Miami Short Term Rental Regulations in 2026: What Every Owner Needs to Know

Updated September 2026. By Brad McRae, founder of Yours Truly Hospitality. Brad and his wife Justina operate a portfolio of $1M+ coastal short term rentals from Jupiter to Miami. Read Brad's full bio on our About page.

Short answer: short term rentals are legal in greater Miami in 2026, under three separate rulebooks, and your address decides which one applies. In the City of Miami, an eligible property needs a state DBPR license, a city Certificate of Use for lodging units, and a city Business Tax Receipt, each renewed every year. In Miami Beach, most residential zoning does not allow the use at all. In unincorporated Miami-Dade, the county runs its own Certificate of Use program. Start on the wrong rulebook and you can spend months chasing a permit that does not exist for your property.

The single most expensive mistake an owner can make here is assuming "Miami" is one jurisdiction. It is not. Confirm which municipality your deed sits in before you buy furniture, because every rule below depends on that answer.

Is Airbnb legal in Miami in 2026?

Yes, with the right paperwork and the right zoning. The City of Miami allows short term rentals in much of its higher-density transect zoning, and prohibits the use in single-family and duplex structures in T3 and T4-R. Miami Beach allows them only in specific zoning districts and prohibits them in all single-family homes. Unincorporated Miami-Dade runs its own Certificate of Use program under section 33-28 of the county code, with an overnight occupancy cap of two people per bedroom plus two more per property, up to 12, not counting children under three.

Three layers of government touch a Miami rental, and the middle one confuses almost everybody. The State of Florida issues the license. Miami-Dade County collects the tourist taxes countywide. Your city handles zoning, the certificate of use and the business tax receipt. The county vacation rental Certificate of Use is the exception worth learning. Section 33-28 says it applies in the unincorporated areas of Miami-Dade County, and the county's own program page tells owners inside a municipality to contact their city instead. If your deed says City of Miami or Miami Beach, the county certificate is not your permit.

City of Miami vs Miami Beach: which rulebook applies to your property?

The City of Miami and Miami Beach are separate municipalities with separate short term rental laws. The City of Miami is the mainland: Brickell, Edgewater, Coconut Grove, Wynwood, Downtown. Miami Beach is the barrier island: South Beach, Mid-Beach, North Beach. The causeways mark a hard legal boundary.

The practical difference is stark. A condo in Brickell can often operate legally with a straightforward license stack. The same condo two miles east on Collins Avenue may sit in a zone where rentals are prohibited outright, per the City of Miami Beach's published requirements. Check your address in the county property appraiser's records first.

What are the City of Miami short term rental rules in 2026?

In the City of Miami, zoning decides eligibility, and the line is more specific than most owners are told. The city's published short term rental procedures state that single-family and duplex structures in the T3 and T4-R transect zones are ineligible, citing City of Miami v. Airbnb. T4-R is the one that catches people. It reads as a denser zone on the map, but a single-family house sitting inside it is still off limits. Higher-density transect zoning and many condo towers are eligible, subject to building rules and inspection.

For an eligible property, the working license stack in 2026 is:

1. Florida DBPR vacation rental license. The state treats a unit rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 consecutive days as a transient public lodging establishment, per section 509.013 of the Florida Statutes. Renews annually.

2. City of Miami Certificate of Use for lodging units. Issued by the city Zoning Department, not the county, and renewed annually. A new Certificate of Occupancy follows the required inspections. The city also asks for an operational management plan with the application.

3. City of Miami Business Tax Receipt. Renewed annually, alongside the state and county tax registrations covered below.

List your license and certificate numbers on every Airbnb and Vrbo listing. Missing numbers are how enforcement finds you.

What are the Miami Beach short term rental rules in 2026?

Miami Beach prohibits short term rentals in all single-family homes and in most residential multifamily districts, permitting them only in specific zoning areas, per the City of Miami Beach. Where rentals are allowed, the city requires a Business Tax Receipt, a resort tax account, a DBPR license, and registration numbers displayed in every listing.

The city's published requirements go further than most owners expect. Alongside the Certificate of Use, the Business Tax Receipt and the resort tax registration, Miami Beach asks for the recorded warranty deed, a Florida annual resale certificate for sales tax, the state license, and an association letter dated within the last 60 days confirming the building permits short stays. It asks for written acknowledgment that renting the property could cost you your homestead exemption. It asks for the names and contact details of every platform you will list on, and a notarized affidavit carrying your Business Tax Receipt number, filed within two weeks. Read the homestead line twice. It is the one item on that list that follows you onto your tax bill.

