Short-term rentals in Collier County, explained properly.

Sec. 26-384(1) lists registration with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the Collier County Tax Collector as the first duty an owner must meet before commencing a short-term vacation rental. Sec. 26-383 exempts an owner who is exempt from DBPR registration under Florida Statutes chapter 509. The state license and the sales and tourist tax rules are covered in the state rules below.

The Designated Responsible Party is a person eighteen or older named by the owner to respond to requests, complaints and problems at the rental. An owner may use a private property management company. The party is the owner's agent for accepting County citations and notices of violation. The owner (or the party) must be available in person or by telephone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for law enforcement actions, emergencies and County ordinance violations, and be willing and able to be on site within the next day of notification (Sec. 26-384(5)). The owner must tell the County in writing of any change of ownership or of the Designated Responsible Party within ten (10) business days (Sec. 26-384(2)).

Sec. 26-384(7) requires the owner to include the Collier County Rental Registration Number of the unit in all advertising of the availability of the accommodations. Advertising includes print, radio, video, online, social media and sharing economy platforms.

Before commencing a rental, the owner must inform all guests, before they occupy the unit, of all applicable Collier County ordinances, including noise, parking and garbage (Sec. 26-384(3)). The owner must keep each unit within the occupancy limits set by the County Code of Ordinances, the Land Development Code, the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code (Sec. 26-384(4)), and must maintain the unit as specified in the County Property Maintenance Code (Sec. 26-384(6)). The specific occupancy limits are in those other codes and are not stated in Article X.

Violations of the ordinance may be prosecuted and are punishable under the County's Consolidated Code Enforcement Ordinance (Ord. No. 2010-04, as amended), with a fine or civil citation up to $500 per violation per day for ongoing repeating violations (Sec. 26-385). Each day of renting a unit without a valid County Registration Certificate is a separate and distinct violation. Guests and owners may be prosecuted separately and at the same time for violating any County ordinance, including noise, parking and garbage rules.

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.