New laws for short term rentals in Florida

[Luis Crespo]

Are short term rentals prohibited in St Petersburg, Florida? Some are saying the end is near....

[Jeff Copeland]

Bullet Points for St Petersburg:

• Short term rentals (anything less than a month) are technically illegal, but...
• Code enforcement only enforces this on a "by complaint" basis.
• The City can't change this law in any way (in either direction) without risking losing the ability to regulate short term rentals altogether, so...
• We have a thriving Air BNB "black market", but it's inherently risky and you should not base your long term cash flow numbers on this model...the smart strategy seems to be get it while you can, but be prepared to quickly shift to a long term rental strategy if you get busted. 

Note that all of the above only applies to the City of St Petersburg. There are actually 24 incorporated municipalities in Pinellas County, and each City/Town has its own rules and its own red tape.

Here are couple of interesting articles on the subject specific to St Pete and surrounding cities:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/tourism/st-p...

In short: "renting a home for less than one month is illegal under city code. And homeowners who rent over Internet-based companies like Airbnb or VRBO do not pay state sales or county bed taxes. Small motel and bed-and-breakfast operators complain that the business model endangers their survival."

"State law prohibits local governments from regulating [not just from banning] short-term rentals unless they already had a law on the books before 2011. St. Petersburg did, but if the city tweaks its law it may lose its grandfathered status, said Todd Yost, the city's codes compliance assistance director."

"Currently, the city enforces its ordinance when someone complains. In 2014, only seven or eight violations were enforced, Yost said."

And more recently: http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/pinel...

Note that: "Local restrictions on the books before 2011 were grandfathered in, but cities that change even a word in the existing ordinances will lose their law entirely. And cities that had no local ordinance before the state law, like several Pinellas County municipalities, are left with no options."