Short-term rentals in Holmes Beach, explained properly.

Chapter 4 refers to a minimum stay requirement "as set forth in the city's Land Development Code". All advertising has to state it (Sec. 4-14), and renting for an improper length of stay is a listed violation (Sec. 4-11(c)(12)). The length of stay itself is in the Land Development Code, so this page cannot give it yet. Florida law bars local rules on rental duration except those adopted on or before June 1, 2011 (see state law below).

A vacation rental certificate is valid for a two-year period beginning with its issue date. To renew, the owner files a renewal application between 60 and 30 days before the certificate expires. A timely renewal keeps the current certificate in effect until the application is approved or denied; if the renewal is not filed on time the certificate expires and the unit cannot be offered for rent or rented. The City is to promulgate the renewal forms and fee. An incomplete application gets 20 business days to supply the missing material or it is treated as withdrawn.

A unit is inspected before an initial or renewal certificate is issued. Within 30 days after filing, the owner or representative must contact the City to schedule the inspection. If the unit fails, the owner has 30 days to bring it into compliance and request a re-inspection. Failing to complete the process, including a satisfactory inspection, within 30 days after the initial inspection is a violation and the City may deny the application. The inspection checks compliance with building and life-safety codes, the vacation rental chapter and the parking requirements, subject to legal nonconformities.

The application lists the property manager and the owner (names, addresses, phones including a 24-hour local emergency contact and email), the unit address and property name, proof of ownership (recorded deed or property appraiser profile, active status for corporate owners, a Taxpayer Identification Number for owners who are not U.S. citizens), the county parcel number, the property type (single family, duplex or condominium unit with proof of an active condominium association), the number of bedrooms, and the number and location of on-site parking spaces. The City may ask for more, such as parking or landscaping plans or surveys, and may revise the requirements by resolution.

With the application the owner or agent attests that the property complies with FEMA rules limiting use of ground-level space, that the owner or agent holds an active Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) license for use of the property as a public lodging establishment, that the owner or agent has an active resale certificate for sales tax from the state, that the owner or agent collects and remits the required tourist development tax under Chapter 212, Florida Statutes, and that the property complies with all City ordinances.

Sec. 4-10 says the applicant must pay all application and inspection fees to secure a vacation rental certificate, and that the amounts are established by resolution of the city commission and may be amended from time to time. The fee resolution and its effective date were not read, so this page does not show the amounts yet.

An owner may designate an agent to manage the unit on a City form that is completed, notarized and submitted, and the agent accepts the designation on a City form. The owner stays responsible for compliance, and the agent is held to the same standard and can be cited. The owner can withdraw the authorization by filing a new form. On a change of ownership or agent, the owner must notify the City of the new owner, manager or agent within 15 business days.

Sec. 4-5(h) says a vacation rental certificate may be transferred upon change of ownership as set out in Sec. 4-8(d). Under Sec. 4-8(d) the owner notifies the City of the new owner, manager or agent within 15 business days, and the new owner or agent must meet the procedural requirements of the chapter and the conditions of the certificate issued to the property. Sec. 4-7 adds that a change of ownership does not invalidate existing nonconformities tied to the initial certificate.

Sec. 4-7 says the City does not intend that legal nonconformities of units with valid business tax receipts (BTRs) be corrected as a condition of the first certificate. The code enforcement officer inventories them when the first certificate is issued and decides whether a nonconformity exists; the decision can be appealed to the special magistrate within 30 days. If the officer finds nonconformities that were not inventoried, they must be brought into compliance before a later certificate is issued. Owners of legally nonconforming property converting from residential use to vacation rental use after the ordinance took effect may be required to address specific nonconformities first.

Decisions of the code enforcement officer, including official interpretations, are final decisions. A person adversely affected by an interpretation, or who was denied a vacation rental certificate, may file a written appeal with the City's special magistrate within 30 days after the decision. A denial of a new or renewal certificate must be in writing and give the grounds, and review is based on the record as it stood at the time of the denial.

