Page 10 - 18-09 BEAR Newsletter LR

Airbnb Rentals in Southwest Florida:

What You Need To Know By: Ned Hale,
Board Certified Real Estate Attorney

The metaphor “a bundle of rights” is often used to describe a frequency or duration of rentals. Fort Lauderdale, for exam-
real estate owner’s interest. These rights are meant to include ple, decided to make Airbnb rentals a red tape hassle: rentals
the right to occupy, the right to improve, the right to sell, and that are not timeshares have to be registered with the city and
the right to rent. Now, in the digital age and the rise of Airb- pass a maintenance and safety inspection. Other governmental
nb and other short term residential rental sites, it is the last entities are curbing short term rentals by enacting regulations
of those rights, the right to rent, that is generating the most on noise, the number of overnight guests, trash removal and
controversy. Because that right to rent must be balanced with parking. The statute does not prohibit cities and counties
the rights of the owners of neighboring properties to be free of from regulating those issues. So again, regardless of whom you
the noise, traffic, crowds, and parking problems that short term represent, you should always check with the municipality and
rentals often create. the county to inquire if there are any local regulations affecting
short term rentals.
This controversy does not, for the most part, include disagree-
ments about Airbnb rentals in condominiums and some home- F.S. 509.032(7)(b) will not be the last word in the Airbnb saga.
owner’s associations. Nearly all declarations of condominium The legislature, the local governments, and the courts will
and many HOA restrictive covenants contain some restrictions continue to weigh in on all of this. The bell has not yet rung on
on how often a residential unit may be rented in a year (fre- this match.
quency) and the length of stay (duration). A property may be
limited to, for example, no more than four rentals a year for Ned Hale is the owner of Hale Law Services, P.A., which is based
periods not exceeding 30 days each. Florida courts have gen- in Estero. He is board certified in real estate law by the Florida
erally upheld such limitations. Since Airbnb focuses on short Bar.
term and vacation rentals, such rules usually effectively prohibit
Airbnb business entirely. Accordingly, regardless of whether
you represent a buyer or seller, you should inquire with the As-
sociation to get a full understanding of any rental restrictions.
You can count on Capital Bank
Where the fights arise are concerning properties that are not
governed by any sort of condominium association or HOA. In for all of your Mortgage needs
2011 the Florida legislature got into the ring and delivered a – today, tomorrow and for years to come.
knock-out punch to local governments: F.S. 509.032(7)(b) is
pretty clear and succinct. It says, in its entirety: “A local law,
ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals or  Purchase Loans
regulate the duration or frequency of rental of vacation rentals.  Home Re nancing
This paragraph does not apply to any local law, ordinance, or
regulation adopted on or before June 1, 2011.” This law was  Construction Loans
passed in direct response to criticisms of Airbnb. It says that  Specialty Programs
municipalities and counties cannot enact rules or laws limiting
the frequency or duration of Airbnb rentals but it grandfathers
in local laws that were already in place on June 1, 2011. This Contact me today!
statute is therefore very favorable to Airbnb and its users; by
dictating that the only the state legislature--and not the hun- Sylvia Connor
dreds of other governmental entities in the state—may regulate Residential Mortgage Consultant
the duration or frequency of vacation rentals, the legislature 8100 Health Center Blvd,
has effectively said, “hands off this issue, little folks; only us big Bonita Springs, Florida 34135
boys and girls at the state level are capable of regulating this (239) 495-4172
one.” And what has the state done to regulate the issue? Thus NMLS# 387184
far, essentially nothing, giving free reign to Airbnb to do busi-
ness throughout the state.

Some cities and counties are cleverly getting around the statute capitalbank-us.com | 800.639.5111
by enacting regulations that are not technically restrictions on All loans subject to credit and collateral approval.

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