Short-term rentals in Clermont, explained properly.

Division 3 defines a vacation rental as a unit or group of units in a condominium or cooperative, or any individually or collectively owned single-family, two-family, three-family or four-family house or dwelling unit, that is also a transient public lodging establishment and is located in an area zoned Residential, but is not a timeshare project. A transient public lodging establishment is a unit, group of units, dwelling, building or group of buildings within a single complex that is 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 that is advertised or held out to the public as a place regularly rented to guests.

Sec. 125-587(b) requires a completed application form identifying the property owner, the address, the vacation rental representative and the representative's phone number, with payment of applicable fees. It also requires an interior building sketch by floor (may be hand-drawn, to scale, showing bedrooms, exits, detectors, fire extinguishers and exit signage), an exterior site sketch showing structures, pools, spas, hot tubs, fencing and on-site parking spaces, an acknowledgment that each guest room has an approved single-station smoke detector, a section stating whether the rental will have ten or fewer occupants or more than ten, and a representation that the property complies with all applicable codes. Applications are sworn to under penalty of perjury, and a false statement is a basis for revocation.

Sec. 125-587(b)(1) says the application fee for an initial permit, renewal or modification is in an amount set by resolution of the city council. The resolution was not among the pages read, so a fee amount is not given here. A late fee of $100.00 applies to each renewal application received after September 30.

Sec. 125-587(d) says the permit expires each September 30 and may be renewed annually if the property complies with the division. Under Sec. 125-587(e), an owner may apply for renewal beginning July 1 before the annual expiration; initial applications and renewals received after July 1 of the fiscal year are valid for the term expiring on September 30 of the following year; each renewal application received after September 30 is assessed a late fee of $100.00.

Sec. 125-587(f)(1) requires an inspection before issuance to verify compliance with laws that apply and are known to the building official; instances of noncompliance must be corrected and the rental re-inspected before an initial permit issues. Under (f)(2), an applicant who signs a sworn statement that the property complies with all city codes receives the permit once the other requirements are met, then has six months to meet the inspection and code compliance requirements; if not, the permit is automatically suspended unless a written extension request is submitted before the period ends. An extension can be based solely on a claim that the failure was caused primarily by the City, and the city manager or designee grants or denies it. Current licensees also have six months under (f)(3). After a notice of violation, violations must be corrected and re-inspected within 30 calendar days, and life safety violations within the earlier of three city working days or the start of the next rental period. The inspection criteria are set by the city manager or designee.

Sec. 125-587(g) says vacation rental licenses are non-transferable and non-assignable. If ownership of a vacation rental is sold or otherwise transferred, any outstanding permit for that vacation rental is null and void upon the sale or transfer.

Sec. 125-587(c) requires an application for modification of the permit when any of those changes is proposed.

Sec. 125-588 requires every vacation rental representative to be available by landline or mobile telephone at the listed number around the clock, to be willing and able to be physically present at the vacation rental within 60 minutes after notification from an occupant, law enforcement officer, emergency personnel or the City, and actually be there in that time when requested, to conduct an on-site inspection at the end of each rental period, and to maintain for three years a log of all guests, available for inspection on request. The owner or the owner's designee may serve as representative.

Sec. 125-589(e)(1) says the maximum number of occupants authorized to stay overnight shall not exceed two persons per sleeping room, confirmed at the City's on-site life safety inspection, and up to four persons under 13 years of age are exempt from the limit. Sec. 125-589(e)(2) says the maximum number of persons allowed to gather at or occupy a vacation rental shall not exceed 1½ times the maximum overnight occupants shown on the certificate of compliance, and in no event shall a gathering exceed 20 persons. Sec. 125-589(f)(3) requires the single-page posting to state the maximum occupancy and "maximum of four occupants per bedroom," which reads differently from the two-per-sleeping-room limit in (e)(1). The two readings differ and are not reconciled here, so this row is marked for review.

Sec. 125-589(c) applies to vacation rentals covered by Division 3. The application also requires a site sketch showing the number and location of on-site parking spaces, and a change in the number or location of parking spaces needs a permit modification.

Sec. 125-589(d) requires trash storage containers to be screened with a six-foot fence or landscaping with an opening for removal, requires the rental to contract with the waste management provider for side-door pick-up, and exempts properties with alley garbage collection from those two requirements. Notice of the container location and collection rules must be posted inside the rental. No solid waste container may be at the curb before 6:00 p.m. of the day before pick-up, and containers must be removed before midnight of the day of pick-up.

Sec. 125-589(b) requires at least one landline telephone able to call 911 in the main level common area. Sec. 125-589(g) requires a pool, spa or hot tub to meet the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act (Fla. Stat. ch. 515), a smoke and carbon monoxide detection system that is interconnected, hard-wired and on primary building power, a portable multipurpose dry chemical 2A:10B:C fire extinguisher on each floor or level, and compliance with Florida Administrative Code Rule 69A-43.018. Sec. 125-589(a) also requires every dwelling unit to meet the International Property Maintenance Code in Sec. 8-9.

Sec. 125-589(h) requires advertisements to conform to the information in the application, to identify the maximum occupancy permitted, and to display the state DBPR transient lodging licence number and the City vacation rental permit number. The owner or representative must keep the City's list of listing sites current. Sec. 125-589(f) requires a single posted page, on the back of or next to the main entrance door, with the City certificate of compliance, the representative's name, address and phone number, the maximum occupancy, a noise notice, trash pick-up days and times, the nearest hospital, the local non-emergency police number and a building evacuation map of at least 8½ by 11 inches, plus a posted notice in the backyard or pool area that unreasonably loud noise is prohibited.

Sec. 125-589(h) and (i) bar advertising or using the vacation rental for commercial or nonresidential use, including primarily as a party, event or entertainment venue or social hall.

Sec. 125-590(d)(1) says a violation may be punished by citation, with a reasonable warning first as described in the City's codes, and is subject to a fine of $250.00 for the first offense and $500.00 for the second and subsequent offenses, plus a suspension of the permit for the third offense (via special magistrate). Sec. 125-590(d)(2) adds that violations are subject to all enforcement methods and penalties in the Code of Ordinances, including injunctive relief, abatement of public nuisance, liens, fines, imprisonment and other penalties provided by law.

Sec. 125-590(d)(3) says the city manager shall suspend a permit upon a third violation of the division in any continuous 12-month period, for one year, and the unit may not be used as a vacation rental during suspension. Sec. 125-590(d)(4) lets the city manager refuse to issue or renew, or revoke, a permit if the owner willfully withheld or falsified required information, requires revocation upon the fifth adjudication of a noise violation from the rental or a parking violation on the property, or any combination, within any continuous 12-month period, and says no refund of the annual fee is due. Sec. 125-587(f)(5) suspends a permit for a repeat nuisance property pending a written action plan, and an inadequate plan on three consecutive occasions results in revocation. Sec. 125-590(b) lets an applicant ask the city commission to review a written decision of the city manager by filing notice with the city clerk within ten days.

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.