Short-term rentals in Cocoa Beach, explained properly.

The registration form must include (Sec. 26.5-22(b)): a completed form with an email address for all notices and citations (emails to it are conclusively presumed to have reached the owner and agent); payment of the applicable fee; a copy of the rental's current and active transient public lodging license from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation; a copy of its current certificate of registration with the Florida Department of Revenue; evidence of a current and active account with the Brevard County Tax Collector for tourist development taxes; an exterior site sketch showing structures, pools, spas, hot tubs, fencing and a countable set of off-street parking spaces (hand drawn is allowed); an interior sketch by floor showing bedrooms, other rooms, exits, hallways, stairways and closets; a statement of the names of any non-paying overnight occupants and the number of their vehicles; and, for a condominium or cooperative building, documentation that vacation rentals are allowed there. In a condominium or cooperative, the site sketch shows only the parking for that rental, with documentation that the parking is approved for it. An incomplete form is returned with a notice of the deficiency.

Registration and renewal are each valid for one calendar year (Sec. 26.5-24). Sec. 26.5-26 requires an inspection to verify compliance with the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire and Life Safety Codes that governed at the time the construction was completed, after the initial registration and annually after each renewal. Instances of noncompliance are handled like other building and fire code violations in the City. The City makes the inspection by appointment with the owner or agent. If an inspector cannot complete a scheduled inspection because of an action or inaction of the owner, agent or an occupant, the owner pays a re-inspection fee (set by City Commission resolution, not read) before the re-inspection is scheduled. Failing to make the rental available within 20 days after written notice that the City is ready to inspect is a violation, and each day it continues is a separate violation. The requirements are not imposed so as to affect contracts that pre-existed April 17, 2025.

Sec. 26.5-27 makes registrations transferable only when ownership of the vacation rental is sold or otherwise transferred and the new owner has filed a modification of the registration with the City within 30 days of the sale or transfer. Without that modification, the outstanding registration is null and void on the thirty-first day after the sale or transfer. A change in ownership is subject to a new registration fee under the City's master fee listing (amount not read).

Sec. 26.5-23 requires an amendment of the registration when any of these changes is proposed: an increase or decrease in the number of bedrooms; an increase in the maximum occupancy; an increase or decrease in the number of parking spaces or a change in their location; a change in ownership; a change in the identity or vehicles of non-paying occupants; or a change in the email address associated with the rental. A modification may be subject to additional fees under the City's current fee listing (not read).

Sec. 26.5-53 limits occupancy, as stated on the registration, to the lesser of two occupants per bedroom plus two occupants, or eight occupants in total. An occupant is anyone who stays overnight, including the owner or agent, whether or not they pay, so long as at least one person at the rental is paying. A bedroom must have a bed or sleeping place and a closet or ensuite bathroom and comply with the Florida Fire Code and Life Safety Code. The limit does not apply when the property is owner occupied, meaning it is occupied with the owner's consent by family members who do not pay rent while no one else is paying for the stay. A registered rental outside the RS-1 zoning district that was used as a vacation rental on April 17, 2025 could apply for grandfathered status lasting ten years for occupancy, set at two occupants per bedroom plus two without the eight-occupant cap (or a lower cap agreed with the City earlier); the application deadline was June 17, 2025, and a change in the number of bedrooms ends the grandfathered status. Rentals with agreements made before the occupancy cap took effect are exempt from the cap for those stays.

Sec. 26.5-55 limits the combined number of automobiles, trucks, boats, motorcycles and trailers used for any vacation rental to four. No parking may cross or block a sidewalk or be on grassed, dirt, sand or stone or shell areas unless they are part of an approved parking plan, and vacation rental parking may not be on any lot other than the registered property or as shown on the approved plan. On-street parking must not interfere with vehicle access and must meet sections 3-01 and 3-03 of the land development code (not read). Violations can be punished by parking citations, and vehicles may be towed at the owner's expense. The owner and any agent must make sure parking follows the approved plan, and enforcement can be against the owner, agent and vehicle owner. The written rental agreement must state the maximum number of vehicles, which cannot exceed the sketched spaces plus other legal spaces the owner can show (Sec. 26.5-54).

