays (Fla. Stat. § 509.032(7)(b)) — but that bar does not apply to any local ordinance adopted on or before June 1, 2011. So Florida splits into two worlds: cities that already had strict rules on the books in 2011 (Miami Beach, Key West, parts of the Gulf coast) can still enforce outright bans, while everywhere else the state guarantees you can operate—subject to whatever licensing, noise, and safety rules the city has layered on since. This page explains the grandfather line, what your city can and can’t do, the 2024 SB 280 veto that kept the system in place, the state DBPR license, and Florida’s transient-rental tax stack.
| Statewide STR ban? | No — state law bars cities and counties from banning short-term rentals or capping their duration/frequency … except for ordinances adopted on or before June 1, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Statewide license/permit? | Yes — a state DBPR vacation-rental license (Division of Hotels & Restaurants) is required to rent an entire dwelling or condo unit transiently (Fla. Stat. §§ 509.241, 509.242). Many cities also require a local registration/BTR |
| State preemption of local STR rules? | Partial. Cities may regulate STRs (licensing, noise, parking, life-safety, occupancy) but may not ban them or limit duration/frequency — unless the rule predates 6/1/2011 (Fla. Stat. § 509.032(7)(b)) |
| Governing framework | Fla. Stat. § 509.032(7) (preemption) & § 509.242 (vacation-rental definition/license classes) — created by HB 883 (2011), narrowed by SB 356 (2014); re-centralization attempt SB 280 (2024) vetoed |
| Owner-occupancy required statewide? | No statewide mandate — but some cities (e.g., Orlando) allow only owner-occupied home-sharing under rules layered on since 2011 |
| State transient rental tax | 6% state sales/use tax on rentals of six months or less (Fla. Stat. § 212.03) |
| Local tourist tax | County Tourist Development Tax (bed tax) of 1–6% (Fla. Stat. § 125.0104) plus any discretionary sales surtax — combined rates commonly land near 12–13% |
| Last verified | 2026-07-22 |
This page is a plain-language summary of public Florida law, not legal advice. State statutes, city ordinances, and tax rates change — confirm the current rules with the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR), the Florida Department of Revenue, and your city and county before operating.
Is short-term rental legal in Florida?
In most of Florida, yes—and the state gives you the floor. Under Fla. Stat. § 509.032(7)(b), “a local law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of rental of vacation rentals.” That means a Florida city generally cannot ban Airbnb-style rentals outright, and cannot say you must rent for a minimum of seven or thirty nights, or no more than X times a year. But there is a hard exception in the very same sentence: the ban-on-bans “does not apply to any local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted on or before June 1, 2011.”
So the honest answer is: it depends on your city’s history. If your city’s STR restrictions were already on the books by mid-2011, they are grandfathered and fully enforceable—including a flat ban in residential zones. If the rules came later, the city can make you get a license and follow noise, parking, occupancy, and safety rules, but it cannot forbid the rental or dictate how long or how often you rent. Before you buy or list, the first question is not “what are the rules”—it’s “did this city have STR rules before June 1, 2011?”
Florida’s partial preemption: the June 1, 2011 line
Florida’s STR framework is the product of two laws pulling in opposite directions—and the grandfather date is the seam between them.
2011 (HB 883): total preemption
In 2011, the Legislature passed HB 883, which stripped local governments of nearly all power over vacation rentals. Cities and counties could no longer regulate, restrict, or prohibit STRs based on their classification, use, or occupancy. For a moment, Florida was almost completely hands-off at the local level—the state had taken the whole subject away from cities.
2014 (SB 356): the rollback that created the grandfather clause
The 2011 law provoked a backlash from tourist-heavy cities that wanted their old rules back. In 2014, SB 356 struck the compromise that still governs Florida today. It restored local governments’ power to regulate vacation rentals—licensing, inspections, noise, parking, trash, life-safety, occupancy limits—except that a local rule may not prohibit STRs or regulate their duration or frequency. Crucially, SB 356 wrote that limitation to apply only to ordinances adopted after June 1, 2011. Any restriction already in force on or before that date—including a total ban—was grandfathered and survives to this day.
