Short-term rental rules · Miami Beach, Florida
Short-term rentals in Miami Beach, explained properly.
Miami Beach bans short-term rentals (leases under six months and a day) in single-family homes and in most multifamily zones, but a pre-2011 city ordinance — grandfathered under Florida's statewide preemption law — lets it keep enforcing this patchwork. Roughly 434 specific apartment buildings across a mix of commercial, mixed-use, and some residential zoning districts are authorized to operate as vacation rentals, verifiable through the city's own zoning map and address-lookup tool. Legal operators need a Business Tax Receipt and Resort Tax registration, both of which must be displayed in listings; operating without authorization risks eviction of guests and fines against the owner.
Draft. These rules were compiled from the sources listed below — official where available, with fields that rely on secondary sources marked for review — and have not yet been checked line by line. Confirm with the city before making decisions.
At a glance
What you need to know before you buy or list
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Regulated under a pre-2011 grandfathered ordinance | Florida law (F.S. 509.032(7)) generally preempts local governments from banning vacation rentals or regulating stay length, but exempts ordinances already in place by June 1, 2011 — Miami Beach's short-term rental restrictions predate that cutoff, so the city can keep enforcing its zoning-based ban and stay-length rules[1]Confirming |
| Banned in single-family homes and most residential multifamily zones | Short-term rentals of less than six months and one day are prohibited in single-family homes and in multifamily residential buildings located in many of the city's residential zoning districts[2] |
| ~434 specific apartment buildings authorized citywide | The city maintains a list of roughly 434 apartment buildings authorized for short-term rentals, spanning zoning districts including CD-2/CD-3 commercial, CPS-1/CPS-2/CPS-4 commercial-pedestrian, MXE/MR mixed-use, RM-1/RM-2/RM-3 residential multifamily, RPS-3/RPS-4, RS-3/RS-4 residential single-family overlays, TC-1/TC-3/TC-C tourism-commercial, and GU/SPE general-use/special districts — eligibility must be checked building-by-building using the city's zoning map, not assumed from the district name alone[2] |
| Business Tax Receipt and Resort Tax registration required | Authorized operators must obtain a City of Miami Beach Business Tax Receipt through the Citizen Access Portal and register for a Resort Tax certificate; both the Business Tax Receipt number and Resort Tax certificate number must be conspicuously displayed in every advertisement or listing per Miami Beach Code Section 102-386[2] |
| Florida DBPR vacation rental license also required | Beyond city licensing, operators must hold a Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) vacation rental license (a Dwelling or Condominium license) and display it on-site; state law defines a vacation rental as a unit offered for transient stays of fewer than 30 days more than three times a year[1]Confirming |
| 4% Miami Beach Resort Tax on rental income | The city collects a 4% Resort Tax on all transient rentals of six months or less, filed monthly directly with the city, on top of Miami-Dade County's 3% Convention Development Tax and Florida's state and local sales/tourist taxes[3][4]Confirming |
| Fines up to $1,000/day (first violation), $5,000/day (repeat) | Under Florida Chapter 162 code-enforcement law, operating an unauthorized short-term rental can draw fines of up to $1,000 per day for a first violation and up to $5,000 per day for repeat violations, with up to $15,000 per violation possible where irreversible harm is found; a city ordinance that once advertised much higher flat penalties ($20,000 first offense, $100,000 for repeats) was struck down by a Florida court in 2020, and current enforcement should be confirmed directly with Miami Beach Code Compliance[4][3]Confirming |
| Guests/tenants can be evicted from illegal rentals | If a rental is found to be operating illegally, the city states that tenants and visitors will be evicted from the property and fines will be assessed against the owner[5] |
| Last researched | September 25, 2026 |
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Detailed rules
The full picture, section by section
Where STRs are and aren't allowed
| Eligibility varies block by block; must be checked by address | Because authorization is tied to specific buildings and parcels rather than a simple zoning-district rule, the city provides a 'Practice Safe Renting' online tool and zoning map so owners, renters, and buyers can verify whether a specific address is authorized for short-term rental before listing, booking, or purchasing[5] |
|---|
Licensing & registration
| "Check Your Renter" tool for prior STR violations | The city operates a 'Check Your Renter' tool that lets property owners verify whether a prospective tenant has prior short-term rental violations on record[2] |
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Taxes
| Combined tax stack often exceeds 10% | Beyond the 4% city Resort Tax, guests pay a 3% Miami-Dade County Convention Development Tax plus Florida state and local sales/tourist taxes; secondary sources put the combined guest-facing tax burden at over 10%, but this has not been confirmed against an official current rate schedule[4]Confirming |
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Florida statewide framework
| Florida generally bars local STR bans and stay-length rules, except pre-2011 ordinances | Florida Statutes 509.032(7) generally prevents cities and counties from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating the duration or frequency of stays. Local governments whose ordinances predate June 1, 2011 are exempt from that preemption and may keep enforcing their existing rules, which is why Miami Beach's ban and zoning restrictions remain in force. A 2024 bill (SB 280 / HB 1537) that would have further centralized state authority over vacation rentals passed the legislature but was vetoed by Governor DeSantis, so the 2011 preemption framework and local patchwork continue to govern in 2026[1]Confirming |
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Changes
Recent and pending changes
The City of Miami Beach's own 'Vacation/Short-Term Rentals' page and 'Practice Safe Renting' portal are the primary official sources to monitor, since the list of ~434 authorized buildings and the zoning map behind it can change as buildings are added or removed. This research pass could not locate specific current fee amounts for the Business Tax Receipt or Resort Tax registration, or a fully current enforcement/fine schedule directly from the city, and relied on secondary compliance guides for those and the combined tax-rate figure — all flagged needs-review. Because Miami Beach's authority rests on a pre-2011 grandfather clause, any successful future state legislation narrowing or eliminating that grandfathering (like the vetoed 2024 SB 280/HB 1537) would be an extremely high-impact change for this and every other Florida market with a similar pre-2011 ordinance.
Sources
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This page is general information compiled from public sources, not legal or tax advice. HOA rules, deed restrictions and zoning for a specific property can be stricter. Confirm with the local permitting office and a qualified professional before buying or listing a property.