DBPR Vacation Rental License: Forms, Fees, and Inspections

To operate legally, a Florida vacation rental license is issued by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants, and you need one for any property rented to guests more than three times per calendar year for stays shorter than 30 days.¹ Apply through the DBPR Online Services portal using Form DBPR HR-7028, register first with the Florida Department of Revenue for sales tax, and expect to pay $240 total for a single unit at full-year rates: a $190 license fee plus a $50 one-time application fee.²

Who Needs a License

Florida Statute 509.242 defines a vacation rental as any individually or collectively owned single-family, two-family, three-family, or four-family dwelling, or any unit or group of units in a condominium or cooperative, that functions as a transient lodging establishment and is not a timeshare project.³ Two things trigger the licensing requirement: renting the entire unit more than three times in a calendar year for periods under 30 days, or advertising the property to the public as a place regularly available for guest stays.¹

The advertising part catches people. Even before you’ve completed a single rental, listing the property on a booking platform or your own website as available for short-term stays brings you under the Division’s jurisdiction. Timeshare projects follow a separate track.

What to Gather Before You Apply

Assemble these items before you open the application. Missing any of them stalls the process or triggers a rejection.

Federal Employer Identification Number or Social Security Number, used for tax identification.
Florida Sales Tax Registration Number. Register with the Florida Department of Revenue first, because short-term rentals are subject to the state’s 6% sales tax plus any applicable county discretionary surtax.⁴
Ownership information, including the legal entity responsible for the property (individual, corporation, partnership, or LLC), the property’s full physical address, and the number of units being licensed.
Licensed agent details if someone other than the owner manages the property.
A Certificate of Balcony Inspection if the property sits in a building three or more stories tall (see below).

The Correct Form and How to Submit It

Vacation rentals use Form DBPR HR-7028, the Application for Vacation Rental or Timeshare Project License.⁵ This is a different form from HR-7027, which covers hotels, motels, and other general public lodging establishments. Using the wrong form sends your application back to the start.

The fastest route is the DBPR Online Services portal at myfloridalicense.com. Create an account, link your business profile, and complete the digital application. The system flags incomplete fields before you can submit and accepts credit card or electronic check payment.

To file on paper, mail the completed HR-7028 and supporting documents to the Division of Hotels and Restaurants at 2601 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1011, with a check or money order payable to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.⁶ Use a tracking service; a lost package means starting over.

Fees

Fees scale with unit count and with when in the renewal cycle you apply. Every new application also carries a one-time $50 processing fee on top of the license fee.⁷

Single rental unit: $190 full year, $100 half year
2 to 25 units: $200 full year, $105 half year
26 to 50 units: $215 full year, $112.50 half year
51 to 100 units: $230 full year, $120 half year
101 to 200 units: $255 full year, $132.50 half year
201 to 500 or more units: $285 to $370 full year, $147.50 to $190 half year

Apply after the half-year date for your district and you pay the reduced half-year rate rather than the full annual amount.²

Balcony Inspection for Buildings Three Stories or More

If the property sits in a building three or more stories tall, the Division will not issue a license until you file a Certificate of Balcony Inspection. The certificate must confirm that all balconies, platforms, stairways, and railings have been inspected by a qualified professional and found safe, secure, and free of defects.⁸ Renew that inspection every three years.¹

Safety Standards You Sign Up For

Vacation rentals are not on the mandatory two-year inspection cycle that applies to hotels and motels. Under Florida Statute 509.032, the Division is authorized to inspect vacation rentals and timeshare projects at any time upon request or complaint rather than on a routine schedule.⁹ When an inspector arrives, they look at everything.

The Division’s sanitation and fire safety standards for vacation rentals include:¹

Smoke detectors in every unit, plus hearing-impaired smoke detectors stocked at a rate of one per 50 rental units up to a maximum of five.
Sheets and pillowcases cleaned and changed between each guest or weekly, whichever comes first. Mattresses, comforters, and pillows kept clean and disinfected.
Dishes and glassware, if provided, sanitized between guests using a three-compartment sink or commercial dishwasher. Properties that can’t meet the standard must post a notice informing guests that items haven’t been sanitized to commercial food-service standards.
A safe, properly maintained electrical system. Extension cords cannot be used as permanent fixtures.
A clean unit, free of pests, in good physical repair.

