Short-term rental permit rules in Lee County, FL — also called Airbnb permits, vacation rental licenses, or STR registration — list the application steps, fees, and operating requirements for hosting.
Unincorporated Lee County requires no county short-term-rental permit. Florida preempts vacation-rental licensing to the state: a vacation rental must hold a state license from the Division of Hotels and Restaurants (DBPR). Lee County only administers the 5% Tourist Development (bed) Tax and generally-applicable nuisance codes.
Florida law preempts vacation-rental licensing to the state. Under FS 509.241(1), every public lodging establishment, which includes a vacation rental, must obtain a license from the Division of Hotels and Restaurants before operating. FS 509.032(7)(b) bars a local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted after June 1, 2011 from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating their duration or frequency, so Lee County cannot require its own STR operating permit or booking-frequency approval. Lee County's regulatory role for a vacation rental in the unincorporated area is limited to collecting the 5% Tourist Development Tax under Ordinance 13-14 and enforcing generally-applicable rules on noise, parking, and property maintenance. This is Lee County, FLORIDA (Fort Myers seat), not Lee County AL, GA, MS, NC, TX,
Operating a vacation rental without the required state DBPR license is a second-degree misdemeanor under FS 509.241. Lee County enforces its bed tax and nuisance codes separately, with tax penalties and code-enforcement fines.
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