Airbnb in Miami: what has to allow it before you buy

Plenty of people buy planning to rent by the night and find out later that the city or the building does not allow it. In Miami the answer does not come from Airbnb: it comes from the property’s zone, the building’s rules and a state license. This guide shows where to check each one before you make an offer.

1. 1The city, by zoneEach city decides in which zones you can rent for less than a month. What counts is the real city the property sits in, which is not always the one in the listing: a house with a “Miami” address may be in unincorporated Miami-Dade or in another city, with other rules.I want to check this property →
2. 2The building or the associationEven where the city allows it, the condo declaration or the association’s rules can ban it or set a minimum number of months. In the City of Miami, the association also has to sign the operational plan the city requires.
3. 3The state: the licenseA one- to four-unit house, or a condo unit, rented as transient lodging is a vacation rental under Florida law, and it needs its license from the DBPR Division of Hotels and Restaurants.

The state does not let a city ban vacation rentals or limit how long or how often they are rented. But that rule leaves alone local rules adopted on or before June 1, 2011, and it still lets cities require registrations, permits, inspections, taxes and rules on noise, trash or parking. That is why, in practice, South Florida has zones where you cannot, and where you can, there is paperwork.

The City of Miami tested it in court: in 2018 Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal (City of Miami v. Airbnb) confirmed that its zoning code, Miami 21, can prohibit short-term rentals that turn a house in the residential zones into something that is no longer permanent housing.

In unincorporated Miami-Dade, operating without a certificate of use costs $100 the first time, $1,000 the second within 24 months and $2,500 the third. Miami Beach looks up addresses in its Practice Safe Renting tool: use it before making an offer there.

In Florida, an amendment that bans renting or sets a minimum term binds only the owners who consented and those who buy afterwards. If you buy, you are in the second group: you are bound by the rules in place that day, even if the previous owner could rent by the night. Ask for the condo declaration, its rules and recent minutes, and read them before making an offer. If the building says “six-month minimum” or “one year”, there is no Airbnb.

The same goes for homeowners associations (HOA): their rules can limit renting even where the city allows it. And in the City of Miami the association has to sign the short-term rental operational plan: without its signature there is no certificate of use.

Miami-Dade has agreements with platforms such as Airbnb so they collect and pay for you the county taxes on bookings made through them. Anything you rent outside the platform, or through a manager, you register and pay yourself. In Broward, ask the county what the platform collects before assuming anything.

If you live in the house and have the homestead exemption, renting the whole house can cost you the exemption: the law treats it as abandoned if you rent it more than 30 days a year for two years in a row. Property tax jumps when you lose it.

• Confirm the real city and zone of the address, not the ones in the listing.
• Ask the city whether that zone allows rentals under a month and which permits it requires.
• Read the building’s or association’s declaration and rules, and ask management whether an amendment is coming.
• Run your numbers with the taxes in the table and with empty months, not with the best month of the year.
• If you plan to live there, count what you would lose in homestead.

Checked on November 9, 2026. State law: 2026 Florida Statutes, §509.032(7) (what cities cannot ban), §509.242 (what a vacation rental is), §718.110(13) (condo amendments on renting) and §196.061 (renting a homestead). The ruling City of Miami v. Airbnb, 260 So. 3d 478 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018). Cities and counties: City of Miami, Miami Beach, unincorporated Miami-Dade (Code §33-28), Miami-Dade taxes, Fort Lauderdale and Broward tourist tax. Local rules change: confirm the exact address with the city before you buy. This guide is not legal advice.