Florida Statute §509.032 prevents Tampa from requiring Airbnb or Vrbo to verify local registration, so platform liability is mainly federal CDA §230 protected, while hosts alone face Tampa Ch. 27 §27-114 enforcement.
Florida's vacation rental preemption blocks cities from imposing platform-level pass-through registration mandates similar to those in San Francisco or Los Angeles. Tampa cannot fine Airbnb, Vrbo, or Booking.com for hosting an unregistered listing the way it pursues the host. Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act and Florida §509.032 together insulate platforms from being deputized as Tampa enforcement agents. The city instead focuses on data-sharing voluntary agreements, tourist development tax collection through the Hillsborough County Tax Collector, and hosting platform tax remittance arrangements that Florida already authorizes statewide.
Hosts, not platforms, face Tampa code citations for unregistered listings; fines accrue daily under Ch. 17.5 until the property is registered or removed from the market.
Tampa, FL
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