That single carve-out is why Florida is a two-tier state. Cities that moved early—Miami Beach, Key West, and a number of Gulf-coast and barrier-island communities—kept bans and tight zoning that no post-2011 city is allowed to copy. Everywhere else, the state’s “no ban / no duration-or-frequency limit” guarantee holds. A practical trap: if a grandfathered city materially amends its old ordinance, it can risk losing the grandfather protection for the changed provisions—a recurring fight in Florida STR litigation—so the pre-2011 rules tend to be enforced very carefully.
What Florida cities can and can’t do
Outside the grandfathered markets, the line between lawful regulation and an illegal ban is where most Florida STR disputes land. Here is roughly where it falls.
| A (post-2011) city MAY | A (post-2011) city may NOT |
|---|---|
| Require a local registration / business tax receipt and inspections | Ban or prohibit short-term rentals outright |
| Set maximum occupancy (by bedrooms/square footage) and parking rules | Set a minimum-stay rule (e.g., “7 nights or more”) — that regulates duration |
| Enforce noise, trash, and nuisance ordinances (including STR-specific ones) | Cap how often a home may be rented per year — that regulates frequency |
| Require a 24/7 responsible party / local contact | Regulate STRs solely on the basis of their classification, use, or occupancy in a way that amounts to a ban |
| Require proof of the state DBPR license and tax registration | Apply new STR-only restrictions retroactively past the June 1, 2011 grandfather line |
The recurring litigation question is whether a rule really targets duration/frequency (preempted) or is a neutral land-use / life-safety rule (allowed). Cities have learned to write occupancy caps, parking minimums, and noise rules—which survive—rather than minimum-night rules, which don’t.
The 2024 SB 280 veto: why the state didn’t take over
Florida nearly rewrote all of this in 2024. CS/SB 280 (2024) would have re-centralized much of STR oversight at the state level: a state vacation-rental registration, standardized licensing, occupancy formulas, and requirements that platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo collect and remit taxes and report listings. It passed both chambers (Senate 23–16, House 60–51) in the closing days of the session.
On June 27, 2024, Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed it. His veto message objected that the bill created new state red tape and would have blocked local governments from enforcing existing ordinances or passing STR-specific measures. The veto left the 2014 framework—partial preemption plus the June 1, 2011 grandfather line—fully in place, and no comparable bill became law in the 2025 session. For hosts, the takeaway is stability: the rules on this page are the ones that survived a serious attempt to replace them, and city-by-city variation remains the defining feature of Florida STR law.
The Florida state vacation-rental license (DBPR)
Unlike Texas or California, Florida requires a statewide license to operate a whole-unit short-term rental. The DBPR Division of Hotels & Restaurants licenses vacation rentals under Fla. Stat. §§ 509.241 and 509.242.
A property is a “vacation rental” if it is a whole dwelling or condo/coop unit rented to transient guests—stays of less than 30 days—more than three times in a calendar year, or advertised as regularly available for such rentals. Two license categories and three structures apply:
- Dwelling vs. Condominium — a “dwelling” license covers single-family houses, townhouses, or units in a duplex/triplex/quadruplex; a “condominium” license covers condo or cooperative units.
- Single / Group / Collective — a single license covers one property; a group license (held by a licensed agent) covers units in one building or complex; a collective license covers up to 75 units across multiple locations within one district.
Renting out only individual rooms while you live in the home generally does not require a state vacation-rental license, though your city’s home-share rules still apply. Every whole-unit operator should hold the DBPR license and register for state and local taxes before taking a booking.
Florida short-term rental taxes
Florida has no state income tax, but it taxes short stays heavily. Two layers stack on every transient rental.
State transient rental tax (6%)
Under Fla. Stat. § 212.03, the rental of living quarters for six months or less is subject to the 6% state sales/use tax. It applies to the total rental charge—not just the nightly rate, but mandatory cleaning fees, pet fees, and other required charges.
