Fort Lauderdale Short-Term Rental Laws: Licenses, Taxes, and Compliance

Running a short-term rental in Fort Lauderdale is legal, but it is heavily regulated. Fort Lauderdale short-term rental laws require a state vacation rental license from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, tax accounts with both the Florida Department of Revenue and Broward County, and a city-issued certificate of compliance that follows a mandatory life-safety inspection. Once you are operating, the city sets hard limits on occupancy, parking, noise, and trash, and it fines violations at $200 each with certificate suspensions for repeat offenders.

When the Rules Apply to Your Property

Under Florida law, a vacation rental is a single-family, two-family, three-family, or four-family home, or a condo or co-op unit, that operates as a transient public lodging establishment and is not a timeshare.¹ Your property crosses that line once it is rented more than three times in a calendar year for stays shorter than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is shorter, or advertised as regularly available for short stays.² Fort Lauderdale’s ordinance uses the same definition in Section 15-272.

Once you meet that definition, your property is regulated more like a hotel than a residential rental. You need licenses at the state and city level, you collect lodging taxes, and your home is subject to safety inspections that ordinary long-term rentals never see.

Licenses and Tax Accounts You Need First

Three separate registrations must be in place before the city will process your certificate of compliance. Skip one and the city application stalls.

Florida DBPR Vacation Rental License

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation licenses vacation rentals through its Division of Hotels and Restaurants. For a single unit, the initial cost is a $50 application fee, a $10 Hospitality Education Program fee, and a $170 annual license fee, for $230 in year one. Renewals are $170 per year.³ Online applications are typically approved in one to two business days.

Florida Department of Revenue Sales Tax Account

Register with the Florida Department of Revenue to collect the 6 percent state sales tax on transient rentals. The registration produces a sales tax identification number that DBPR requires on your vacation rental application.⁴

Broward County Tourist Development Tax Account

Broward County levies a separate 6 percent tourist development tax on every rental of six months or less, paid directly to the county rather than the state.⁵ Between the state sales tax and the county levy, guests pay a combined 12 percent in lodging taxes on every booking.

The Fort Lauderdale Certificate of Compliance

With state license and tax accounts active, you apply for the certificate of compliance through the LauderBuild online portal. Log in, select “Apply,” then “Community and Compliance,” and choose the Vacation Rental Registry application.⁶

The application asks for more than the state license and tax numbers. You submit city and county business tax receipts, an affidavit confirming compliance with the standards in Section 15-278, and the lease agreement you plan to use with guests. You also name a responsible party who is reachable around the clock to respond to complaints and emergencies while the property is rented.⁷ That person does not have to be the owner, but they must be available at all hours. A sketch or photograph showing off-street parking is part of the submission as well.

The city then schedules a life-safety inspection. An inspector confirms that smoke and carbon monoxide detectors are hard-wired, interconnected, and powered by the building’s electrical service, consistent with the Florida Building Code. The inspector also checks for a portable 2A:10B:C fire extinguisher on each floor, pool and spa compliance with the Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act, and a working landline telephone with 911 capability in the main common area.⁸ Each reinspection after a failure costs $100. Once the property passes, the city issues the certificate.

Operating Rules Once You Start Renting

Section 15-278 sets the day-to-day standards, and these are where most neighbor complaints and code cases start.

Occupancy Limits

Overnight occupancy is capped at two people per sleeping room, with the room count fixed by the city’s on-site inspection and printed on the certificate. Daytime gatherings cannot exceed one and a half times the overnight maximum, and can never go above 20 people. The gathering limit does not apply when the owner is physically present. Up to four children under 13 are exempt from both the overnight and gathering counts.⁸ A three-bedroom home tops out at six adults overnight and a nine-person daytime gathering.

Parking

Every vehicle associated with the rental must park in the driveway on the property. Street parking, swale parking, and blocked sidewalks are all violations.⁸ If your driveway fits two cars and guests arrive with three, you have a problem before the first night starts.

Noise Monitoring

Every registered rental must have a noise-level detection device that alerts the owner and guests when preset thresholds are exceeded. You must retain the device’s data for at least 180 days and produce it to the city on request. This applies to every property regardless of size or neighborhood.

Trash

City solid waste containers cannot be placed at the curb before 6:00 p.m. the evening before pickup, and must be pulled back promptly afterward.⁸ Guests rarely know local pickup schedules, so a can left at the curb for two days is a common source of complaints.

Advertising Rules Under the 2025 State Law

Since January 1, 2025, Florida law requires every vacation rental advertisement to include the property’s DBPR license number with its unique identifier. If the property also has a local registration number, that number must be posted inside the unit in a visible location. The person placing the ad must attest that the license and registration numbers are current and valid and that the listing is accurate.⁹ The rule applies whether you list on Airbnb, Vrbo, your own website, or anywhere else, and platforms are increasingly verifying these numbers before publishing listings.

Collecting and Paying Taxes

The 6 percent state sales tax goes to the Florida Department of Revenue on Form DR-15, and your filing frequency is assigned based on estimated tax liability. The 6 percent Broward County tourist development tax is reported and paid directly to the county.¹⁰ A single late period creates two separate penalty problems because each agency assesses penalties and interest on its own. Rental income also goes on Schedule E of your federal return.¹¹

Fines and Certificate Suspension

Every violation of the vacation rental ordinance is a civil infraction. Uncontested violations carry a $200 fine and contested violations carry a $275 fine. Each day a violation continues is a separate infraction, except that occupancy violations during a single rental period count as one violation rather than stacking daily.⁸

The fines are only the entry point. Repeat violations trigger certificate suspensions imposed by a special magistrate:

Third violation: certificate suspended for 180 days.
Fourth violation: certificate suspended for 365 days.
Each additional violation: 30 more days of suspension, up to a 12-month maximum.

The city can also seek injunctive relief, place liens, or revoke the certificate outright.⁸ A law enforcement officer can issue a citation directly, with no written warning first, so the first fine may be your first notice. Operating without a certificate at all invites faster enforcement because the city has no registration on file to work with.

Two Things the City Rules Do Not Cover

Standard homeowner’s insurance policies generally exclude commercial activity, and short-term renting qualifies. Most hosts carry at least $1 million in commercial liability coverage, the minimum that Airbnb and Vrbo host protection programs reference. Premiums vary with the property’s value, location, and rental volume.

If your property sits in a condo or homeowners association, check the governing documents before you register anything. Many associations restrict or prohibit short-term rentals regardless of what state and city law allow. A Fort Lauderdale certificate of compliance does not override private deed restrictions, and an HOA can fine or sue you for violating covenants even if every government license is in order. Clearing that question first keeps you from spending on registrations and inspections for a property you cannot actually rent.

1
The 2025 Florida Statutes. Florida Statutes 509.242 – Public Lodging Establishments Classifications
2
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 509.013 – Definitions
3
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Guide to Vacation Rentals and Timeshare Projects
4
Cornell Law Institute. Florida Administrative Code Annotated Rule 61C-1.002 – Licensing and Inspection Requirements
5
Broward County. Tourist Development Tax
6
City of Fort Lauderdale. LauderBuild
7
City of Fort Lauderdale. Property Registration
8
City of Fort Lauderdale. Fort Lauderdale Code of Ordinances Article X – Vacation Rental
9
Florida Senate. Florida Senate Bill 1537 – Vacation Rentals Analysis
10
Florida Department of Revenue. Local Option Transient Rental Tax Rates
11
Internal Revenue Service. IRS Publication 527 – Residential Rental Property