Bulletin: Hillsborough County, FL News Today

Hillsborough County Adopts First Short-Term Rental Registry With $200 Annual Fee and One-Hour Response Rule

Commissioners voted 7-0 on September 2 to require registration, a local contact, and a compliance affidavit for roughly 3,000 vacation rentals in unincorporated areas starting January 1, 2027

Photo from https://plotkinhomes.com/

The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners unanimously adopted the Short-Term Vacation Rental Registration and Business Regulation Ordinance on September 2 along with a companion fee resolution, giving the county its first vacation rental registry and a January 1, 2027 start date that leaves time to set up the system before hosts have to comply.

More than 3,000 short-term rentals in unincorporated Hillsborough County fall under the new rules while the roughly 9,000 listings inside the City of Tampa are unaffected because the ordinance does not apply within city limits.

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What owners must do

Registration starts with a $200 annual fee per unit, an amount county attorney Johanna Lundgren told the board sits well below what most other Florida local governments charge and which will pay for a web-based registry built by an outside vendor as well as ongoing monitoring and Code Enforcement staff time.

Registering also means signing an affidavit that the property complies with the county Code of Ordinances and Land Development Code and agreeing to inspections at any time on request from Code Enforcement or the Sheriff's Office so an owner who fails to open the door when asked picks up a no-show fee on top of a separate violation.

Beyond the paperwork, every rental needs a local responsible party who can reach the property within one hour of a call from code enforcement, law enforcement, or another county agency with a 24-hour complaint line built into the vendor contract to route those calls. Owners must also brief guests on local rules and post emergency and safety information, trash and recycling pickup days, the county noise ordinance, and permitted parking spaces inside the unit.

Enforcement

Violations run through the county's standard code enforcement process rather than a dedicated STR penalty table so fine amounts follow the existing schedule and an unresolved case can end up in court.

According to Commissioner Harry Cohen, that route has more teeth than it sounds. He requested the ordinance earlier this year after a wave of party-house complaints and pointed out that most vacation rentals are not homesteaded which means unpaid fines convert to liens the county can enforce against the property itself.

What Florida law leaves out

The ordinance stops at registration and conduct rules because Section 509.032(7) of the Florida Statutes bars local governments from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating their duration or frequency beyond rules on the books before June 1, 2011.

The result is a registry and conduct code rather than a cap on the industry since the ordinance does not ban rentals, limit nights per year, restrict where they can operate, or require the owner to live on site. Hosts listing on Airbnb or Vrbo will also find the platforms themselves carry no obligation under the county rules.

Hillsborough leaders pass measure creating new short-term rental rules

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Hillsborough County commissioners passed a measure on Wednesday that creates a registration requirement for short-term vacation rentals. The ordinance also designates a l…

WFLABeth Rousseau

Hillsborough County tightens rules on short-term rentals

Hillsborough County is tightening its rules for short-term rental properties following complaints from neighbors about noise, parking and disruptive guests.

FOX 13 Tampa BayAaron Mesmer

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