Sec. 26.5-56 bars anyone at a vacation rental from creating noise or sound that is clearly audible within any other residence in the city when that residence has its windows and doors closed. Emergency calls, properly functioning HVAC systems, pool pumps, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and fire or burglar alarms (before notice and a reasonable chance to turn them off) are excluded. After a noise violation, the special magistrate may require the owner to install approved noise detection devices if the noise substantially and negatively affected one or more neighbors; the data is kept for 180 days and made available to the City. Under Sec. 26.5-57, three noise citations over a rolling 12 months allow the special magistrate, at the City's request, to deem the rental a noise nuisance property for 12 months and to order the property manager to visit and deliver the City's noise ordinances to each new occupant, and to require an extra deposit of at least $500 per rental that is forfeited to the City if the renter receives a noise violation. The general City noise ordinance also applies and was not read.

Sec. 26.5-43 requires the owner or agent to be reachable by landline or mobile phone, answered at the listed number, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to police, fire or other emergency personnel. Response to City regulatory staff is otherwise required only Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The owner or agent must regularly check the email associated with the rental and respond to City emails, and must place a City-supplied sticker with contact information near the front door, inside facing out or outside. Failing the phone duty is a violation punished by a fine set by resolution (amount not read). An owner may use an agent by notifying the City in writing on the City's form, may add up to two additional agents at registration or renewal, and stays responsible for the agents' actions (Sec. 26.5-3).

Sec. 26.5-54 requires a written rental agreement that states the maximum occupancy consistent with the registration, the maximum number of vehicles, that a sketch of permitted off-street parking will be posted, that all occupants must promptly evacuate on any state or local evacuation order, and a City-supplied document (lease addendum) with excerpts on solid waste pick-up, sea turtle regulations and lighting, and the noise ordinance. Sec. 26.5-63 requires these to be provided in a prominent location in each rental: the owner or agent's name, address and phone number; the maximum occupancy; the City document, which also covers speed limits and driving information; the maximum number of vehicles with a sketch of the off-street parking spaces; the days and times of trash pickup; and the location of the nearest hospital. A legible building evacuation map of at least 8.5 by 11 inches must be posted next to the interior door of each bedroom. Failing to provide the required information to occupants is a violation (Sec. 26.5-58(a)(5)).

Under Sec. 26.5-58, no initial warning is required before a citation. Listed violations include renting or advertising without a current registration, renting or advertising above the maximum occupancy, being an occupant over the maximum, not providing required information to occupants, parking violations, and false or misleading information in an application. Advertising a rental on dates when it has no valid registration, or above its occupancy, creates a rebuttable presumption of violation that screenshots can show. Each day or instance is a separate violation, the owner is liable for violations, and persons who commit a violation together are jointly and severally liable. A repeat violation (a second violation of the same provision within a year) may be sent to the special magistrate without the option to pay a fine in advance. If the special magistrate finds that repeat violations had a significant negative impact on neighbors and are irreparable or irreversible, the fine may be up to $5,000 per violation or per day. Other fine amounts are set by City Commission resolution and were not read, and Sec. 1-8 of the Code (general enforcement) was not read. Citations are served by email to the owner and agent; a citation or a City decision can be appealed to the special magistrate by written notice to the city clerk within 14 calendar days (Secs. 26.5-5, 26.5-61).

Sec. 26.5-59 lets a special magistrate suspend a registration, in addition to fines, if the magistrate finds after sworn statements and testimony that the violations significantly and negatively affected one or more neighbors and that suspension is reasonable. The time frames run over rolling two-year periods: a first violation cannot lead to suspension; a second violation, 30 calendar days; a third, 90 calendar days; a fourth, 180 calendar days; and each additional violation, a further 180 calendar days. A rental may not host any occupants during a suspension, and advertising a suspended date is a violation. Hosting during a suspension or advertising a suspended date adds a 90-day suspension, and Sec. 26.5-60 sets a fine of $500 per day for each day of advertising for a suspended date or operating on a suspended date. A registration application may be filed during a suspension, but none is issued until it ends. The magistrate may make exceptions for proven pre-existing contracts, and the owner has the burden of proving them.

Sec. 26.5-22(b)(2) requires payment of the applicable fee with the registration form. Sec. 26.5-27 refers to the City's most recently revised master fee listing for the new registration fee on a change of ownership, and Sec. 26.5-23 refers to the City's fee listing for modifications. The fee listing and resolution were not available to read, so no amount is shown here.

The City's registration form must include a copy of the rental's current certificate of registration with the Florida Department of Revenue (for sales surtaxes, transient rental taxes and other state-remitted taxes) and evidence of a current account with the Brevard County Tax Collector for tourist development taxes and other taxes remitted to the Tax Collector (Sec. 26.5-22(b)(4), (5)). Tax rates were not read from the County or any City source, and this page does not total state, county and local taxes.

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.