Florida Governor Vetoes Bill Regulating Vacation Rentals

On June 27, 2024, Governor DeSantis vetoed SB 280 which would have given the State more power to regulate vacation rentals by controlling licensing, setting occupancy limits and oversights for rental platforms like VRBO and Airbnb. The veto effectively places the control back to the local government.

On March 6, 2024, the Florida Legislature approved SB 280 giving the state, NOT local government, the power to control short-term rentals. The vote count was Senate 23-16 and House 60-51 with Senate President Kathleen Passidomo voting in favor.

CS/SB 280 (Vacation Rentals Bill) was first introduced in the Florida Senate on November 30, 2023. The bill sought to regulate Florida vacation rentals and how they operate. A couple of months later, the Senate passed the act on February 1, 2024, while the House passed it on March 6, 2024.

According to SB 280, “The bill revises the regulation of vacation rentals by the state and by local governments. A vacation rental is a unit in a condominium or cooperative, or a single, two, three, or four-family house that is rented to guests more than three times a year for periods of less than 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is shorter, or held out as regularly rented to guests. Vacation rentals are licensed by the Division of Hotels and Restaurants (division) within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR).”

In his veto letter, Governor DeSantis rejected the bill's approach stating, “Beyond creating new bureaucratic red tape that locals must comply with, SB 280 prevents local government from enforcing existing ordinances or passing any new local measure which would exclusively apply to vacation rentals. Under the bill, any such measure must apply to all residential properties. The effect of this provision will prevent virtually all local regulation of vacation rentals even though the vacation rental markets are far from uniform across the various regions of the state.” 

DeSantis added, “Going forward, I encourage the Florida Legislature and all key stakeholders to work together, with the understanding that vacation rentals should not be approached as a one-size-fits-all issue.” In an exchange with reporters, DeSantis stated, “For us to be micromanaging vacation rentals, I’m not sure that’s the right thing to do.”

This is a controversial issue in Florida as proponents of short-term rental claim it adds extra income for homeowners and brings in tourist dollars into the local economy, while residents in zoned single-family residential neighborhoods complain of noise, trash, and a revolving cast of strangers negatively impacting their quality of life.

According to Alison Dennington, Mayor of Melbourne Beach, in Brevard County, “The controversy over the regulation of short-term vacation rentals is a huge issue for small towns” called short-term rentals “an existential threat” to single-family zoning.”

Background on Short Term Rentals in Florida: According to a report from the Florida League of Cities, the saga of the short-term rentals goes back to 2011, when the Florida Legislature preempted cities from regulating short-term vacation rentals. The legislation included a provision that “grandfathered” any existing ordinance that was passed prior to June 1, 2011. 

According to the report, in 2014, the Legislature amended the law and restored some authority back to local governments so they could address many of the problems they were seeing in their communities relating to parking, noise, trash, and life-safety issues. This legislation left in place existing statutory language stating that cities cannot “prohibit” short-term rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of the rental. 

The Governor’s veto of SB 280 on June 27, 2024, means that current statutes will not change and this veto does not apply to any local ordinance or law adopted on or before June 1, 2011.   Local municipalities may still pass ordinances to regulate vacation rentals but must follow current Florida Law.