Short-term rentals in Pinellas County, explained properly.

A certificate of use is valid for one year from issuance. A renewal application is filed 60 days before the certificate expires; if it is filed on time, the current certificate stays in effect until the renewal is approved or denied, and if it is not, the certificate expires and the unit may not be offered for rent or rented. Incomplete applications get 20 business days to supply missing material or are deemed withdrawn. County staff inspect the unit before the first certificate is issued and every two years after that as part of renewal. A unit that fails inspection gets 30 days to come into compliance and request re-inspection, with an extension of up to 60 additional days where the owner shows efforts toward compliance, such as a building permit in review (Sec. 22-319(g)(3), (4), (5), (11)).

Certificates are non-transferable and non-assignable, and cover only the owner and the one property named on the certificate. A separate certificate is needed for the same owner at another location. A new certificate is required when ownership changes, including purchase of the assets of a legal entity named as owner. If the new owner does not apply within 30 days of the sale or transfer, the previous certificate is null and void on the 30th day. A new owner's application requires an inspection (Sec. 22-319(g)(12)).

The owner or responsible party submits an application for each unit attesting to an active Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) public lodging license (a copy is submitted with the application), collection and remittance of the required tourist development tax, and compliance with all county ordinances. The owner must also notify the Pinellas County Property Appraiser's Office of the intent to rent on a short term basis. The County may ask for additional information and may revise the application requirements by resolution (Sec. 22-319(g)(6), (7), (9), (10), (15)).

Sec. 22-319(g)(8) says payment of fees will include a certificate of use fee, a portion of which is non-refundable to initiate and process an application, inspection fee(s) and an annual renewal fee, and that the Board of County Commissioners may adjust the fees by resolution. The fee schedule hasn't been reviewed yet.

Applies to all short term rental units (single-family homes, duplexes, condominium units, three- or four-unit complexes and multiple family complexes). A bedroom must meet the definition in Sec. 22-319(f), including minimum floor area, an exterior wall, a closet and door and an emergency escape opening. Occupancy means the adults and minors regularly present within the boundary of the property. The maximum occupancy and the maximum parking must appear in advertising and be posted in the unit (Sec. 22-319(h)(2), (h)(6), (i)(1)).

The minimum is one off-street space for every three occupants, rounded up to the next whole number. Garage spaces count if available to the occupants. Front lawn parking does not count. The application includes a parking plan with a drawing of the spaces, and the maximum number of vehicles and a sketch of the spaces must be posted in the unit (Sec. 22-319(g)(6), (h)(4), (h)(6)).

Sec. 22-319(h)(3). The quiet hours and a good-neighbor noise statement must also be posted in the unit and included in advertising (Sec. 22-319(h)(6), (i)(1)).

Each short term rental has one designated responsible party, who may be the owner or agent or a private property management company, authorized to act for the owner including reporting trespass to law enforcement. The designation is made on a notarized county form, and the owner stays responsible for compliance. Duties include being available by telephone at the posted number, coming to the unit when notified, asking guests before check-in in the reservation application whether any guest is a sexual offender or predator and notifying the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department if so, accepting legal notices for violations, and regularly monitoring the unit. The text says the responsible party will be available in a reasonable time, such time being no less than 24 hours (Sec. 22-319(f), (h)(5)).

Sec. 22-319(h)(1) applies to all short term rental unit types. Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors must meet the Florida Building Code and manufacturer specifications; swimming pools must meet the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, F.S. ch. 515. The County inspects against the Florida Building Code and Florida Fire Prevention Code (Sec. 22-319(f)).

The page also shows a sketch of the off-street parking spaces, the days of trash and recycling pickup, the afterhours number for the short term rental monitoring hotline, and the County's good-neighbor statement or substantially similar language (Sec. 22-319(h)(6)).

Advertisements that omit this information or contain inaccurate information are a violation subject to the section's penalties. The certificate number goes on all advertising, including print and internet advertising; newspaper advertisements may use an abbreviated version that refers readers to a website and the posted notices in the unit (Sec. 22-319(i)).

Sec. 22-319(h)(7) refers to assembly uses as defined elsewhere in the Pinellas County Code. The definition has not been reviewed on this page.

Sec. 22-319(j) sends penalties to Chapter 1, Section 1-8 of the Pinellas County Code, which hasn't been reviewed yet. Operating without a valid certificate, failing to finish the application process including a satisfactory inspection within 30 days after the initial inspection (which lets the County deny the application), and advertisements missing the required information are each identified as violations (Sec. 22-319(g)(13), (g)(14), (i)(3)).

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.