Short-term rentals in Bradenton Beach, explained properly.

A TPLE license is valid for one year after the date of issuance. The city may provide for a two-year TPLE license by resolution of the city commission (Sec. 59-7(g)). The resolution was not read.

A complete application includes the application form, payment of fees, a copy of the operator's current DBPR license if the applicant has one, evidence of payment of state taxes (including the Florida Department of Revenue certificate of registration, if applicable), evidence of an active account with the Manatee County Tax Collector for tourist development taxes, if applicable, an exterior site sketch or photograph showing structures, pools, spas, fencing, off-street parking spaces (delineated to give a fixed count) and trash collection areas, and an interior sketch of each floor showing bedrooms, exits, stairways, smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, fire extinguishers and life safety equipment (Sec. 59-7(c)). Under F.S. 166.033 the City may issue the TPLE license before the DBPR license, on condition that proof of DBPR registration or licensure is given within 90 business days of approval, with a one-time extension of up to 30 days only where the state licensing delay was no fault of the applicant. Multi-family dwellings may be exempt from parts of this with proof of an annual life safety inspection during the TPLE license cycle. The City may require a copy of any lease agreement (Sec. 59-7(d)). Applications are sworn under penalty of perjury, and a false statement is a basis for revoking the license (Sec. 59-7(f)). City staff notify an applicant of deficiencies within 45 business days of submittal (Sec. 59-7(e)). On applying, the operator expressly grants the City and its agents immunity for reasonable, good-faith entry into the TPLE while acting within the chapter (Sec. 59-10).

Applies to: Rentals covered by Chapter 59 (exempt classes are listed in Sec. 59-4)

The permitted occupancy, parking capacity for each unit and trash disposal requirements must be stated in the rental information and agreement given to prospective renters before occupancy, together with a copy of the City's current parking regulations. The operator must restrict parking so that tenants do not exceed the number of parking spaces allocated to the unit (Sec. 59-6(b)). The maximum number of vehicles allowed on the property is also posted inside the unit (Sec. 59-5(b)). The application's site sketch shows the off-street spaces.

Applies to: Rentals covered by Chapter 59 (exempt classes are listed in Sec. 59-4)

Transient rentals must meet all applicable codes on fire, building and safety, health and safety, parking, noise, solid waste and sea turtle nesting season, and structures in use before the chapter took effect must be upgraded to current requirements, as applicable under the Florida Building Code, Existing Building volume, when renovations, additions or other improvements are made (Sec. 59-6). A portable fire extinguisher must be installed on the wall in an open common area. Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are required as the building and life safety codes in effect at construction require, and older structures get a safety inspection as part of the application. All bedrooms need an emergency escape and rescue opening consistent with the code in effect at construction. Halls, entrances and stairways must be clean, ventilated and lighted, and rails are required on stairways, porches and steps. Pools, spas and hot tubs built before the effective date of the 2004 Florida Building Code need a building official safety inspection as a precondition of TPLE licensing, unless the operator shows an annual health department inspection; new ones must meet current codes. Multi-family developments inspected annually by West Manatee Fire Rescue may be exempted from the detector inspection.

Applies to: Rentals covered by Chapter 59 (exempt classes are listed in Sec. 59-4)

The operator must provide at least one trashcan for every two bedrooms and weekly solid waste collection in every month the dwelling is available for transient rental, and must contract with the waste management company for side yard pick-up service. An operator seeking an exemption submits a written agenda request to the city clerk for a regular city commission meeting. Notice of the trash storage location is posted on the interior notice or by the main entrance (Sec. 59-6(a)(6)).

Applies to: Rentals covered by Chapter 59 (exempt classes are listed in Sec. 59-4)

Each operator must have a contact person available at all times and be personally available by telephone on a 24-hour basis. A timely and appropriate response means a response to the initial call within one hour and corrective action started within four hours of the initial call. Failure to respond in a timely and appropriate manner on more than three occasions may result in suspension or revocation of the TPLE license (Sec. 59-6(c)).