County tourist development tax (bed tax)
On top of the state 6%, most Florida counties levy a Tourist Development Tax (TDT), often called the “bed tax,” under Fla. Stat. § 125.0104. Counties may set it from 1% up to 6%. High-tourism counties—Orange (Orlando) and Osceola (Kissimmee)—levy the full 6%, so a guest there pays roughly 12–13% combined once any discretionary sales surtax is added. Some counties add a small discretionary sales surtax on the state portion as well.
| Tax | Rate | Authority / notes |
|---|---|---|
| State transient rental sales tax | 6% | Fla. Stat. § 212.03; stays of six months or less; on the total rental charge |
| County Tourist Development Tax (bed tax) | 1–6% | Fla. Stat. § 125.0104; e.g., Orange & Osceola = 6%; varies by county |
| Discretionary county sales surtax | Varies (often ~0.5–1.5%) | Added to the state portion in some counties |
| Combined (typical tourism market) | ~12–13% | Confirm with the Florida DOR and your county tax collector |
Who collects it
Airbnb and Vrbo generally collect and remit the 6% state sales tax on Florida bookings under agreements with the Department of Revenue. The county tourist tax is different: many Florida counties self-administer their bed tax, and in those counties the platform may not remit it—meaning the host must register with the county tax collector and remit the TDT directly. Because collection differs county by county, confirm exactly which layers your platform covers and which you must file yourself; unremitted bed tax is one of the most common Florida STR compliance failures.
How the big Florida markets differ
Because the grandfather line splits the state, Florida’s markets differ not just in fees but in whether the city can ban you at all.
| Market | Can the city ban STRs? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Miami Beach | Yes (grandfathered) | Pre-2011 zoning bans STRs in most single-family and residential districts; the city is known for aggressive enforcement and steep fines — confirm the current fine schedule with the city |
| Key West / Monroe County | Effectively (grandfathered) | Strict 30-day minimum without a hard-to-get transient license; among the tightest markets in the state |
| Orlando (Orange Co.) | No outright ban, but heavily limited | Allows only owner-occupied home-sharing (host present, primary residence); city registration required; 6% county TDT |
| Kissimmee / Osceola Co. | No | Whole-home vacation rentals broadly allowed in tourist/resort zones; DBPR license + 6% county TDT; a core Disney-area STR market |
| Panama City Beach / Gulf coast | No (but registration required) | Whole-home rentals allowed with no zoning restriction and no minimum stay; annual Vacation Rental Certificate (Ord. 1632) and fire inspection instead — see our Panama City Beach STR rules guide |
Miami Beach is the clearest illustration of the grandfather clause in action: because its restrictions predate June 1, 2011, it can prohibit STRs in zones where a post-2011 city could not. It has historically imposed some of the highest STR penalties in the country, and those fine schedules have been the subject of litigation—so treat any specific dollar figure as something to confirm directly with the city before relying on it. At the other extreme, the Kissimmee/Osceola vacation-home corridor near the Orlando theme parks is one of the friendliest whole-home STR markets in Florida, where the main requirements are the state license and the county bed tax rather than any ban.
Pending and changing rules
After the SB 280 veto, Florida’s partial-preemption compromise is stable but not settled—bills to re-centralize STR oversight or adjust the grandfather rules resurface most sessions, and grandfathered cities continue to litigate the edges of their pre-2011 ordinances. Treat the specific tax rates, license categories, and city examples on this page as current as of the verified date below, and confirm the two things that decide your situation before you buy or list: your city’s STR ordinance history (pre- or post-June 1, 2011) and your county’s tourist-tax collection rules.
Sources & verification
Every rule above is drawn from Florida statutes, the Department of Revenue, DBPR, and the Governor’s official veto record. Verified 2026-07-22:
- Fla. Stat. § 509.032 — subsection (7)(b): local governments “may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency” of them, with the exception for ordinances “adopted on or before June 1, 2011.”
