Short-term rentals in Sebastian, explained properly.

Sec. 54-2-7.22(1)(a) defines a vacation rental this way and cites F.S. 509.013. Platforms are defined separately as any person, service, business, company, marketplace or other entity that gives property owners, tenants and agents a means to offer vacation rentals, online or otherwise. For these rules a bedroom is any room used principally for sleeping that meets the applicable building code requirements for a bedroom.

Under Sec. 54-2-7.22(2)(c) the registration form includes: owner and manager contact information (cell phone, email, mailing address); the State, City and tourist tax documents; parking information (garage and carport spaces, maximum number of bedrooms, maximum number of automobiles and location of spaces on an improved or stabilized driveway); verification of the State license fire protection items (smoke alarms, emergency lighting, fire extinguisher) and of carbon monoxide alarms where required; unit interior under-air square footage and number of bedrooms; an acknowledgment form signed and dated by the owner or manager covering special parking regulations, noise regulations, fire safety and maximum sleeping occupancy, and fines and citation penalties; an acknowledgment that listed information will be posted inside the unit; and an acknowledgment that the applicant has contacted any property owners association or homeowners or condo association and is aware of private restrictions that may affect operation. The City's form also asks whether the unit is on public sewer or a septic system and must be sworn before a notary.

Sec. 54-2-7.22(2)(b) says a registration may be transferred to a new owner upon submission of updated registration information and execution of, and assumption of, registration obligations and conditions on a form provided by the Community Development Department. The text read does not say whether a new business tax receipt is also needed.

Sec. 54-2-7.22(3)(h). The business tax receipt renewal date and fee are not in the text read.

Sec. 54-2-7.22(3)(f) requires changes in the vacation rental manager and changes in the manager contact information to be provided to the building department within ten days of the change.

Sec. 54-2-7.22(3)(d) says the overnight maximum sleeping occupancy of a vacation rental unit shall not exceed two persons per bedroom plus two additional persons, and that a maximum (cap) of ten persons applies to each unit whether it is on public sewer or on an on-site septic system. The unit occupancy limit is stated on the local license and must appear in every advertisement. The City's acknowledgment form states the occupancy limit as 10 people.

Sec. 54-2-7.22(3)(c) applies to every vacation rental. Automobiles parked outside a carport or garage are limited to one per bedroom, plus one, and may not exceed five in total. They must be in a designated and improved or stabilized driveway that has been permitted and not in any required yard area. Except for service and delivery vehicles, all automobiles must be parked on site and not in a road right-of-way other than a permitted driveway, and may not block sidewalks or pedestrian walkways. Parking and storage of boats and recreational vehicles must follow zoning code section 54-2-7.13, which was not read. The City's acknowledgment form also asks for the maximum number of vehicles allowed outside a carport or garage (5 cars).

This noise statement is part of the acknowledgment the owner or manager signs. It must be posted inside the unit and appear in every advertisement or rental offering for the unit (Sec. 54-2-7.22(2)(c)6.b, (2)(c)7.e and (3)(g)). The City's general noise ordinance was not read.

The applicant acknowledges that this information will be posted or displayed inside the unit before City staff inspect it and continuously afterward (Sec. 54-2-7.22(2)(c)7). The list also includes the maximum number of parked automobiles and boats and the approved parking locations, and the trash and recycling protocol for placing and retrieving waste management containers.

Sec. 54-2-7.22(3)(g) requires these four items to appear or be stated in any vacation rental unit advertisement or any rental offering associated with the unit.

Sec. 54-2-7.22(3)(e) requires the fire protection items required for the State vacation rental license, and a carbon monoxide alarm when required under Section R315 of the Florida Building Code-Residential. The City's registration form lists the State license fire protection items as smoke alarms, emergency lighting and a fire extinguisher. A City building inspector conducts a life safety inspection before the business tax receipt is issued.

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.