Sec. 4-6(a)(9) requires every vacation rental unit in the city to provide one on-site parking space per bedroom. The inspection checks compliance with the parking requirements, subject to legal nonconformities. Advertising must state the maximum parking available on the property, and the in-unit posting must state the maximum number of vehicles that can be parked there. The Land Development Code, which was not read, also has parking rules for resort housing.

Every vacation rental unit must meet the Florida Building Code, Florida Fire Code, Florida Life Safety Code, FEMA rules and the Land Development Code, subject to legal nonconformities. Working smoke and carbon monoxide alarms are required. A 2A:10B:C multi-purpose dry chemical fire extinguisher is required on each floor. At least one land line telephone able to call 911 must be in the main-level common area. Halls and stairways must be clean, ventilated and lighted, with rails on all stairways, porches and steps. Bedrooms must meet the fire and life-safety codes and the chapter's bedroom definition. Pools, spas and hot tubs offered as amenities must meet Chapter 515, Florida Statutes, and the drain, underwater lighting and pump systems must be inspected annually by a licensed technician, with proof of an inspection in the previous 12 months available to the City on request. Pools, spas and hot tubs must meet the screening requirements of the Land Development Code. Units in the R-2, R-3 and R-4 zoning districts cannot have slides, diving boards or diving platforms unless they are legal non-conforming uses.

All advertising for a vacation rental unit must state the maximum occupancy, the maximum parking available, the minimum stay requirement set in the Land Development Code, and a set good-neighbor statement about keeping noise to a respectful level. The vacation rental certificate number must be on all advertising, including print and internet advertising. Ads that leave out this information or contain inaccurate information are violations. Newspaper ads may use an abbreviated version if they point readers to a website and posted notices for the full rules. Most advertising violations have a 48-hour correction period.

Sec. 4-15 allows no more than one sign on the property. The sign may be up to four square feet on a single surface, parallel to the street, no more than ten feet from the main structure, and no taller than three feet above the surrounding grade. It must be non-moving, free-standing and securely anchored, may not be fluorescent in color, and may not have fixed attachments or information boxes. Improper placement of the sign is a violation with a 24-hour correction period. The vacation rental certificate number is not required on this sign.

Each unit must post, on one page in a conspicuous place or in a tabbed notebook, the name, address and phone number of the agent or owner, the maximum overnight occupancy, a notice of quiet hours, the maximum number of vehicles that can be parked, the days and times of solid waste, recycling and yard waste pick-up, a notice of sea turtle nesting season and lighting rules where applicable, and the location and phone number of the nearest hospital and urgent care facility. A notebook must say "important information and emergency numbers" on its cover. A legible letter-size building evacuation map must be posted at the main entrance door and one other exterior door.

All occupants must comply with the City's noise ordinance (Sec. 4-13). The notice posted in each unit must state quiet hours from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. daily and that the City's maximum permissible noise levels are 65 decibels from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and 50 decibels from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m., measured at the property line of the property generating the noise. The noise ordinance itself was not read.

Vacation rental owners must supply approved carts for solid waste based on the number of bedrooms, as set out in Ordinance 15-06 and the City's franchise agreement with WastePro, and must place the containers at a clearly marked location specified by the City. The cart counts in those documents were not read.

A code enforcement officer can issue a notice of violation. The listed violations include advertising problems (48 hours to correct), renting without a certificate (48 hours), renting for an improper length of stay, exceeding occupancy limits, failing to schedule an inspection or re-inspection within 30 days, failing to register a new agent within 15 business days, and sign placement (24 hours). The fine is paid to the city clerk within ten business days of the notice even if the violation was corrected in time. The owner can instead request a hearing before the special magistrate within ten business days. Repeat violations (a violation within three years of a prior one) always go to a hearing. Fine amounts are set by City Commission resolution and were not read. Unpaid fines and costs after the magistrate's order draw a late fee equal to the fine plus costs, and the order is recorded in the Manatee County public records as a lien on the property and on other property of the violator.

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.