- Fla. Stat. § 509.242 — defines “vacation rental” and the DBPR license classifications (dwelling/condominium; single/group/collective).
- HB 883 (2011) — the original total preemption of local STR regulation.
- SB 356 (2014) — restored local regulatory power except bans and duration/frequency limits; set the June 1, 2011 grandfather line.
- CS/SB 280 (2024) — the re-centralization bill that passed both chambers and was vetoed.
- Executive Office of the Governor — DeSantis veto of CS/SB 280 (Vacation Rentals), June 27, 2024. (This flgov.com page is live but blocks automated fetch requests; view it in a browser.)
- Fla. Stat. § 212.03 — the 6% state sales tax on transient rentals of six months or less.
- Fla. Stat. § 125.0104 — the county Tourist Development (bed) tax, up to 6%.
- Florida DOR — Local Option Transient Rental Tax Rates (DR-15TDT) — the per-county bed-tax rate table.
- Florida DOR — Sales and Use Tax — state transient-rental tax overview and registration.
- DBPR — Guide to Vacation Rentals and Timeshare Projects — license categories and the vacation-rental definition.
- City of Miami Beach — Vacation/Short-Term Rentals — the grandfathered zoning prohibitions, registration, and enforcement.
- City of Orlando — Short-Term Rentals fact sheet — owner-occupied home-sharing rules and registration.
Regulations change — verify with DBPR, the Florida Department of Revenue, and your local city and county government before operating.
Compare short-term rental rules in Florida & other states
- Short-term rental laws by city (lookup hub)
- Texas state overview — a no-preemption state where cities fight STR bans in court, decided by Zaatari rather than a grandfather date.
- Arizona state overview — a strong “no ban” preemption with a $250 fee cap, the opposite of Florida’s grandfathered bans.
- Tennessee state overview and California state overview — a legacy-unit protection statute and a coastal-zone overlay, two more ways states shape local STR rules.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Florida city ban short-term rentals?
Only if its ban predates June 1, 2011. Under Fla. Stat. § 509.032(7)(b), a Florida city or county may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate their duration or frequency—unless the ordinance was adopted on or before June 1, 2011, in which case it is grandfathered and still enforceable. That is why Miami Beach and Key West can ban STRs in areas where a newer city could not.
Do I need a license to run an Airbnb in Florida?
Yes, for a whole-unit rental. You need a state DBPR vacation-rental license (dwelling or condominium) if you rent an entire unit to transient guests more than three times a year for stays under 30 days. Many cities also require a local registration or business tax receipt. Renting only individual rooms while you live there usually doesn’t need the state license, but local home-share rules still apply.
What was Florida SB 280, and did it pass?
CS/SB 280 (2024) would have shifted much of Florida’s STR oversight to the state—registration, licensing standards, and platform tax collection and reporting. It passed both chambers but was vetoed by Governor DeSantis on June 27, 2024, leaving the 2014 partial-preemption framework and the June 1, 2011 grandfather line in place. No comparable bill became law in 2025.
How much tax do I pay on a Florida short-term rental?
The state charges 6% sales tax on transient rentals of six months or less (Fla. Stat. § 212.03). On top of that, counties add a Tourist Development (bed) tax of up to 6% (Fla. Stat. § 125.0104)—6% in Orange and Osceola counties—plus any discretionary surtax, so a guest commonly pays around 12–13% combined. Airbnb and Vrbo usually remit the state 6%, but in many counties you must register and remit the county bed tax yourself.
Does Florida require owner-occupancy for short-term rentals?
Not statewide. State law does not impose an owner-occupancy mandate, and it bars cities from adopting duration/frequency limits after June 1, 2011. But individual cities can require it within their allowed regulatory space—Orlando, for example, permits only owner-occupied home-sharing where the host lives in the home. Check your specific city.
Last verified: 2026-07-22. Rules change — confirm current requirements with DBPR, the Florida Department of Revenue, and your local city and county government before operating.