Sanford, FL Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)

Sanford's Article VII, Residential Property Registration, covers single-family and two-family rental property, though it excludes apartments, hotels, motels, rooming houses, resort dwellings and bed and breakfast inns under Section 18-131. Owners who live in Seminole County or a contiguous county must give the city's community improvement department their address, email if available, and phone number under Section 18-132(a). An absentee owner, defined as one who lives outside Seminole County and its abutting counties, must instead designate a local representative over 18 who resides in that area, who can receive notices and service of process, and can even speak for the owner during a code enforcement proceeding under Section 18-132(e).

A new owner must file this information within ten days of taking title, per Section 18-132(c), and every absentee owner must acknowledge receiving educational materials summarizing the codes that apply to rental property. Section 18-132(g) sets the fee for designating a local representative at $25.00, charged once regardless of how many single-family or two-family rentals are assigned to that representative, and the fee is still owed even if the owner never designates a representative as required. Section 18-133 caps enforcement at whatever penalty state law authorizes, expressly ruling out incarceration for violating this article.