Can a Florida Condo or HOA Restrict Rentals? Who a New Leasing Amendment Actually Binds

Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA
Founder & Managing Shareholder

• Published September 22, 2026
• Reviewed by Jason Hamilton Mikes, JD, MBA, September 23, 2026
• Florida Statutes as of July 1, 2026
• Applies to: Condominiums · HOAs · Cooperatives

Yes. A Florida condominium or homeowners association may restrict leasing through its declaration, including minimum lease terms, limits on how often a unit may be rented, and approval procedures, and Florida's preemption of local vacation-rental ordinances does not reach private covenants. The catch is who a new restriction binds. Under section 718.110(13), a condominium amendment that prohibits renting, changes the rental term or limits rental frequency applies only to owners who consent and to owners who buy after it is recorded. Under section 720.306(1)(h), an HOA amendment adopted after July 1, 2021 that regulates rentals is generally limited the same way, with two important exceptions for short-term and frequent rentals.

Why communities restrict rentals

Southwest Florida's seasonal market makes rental restrictions a perennial issue. Owners who live in a community year-round want stability and fewer strangers with pool passes; investor owners want flexibility; both are usually right about the effect on property values in their own segment of the market. Lenders and insurers also care: a building where most units are short-term rentals is priced as a hotel, not a residence. The board's job is to know what the documents currently permit, what any change would actually accomplish, and which owners it would reach.

Condominiums: section 718.110(13)

A condominium declaration may be amended to restrict leasing by the vote the declaration requires for amendments. But section 718.110(13) limits the amendment's reach: an amendment that prohibits unit owners from renting their units, alters the duration of the rental term, or specifies or limits the number of times unit owners may rent their units during a specified period applies only to unit owners who consent to the amendment and to unit owners who acquire title after its effective date. Every other owner keeps the rental rights that existed when he or she bought.

Three consequences follow. First, a new leasing amendment produces two classes of units for years, and the association must track which owners are bound (consent forms should be recorded or kept with the amendment). Second, the protection runs with the owner, not the unit: when a non-consenting owner sells, the buyer is bound. Third, the statute reaches only the three categories it names. Amendments regulating how rentals occur, for example requiring board approval of tenants, background screening, registration of occupants, or compliance with the documents, are not limited by section 718.110(13) and generally bind all owners once adopted.

Homeowners associations: section 720.306(1)(h)

For HOAs, any governing document or amendment adopted after July 1, 2021 that prohibits or regulates rental agreements applies only to parcel owners who acquire title after the effective date and to owners who consent, individually or through a representative. Two exceptions make the rule workable for communities that want to stop short-term rentals: an association may amend its documents to prohibit or regulate rentals for terms of less than six months, and to prohibit rentals more than three times in a calendar year, and those amendments bind all owners. Associations with 15 or fewer parcels are not subject to the limitation at all, and amendments adopted before July 1, 2021 are unaffected.

The exceptions were written for the Airbnb problem: an HOA can ban vacation rentals and high-turnover leasing community-wide, but a broader restriction, such as a one-rental-per-year limit or a ban on leasing in the first two years of ownership, binds only new and consenting owners.

Short-term and vacation rentals

Florida law generally prohibits counties and municipalities from banning vacation rentals or regulating their duration or frequency (ordinances adopted before June 1, 2011 are grandfathered), so owners sometimes assume the same protection applies against their association. It does not. Section 509.032(7) limits local governments, not private covenants; a recorded declaration that requires a minimum lease term is enforceable against the owners it binds. The recurring dispute is not whether the restriction is valid but whether the particular owner is bound under the rules above, and whether the association has enforced it consistently.

Approval, screening and fees

Where the documents grant approval authority, the association may require lease applications and screen tenants, subject to fair housing and consumer-reporting laws. Chapter 718 caps what a condominium may charge: no fee may be charged in connection with a lease, sale or other transfer unless the association is required to approve the transfer and the fee is authorized in the declaration, articles or bylaws, and the fee may not exceed $150 per applicant (adjusted for inflation every five years), with spouses, and a parent and dependent child, counted as a single applicant. No fee may be charged for renewing a lease with the same tenant. If the documents permit, the association may require a security deposit of up to one month's rent as a condition of approving a lease, held for damage to the common elements. HOAs look to their documents for approval authority and fees.

Denials must be based on criteria in the documents, applied uniformly, and documented. Fair housing law applies to tenant screening exactly as it does to sales; our pet and assistance animal article covers the most common accommodation issue.

Tenants' rights and the association's remedies

During a lease, section 718.106(4) gives the tenant the owner's rights to use the common elements and association property, and the owner may use them only as a guest unless the tenant waives those rights in writing. Tenants are bound by the governing documents, and the association may fine tenants and suspend their use rights after the statutory notice and hearing, may sue tenants for injunctive relief, and, when the owner is delinquent, may demand that the tenant pay rent directly to the association until the owner's obligations are satisfied (and evict a tenant who refuses). Owners remain responsible for their tenants' violations.

Drafting and adopting a leasing amendment

1. Define the goal: eliminate short-term rentals, cap frequency, impose a minimum term, add screening, or all of these. Each element has a different reach under the statutes.
2. Confirm the amendment vote the declaration requires and whether mortgagee consent is needed.
3. Collect and record written consents from owners who support the amendment so they are bound (and counted) from the start.
4. Build the tracking system: a schedule of units, whether each owner is bound, and the date each bound owner took title.
5. Communicate: owners rarely object to a rule they understood before they voted on it.

Contact Hamilton Mikes

Hamilton Mikes drafts leasing amendments, approval procedures and screening criteria, tracks which owners are bound, and enforces rental restrictions against owners and tenants throughout Southwest Florida. Call 239-594-7227 or visit our Sales, Leases and Occupancy page.