Properties in buildings three stories or taller with interior hallways, or above 75 feet in height, may also need automatic fire sprinklers installed to NFPA standards, depending on the number of rental units in the building.¹

Tax Registration and Collection

The DBPR license is one layer. Tax obligations are another, and overlooking any of them creates personal liability fast.

State Sales Tax

Florida imposes a 6% state sales tax on short-term rental income. Many counties add a discretionary sales surtax, though for transient rentals only the first $5,000 of each taxable transaction is subject to the surtax.⁴ Register with the Department of Revenue and remit these taxes on the schedule they assign, typically monthly or quarterly depending on volume.

Tourist Development Tax

Most Florida counties separately levy a tourist development tax on rentals of six months or less. The base rate runs 1% to 2%, but counties can stack additional levies through referendum, and many popular tourist counties collect 5% or 6% in combined local bed taxes. You must charge this tax to the guest and remit it. Absorbing it rather than charging it does not remove your personal liability for the full amount.¹⁰

Some booking platforms collect and remit these taxes on your behalf, but coverage varies by platform and by county. Confirm what your platform handles and what falls on you directly.

Insurance and Local Rules

Standard homeowners policies typically exclude commercial activity, and renting to paying guests counts as commercial activity in most insurers’ eyes. A guest injury or damage claim filed against a rental operating under a residential policy will likely be denied. Contact your carrier or shop for a short-term rental policy that covers guest liability, property damage during stays, and loss of rental income before your first booking.

Your DBPR license satisfies state requirements only. Many Florida cities and counties run their own registration programs and impose occupancy limits, noise ordinances, and parking rules. Under current law, local governments cannot outright ban vacation rentals or restrict how often or how long you rent, but they retain wide latitude over other operational rules. Local ordinances adopted on or before June 1, 2011 that were more restrictive remain enforceable. Check with your county or city clerk for anything that applies alongside the state license.

Displaying and Renewing the License

Once issued, the license must be displayed conspicuously to the public inside the rental property. If the unit has no office or lobby, the license or a copy must be readily available for inspection when requested.¹

Renewal is annual. You pay the applicable license fee for your unit count plus a $10 Hospitality Education Program fee each cycle. The DBPR sends renewal notices before expiration, but the deadline is your responsibility. An expired license is treated the same as no license. Manage renewals, add or remove units, and update contact information through your DBPR Online Services account.

Penalties for Operating Without One

Under Section 509.241, running a vacation rental without a license is a second-degree misdemeanor, which carries potential jail time of up to 60 days and a fine of up to $500 under Florida’s general misdemeanor penalty provisions.¹¹ The Division can also impose administrative fines of up to $1,000 per offense, and each day of unlicensed operation involving a critical violation can count as a separate offense.¹²

The Division has authority to post a “closed for operation” sign on any property found operating without a license, and removing that sign is itself a second-degree misdemeanor.¹² The DBPR actively investigates complaints and online listings.

1
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Hotels and Restaurants – Guide to Vacation Rentals and Timeshare Projects
2
MyFloridaLicense.com. Hotels and Restaurants – Lodging Fees
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 509.242 – Public Lodging Establishments; Classification
4
Florida Department of Revenue. Florida Sales and Use Tax
5
Legal Information Institute. Florida Code 61C-1.002 – Licensing and Inspection Requirements
6
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Division of Hotels and Restaurants
7
Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Vacation Rentals and Timeshare Projects
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 509.2112 – Public Lodging Establishments Three Stories or More in Height; Inspection Rules
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 509.032 – Duties
10
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 125.0104 – Tourist Development Tax
11
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 509.241 – Licenses Required; Exceptions
12
Florida Senate. Florida Code 509.261 – Revocation or Suspension of Licenses; Fines