Short-term rentals in Polk County, explained properly.

A Level 3 Review is how three kinds of applications are handled: an existing subdivision (any lot owner may apply for the whole subdivision), a modification of a Planned Development, and a home outside any subdivision or Planned Development (one home at a time). For a subdivision application the County gives mailed notice to every lot owner in the subdivision, every lot owner in any subdivision whose boundaries are within 250 feet, and every lot owner in any subdivision whose roads provide access or which shares a common access road, security gate or other common facility. The Board weighs, along with the Section 906 factors, the ratio of short-term rentals to total lots, any deed restrictions, the required setbacks between dwellings, the steps taken to tell buyers whether rentals are allowed, and any other compatibility factor. The Section 906 process and fees, and whether the table subdivisions need any separate zoning step under Table 2.1, haven't been reviewed.

The table is captioned "Subdivisions in Northeast Polk County Approved for Short-Term Rental Units" and gives, for each, the approved phases (where the subdivision is only partly approved) and a lot count. Phases shown: Polo Park 1-B, 2, 3-A, 3-B; Lone Pine 2, 3; International Bass Lake Resort 1; Davenport Lakes 1, 2, 3, 5; Loma Vista 1, 2; Loma Linda 1, 2, 3; Westridge 1, 2, 3, 4; Sunridge Woods 1, 2, 3; Briargrove with its 1st, 2nd and 3rd Additions; Thousand Oaks 1, 2; Pinewood Country Estates 1, 2, 3, 4; Bridgewater Crossing 1, 2. The other subdivisions show no phase limit. The Code text calls the table "Table 3.3" and the caption says "Table 3.5". The table is the Code's own list as of the Municode update of August 26, 2026; approvals granted through a Level 3 Review after the table was written may be recorded elsewhere, so confirm a specific subdivision with the County Land Development Division.

Short-term rentals may be authorized in part of a subdivision or Planned Development only for a distinct phase or phases; the applicant must name the phases and provide buffering between phases that allow rentals and phases limited to permanent residences. The same one-approval-for-the-whole-subdivision principle appears again in the operating requirements (the status applies to the entire subdivision) and in the non-conforming rules. The Board review route in Subsection 1.d covers homes with a building permit issued, or a lot with a sale contract or closing, in the nine months before a 1998 date, whether or not rental activity had begun; the published text drops the month from that date ("17, 1998"), and Subsection 5.a elsewhere refers to September 17, 1998. Homes outside subdivisions and Planned Developments use a Level 3 Review on a dwelling-by-dwelling basis. We haven't reviewed Ordinances 2026-044 and 2026-038, which amend Section 303.

The same sentence appears twice, once in the authorization subsection and once in the non-conforming subsection. The factors the County weighs for a subdivision application include whether deed restrictions exist that permit or prohibit short-term rentals. The Code also requires the plat, deed restrictions (or similar instruments) and a recorded Notice of Short-Term Rentals for subdivisions platted after the Code took effect to state that rentals are allowed.

This duty applies to the original applicant and to any later owner who sells. Separately, in newer subdivisions the plat must carry a conspicuous note, the deed restrictions must say rentals are allowed and give the Code's definition, and a "Notice of Short-Term Rentals" must be recorded in the public records, with a copy given to the Land Development Division within ten days of Board approval of the plat or before any lot is sold, whichever comes first. For subdivisions platted before the Code took effect that still have unsold lots, the recorded Notice had to reach the Division within 60 days of the effective date. The notice is also posted in the sales office, if any, and included in all sales literature.

Homes used as short-term rentals on, or in the year before, a 1998 date could keep operating until 2008 without the approval otherwise required, if documentation was filed and the unit registered on or before September 17, 1998 (the published text drops the month from several dates in this subsection, so we have not filled them in). Documentation meant sales receipts, licences and proof that taxes were paid. After the period ended the home needs new approval, and a home inside a subdivision or Planned Development that does not qualify cannot rent unless the whole subdivision, Planned Development or phase is approved. While the status lasted, a sale of the home ended it, occupancy was capped at eight persons per unit where side or rear yard setbacks were under seven feet (otherwise two persons per enclosed bedroom plus two, up to 12), and units in subdivisions without formal approval were limited to guest stays of at least seven days. A false statement in a non-conforming status application is a second-degree misdemeanor.

Timeshares, vacation rentals and holiday rentals that meet this definition are examples. A subdivision may adopt a more restrictive definition in its notice. The Code's Chapter 10 definitions haven't been reviewed, so confirm the controlling definition with the County.

Registration is filed by "the owner of a short-term rental or the owner's agent" and must identify the management company and a 24-hour representative. Both the owner and the management company must keep the registration information current and both answer for violations of the operating requirements.

The receipt is held by the management company, not by each property. The receipt amount and the renewal date haven't been reviewed.

This matches the state layer on this page, which describes the Department of Business and Professional Regulation vacation rental licence. The County Code also requires compliance with all other applicable local, state and federal regulations.

The same number must appear in the occupant notice handed to each renting group. The management company and the owner share responsibility for keeping the number on file with the Land Development Division current.

The notice to occupants is also handed to each renting group when the rental contract is signed.

The notice covers trash, noise (it is unlawful in Polk County to create noise that unreasonably interferes with neighbours' comfortable enjoyment of their property), dogs (leashed or under direct control outside the unit) and clothing in public view. It names the management company and its 24-hour number. The notice may be made stricter to match homeowner association or owner restrictions.

The required notice to occupants repeats this, tells guests to put trash out by 7:00 a.m. on collection days, and says trash must be disposed of at least twice a week.

This is one of the operating requirements that apply to every short-term rental.

The Section 720 buffer standards haven't been reviewed, so the width and planting requirements aren't shown here. The buffer is an application requirement for a project, so it falls on the applicant rather than on each home.

This applies to the whole operating requirements subsection, including rentals with non-conforming status.

The rate and filing details come from the County's tourist tax rules and the Florida Department of Revenue, which this page covers only through the state rules below.

Each application with false information counts as a separate violation. The Code Enforcement chapter and its fine schedule are outside the section we reviewed.

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.