Applies to: Rentals covered by Chapter 59 (exempt classes are listed in Sec. 59-4)

Each TPLE displays the city-provided identification label, visible to the public, whenever the unit is being rented on a transient basis, and the street address must be legible from public view. Inside, a notice visible from the entry door must show the maximum overnight occupants, the maximum number of vehicles allowed on the property, a warning that violating noise, parking and occupancy rules may bring tickets or citations, the operator's name and 24-hour phone number, the street address with 911 and non-emergency contacts for the West Manatee Fire District and the Bradenton Beach Police Department, and a copy of the DBPR license, business tax receipt and TPLE license. The occupant must make the notices available to an investigating officer (Sec. 59-5).

Applies to: Rentals covered by Chapter 59 (exempt classes are listed in Sec. 59-4)

No transient rental operator may advertise statements that are, or with reasonable care could be found to be, untrue, deceptive, false or misleading, including advertising occupancy above the number in the TPLE registration application or license, advertising in violation of a restrictive covenant, or advertising in violation of a condominium, timeshare or cooperative document (Sec. 59-6(a)(7)).

Applies to: Rentals covered by Chapter 59 (exempt classes are listed in Sec. 59-4)

The fine for operating a transient public lodging establishment or transient rental without all of a valid business tax receipt, DBPR license and TPLE license is $125.00 for the first violation and $250.00 for a second or subsequent violation within three years of a first violation, notwithstanding F.S. 205.053 and the code enforcement article in Chapter 2. The City may notify the state DBPR of violations. For transitory violations (any violation of the chapter or other state or local law at a TPLE) the owner, the rental agent and the offending occupants may each be treated as violators, each violation is separate, and each day a continuing violation lasts is separate; the general penalty and code enforcement provisions of Chapter 2, Article III apply and were not read. Failing to get a DBPR license within 45 business days of a citation, or failing to apply for a local business tax receipt within two business days of a citation, is a continuing violation (Sec. 59-8). The City may also seek injunctions, liens and other remedies.

Applies to: Rentals covered by Chapter 59 (exempt classes are listed in Sec. 59-4)

Non-compliance with the licensing and operating requirements, or continuing violations at the same property address within 12 consecutive months, may result in suspension or revocation of the TPLE license, and no TPLE license may be issued to the same licensee for that rental for up to 12 months after revocation. No one may occupy a vacation rental whose TPLE license is revoked or suspended. The city clerk may revoke or suspend on the written request of code enforcement and gives notice to the operator and owner. A decision on a grant, denial, renewal or suspension is written and appealable: a notice of appeal filed with the city clerk within ten days of notice is placed on the next available special master agenda, and the special master's written decision is final, subject to review as Florida law allows (Sec. 59-8(c)).

Florida Statutes § 509.032(7)(b) says a local law, ordinance or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate how long or how often they are rented. Local rules adopted on or before June 1, 2011 are exempt from this limit, so some older local rules on rental length can still apply. Section 509.032(7)(a) also reserves the regulation of public lodging establishments (sanitation, inspections and similar matters) to the state, while local governments keep building-code and fire-code inspections. Local governments can still require registration and set other rules that do not ban rentals or limit their length or frequency.

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), Division of Hotels and Restaurants, licenses vacation rentals. A license is needed when an entire unit is rented more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less, or when the unit is advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented to guests. Houses, townhouses and buildings of up to four units take a Vacation Rental – Dwelling license; condominium and cooperative units take a Vacation Rental – Condominium license. Renting single rooms rather than the whole unit does not need a DBPR license, though local rules may still apply. Current licenses must be displayed in a conspicuous place on the premises.

New DBPR vacation rental applications pay a $50 application fee, a $10 Hospitality Education Program fee and a license fee. For a single rental unit the full-year license fee is $170 (half-year $90); group licenses for 2 to 25 units are $180 (half-year $95), with higher tiers for more units. Renewals pay the $10 education fee plus the full-year license fee. Renewal and half-year dates depend on the county's DBPR district.

Anyone who rents, leases, lets or grants a license to use transient accommodations must register with the Florida Department of Revenue to collect, report and remit sales tax.

Florida's 6% state sales tax, plus any applicable county discretionary sales surtax, applies to rent paid for living, sleeping or housekeeping accommodations rented for six months or less.

Counties (and certain cities) may add a local option transient rental tax, such as a tourist development tax, on rentals of six months or less, on top of the 6% state sales tax and any surtax. The Department of Revenue's rate table lists each county's rate and who collects it. Most counties administer the tax themselves, and in those counties it is reported and paid directly to the county rather than to the state.