Fort Myers, FL Short-Term Rentals: Host Presence Rule (2026)

Florida's vacation rental preemption at FS § 509.032(7)(b) prevents the City of Fort Myers from imposing an STR-specific host-presence or on-site-manager requirement; such a rule would single out vacation rentals for operational restriction and is preempted. The 2023 amendments to FS § 509.032 permit local governments to require a 'responsible party' contact for vacation rentals (someone available to respond to issues), but this is a contact-information requirement rather than a physical-presence mandate. The City of Fort Myers has not enacted a 'responsible party' ordinance even though the statute now permits one, so there is no city-level local-contact requirement; Fort Myers Beach (a separate Lee County municipality) does require a local property manager who can respond within a defined time, but that rule applies only inside Fort Myers Beach town limits and does NOT apply to properties inside the City of Fort Myers proper. Florida DBPR vacation rental licensing does not require on-site host presence either, though DBPR rules and platform best practices both encourage operators to designate a local responsible party (often called a 'local contact,' 'property manager,' or 'host'). Unhosted whole-home STRs are permitted in Fort Myers as long as the operator holds the Florida DBPR Vacation Rental Dwelling or Condo license, the City of Fort Myers Local Business Tax Receipt, the Lee County BTR, and remits the 6% state sales tax, 0.5% county surtax, and 5% Lee TDT on every booking. Room-by-room STRs within an owner-occupied dwelling are also permitted on the same terms - the city cannot impose a hosted-only rule for room rentals because that would single out STRs operationally. Operators should designate a local contact as commercial best practice (Airbnb's Neighborhood Support Line, complaint-response platform standards, and HOA rules commonly assume the operator can be reached for guest issues), but there is no city-level legal requirement to do so.