DBPR application, inspections, local registrations, and tax accounts — we set up short-term rentals the legal way, end-to-end, so you can list with confidence.
A Florida vacation rental license is issued by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), which regulates short-term rentals as transient public lodging establishments — the same legal family as hotels. In plain terms: if you rent out a whole home or condo more than three times in a calendar year for stays under 30 days, or advertise it as regularly available for that kind of rental, the state expects you to hold a vacation rental license before guests check in.
DBPR splits vacation rentals into two categories — condos and dwellings (single-family homes and townhouses) — with single, group, and collective license types depending on how many units you operate. Renting a spare room in the home you live in is treated differently, so confirm your status before assuming. Getting the classification right on day one matters: applying under the wrong category is one of the most common reasons applications stall.
The full path from unlicensed to legally listed — this is the exact sequence we run for owners.
Condo or dwelling? Single, group, or collective? We match your property to the right DBPR classification and assemble what the application needs — ownership details, the rental address, and your entity information if the home sits in an LLC.
The application goes to DBPR’s Division of Hotels and Restaurants, online or by mail, with the state license fee. Complete applications move fastest — missing information is the number-one cause of weeks-long delays.
Condos in buildings three or more stories tall with non-common-area balconies or railings must file a certificate of balcony inspection. Most single-family vacation homes skip this step — but if your unit needs it, the license can’t issue without it.
The state license doesn’t satisfy local government. Depending on where the home sits, you may need a county or city business tax receipt (BTR), a short-term rental registration, or zoning confirmation. Our licensing team deals with these offices every week.
Short-term rental income is subject to Florida sales tax plus your county’s Tourist Development Tax, so you must register with the Florida Department of Revenue and your county before the first booking — even when Airbnb collects some taxes, registration and filing duties can remain. Our lodging tax service handles setup and monthly filings, and our Central Florida tourist tax guide by county breaks down who collects what.
Your DBPR license renews on a regular annual cycle, with the window tied to your license district — and operating on a lapsed license carries real penalties. The local layers renew separately: business tax receipts typically follow the local fiscal year, and tax accounts stay open as long as you file. In practice, what lapses is rarely the state license; it’s the county BTR or a tax filing that fell off the calendar. We track every renewal date for licensing clients — and if occupancy tax reporting is the piece you dread, start with our guide to reporting rental income for occupancy tax.
Going live “while the paperwork processes” puts you on record operating unlicensed — and platforms increasingly share data with regulators.
Filing a condo as a dwelling, or picking the wrong license type for a multi-unit setup, stalls the application and can mean starting over.
The DBPR license feels like the finish line, so owners never register with the county or city — the layer behind most enforcement letters.
Assuming “Airbnb handles the taxes” and never registering with the Department of Revenue or the county. Filing duties often remain with you.
The state license renews annually; local layers renew on their own schedules. Nobody sends one combined reminder.
A state license doesn’t override your community. Some HOAs restrict short-term rentals — verify before you buy and furnish.
One point of contact from “we just closed on the house” to “you’re licensed, registered, and ready to list.”
License in hand, we can keep the operation running: turnover cleaning across Florida, revenue management to price your calendar, plus vacation rental bookkeeping.
“We closed from out of state with no idea DBPR, the county, and the tax office were three separate processes. They ran all of it.”
“My application bounced twice on my own. Their submission went through — I’d been filing under the wrong category.”
“The renewal tracking alone is worth it. I never think about the BTR or tax filings anymore — it just gets done.”
A state license from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) classifying your property as transient public lodging. If you rent a whole home or condo more than three times a year for stays under 30 days — or advertise it as regularly available for that kind of rental — Florida requires you to hold one.
In most cases, yes. Whole-home and whole-condo short-term rentals generally need a DBPR vacation rental license, and many counties and cities add their own requirements, such as a business tax receipt or short-term rental registration. Renting a room in the home you live in is treated differently, so confirm your exact situation.
Buildings three or more stories tall with exterior balconies or railings that aren’t common-area must file a certificate of balcony inspection with DBPR. It mainly affects condos in mid-rise and high-rise buildings; most single-family vacation homes never need one.
Usually, yes. The DBPR license is only the state layer. Most Central Florida counties and many cities also require a local business tax receipt, and some require a separate short-term rental registration. You also need Florida sales tax and county Tourist Development Tax accounts.
DBPR vacation rental licenses renew on a regular annual cycle, with your renewal window based on your license district. Local business tax receipts and tax accounts renew on their own schedules — which is why what lapses is usually a local layer, not the state license.
Tell us about your property and we’ll map out exactly which licenses, registrations, and tax accounts it needs — then handle all of it for you.