The enforcement posture is the story, and the numbers have a history worth knowing. Section 142-1111 of the city code set fines at $20,000 for a first illegal rental violation, escalating to $100,000 for repeat offenses. Those amounts were struck down. A Miami-Dade circuit court ruled against them in 2019 in Nichols v. City of Miami Beach, and Florida's Third District Court of Appeal affirmed on July 22, 2020. Section 162.09 of the Florida Statutes caps code enforcement fines for a city this size at $1,000 per day for a first violation, $5,000 per day for a repeat violation, and $15,000 for a violation found to be irreparable or irreversible. Here is the part that matters to an owner. The fine schedule lost. The zoning rule did not. No ruling about penalties makes an ineligible property eligible.

Why Miami Beach can restrict what state law protects

Owners ask this constantly, and it is a fair question. Florida law says a city may not ban vacation rentals. So how does Miami Beach do it? The answer is a date. Section 509.032(7)(b) of the Florida Statutes says a local law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of rental. Then it adds one sentence: that paragraph does not apply to any local law, ordinance, or regulation adopted on or before June 1, 2011. Cities that already had restrictions on the books before that date kept them. Miami Beach is the best known of them in South Florida.

That single date is why two properties four miles apart follow opposite rules. It is also why a Miami Beach purchase has to be underwritten on the rules as they read today. Owners talk themselves into deals on the theory that the restrictions are about to loosen. If your plan needs the ordinance to change, it is not a plan. Buy on what is written, and treat any future change as upside you did not pay for.

What taxes do Miami short term rentals pay in 2026?

A City of Miami rental carries about 13 percent in booking taxes. That is Florida's 6 percent state sales tax, plus Miami-Dade's 1 percent discretionary sales surtax, which the Florida Department of Revenue confirms for calendar year 2026, plus 6 percent in county transient rental taxes. The county's 6 percent is three taxes stacked: a 2 percent Tourist Development Room Tax, a 3 percent Convention Development Tax, and a 1 percent Professional Sports Franchise Facility Tax.

Miami Beach runs its own stack, and the difference is not a rounding error. Miami Beach is excluded from the 2 percent Tourist Development Room Tax and from the 1 percent professional sports tax. In their place the city levies a 4 percent resort tax on transient rentals of six months or less, and the county's 3 percent Convention Development Tax still applies. The Florida Department of Revenue's own local transient rental tax table puts the county in three tiers: 7 percent for Miami Beach, 6 percent for most of the county, and 4 percent for Surfside and Bal Harbour. Add the state tax and the surtax and a Miami Beach booking carries about 14 percent, a City of Miami booking about 13, and a Surfside or Bal Harbour booking about 11.

Platforms remit some of this automatically in Florida. Registration and filing do not go away. Miami-Dade requires a monthly return from anyone collecting transient rental tax, due on the first of the month and late after the twentieth of the month following the reporting period. The county also requires that return in months when you collected nothing. That last rule is the one that generates penalty letters. It catches the owner who closed the calendar for a renovation and assumed silence was the same as filing.

Can you run a short term rental in a Miami condo?

Only if both the city and the building say yes. Many towers in Brickell, Edgewater, and Downtown sit in eligible zoning but prohibit rentals under 30 or 90 days in their condo documents. The building's declaration and house rules override your license stack every time. Read them before you close, not after.

There is a second reason boards write these bans, and it has nothing to do with noise. The City of Miami's own procedures state that if more than 25 percent of the units in a building are used as transient lodging, the entire building has to comply with R-1 standards. That is a building-wide life-safety threshold, and it gets triggered by what other owners do with their units. A board that lets short stays spread past a quarter of the building takes on that exposure for every owner in it. When we read a declaration, we are reading for that math as much as for the rental clause.

Some buildings were designed for short stays and welcome them. Others fine owners per violation. When we evaluate a Miami condo for management, the condo documents are the first thing we read, before any revenue projection.

Why compliance is the real management skill in Miami

Miami's rules changed repeatedly over the past decade and will keep changing. Between the fine structure, the litigation, and the three-layer license stack, a casual operator is one missed renewal from a five-figure problem. Compliance here is the moat.

Yours Truly Hospitality is a premium short-term rental management company for $1M+ coastal homes from Jupiter to Miami, founded by operators Brad and Justina McRae, offering white-glove full-service management at 20-25% of revenue with a 90-Day Satisfaction Guarantee and a Zero Bookings Guarantee. Licensing, renewals, tax filings, and building relationships are inside the fee, in writing. See our Miami short term rental management page for the full scope.

Frequently asked questions

Is Airbnb legal in Miami in 2026? Yes, in the right zone with the right licenses. The City of Miami permits short term rentals in much of its higher-density transect zoning and prohibits the use in single-family and duplex structures in T3 and T4-R. An eligible property needs a state DBPR license, a City of Miami Certificate of Use for lodging units, and a city Business Tax Receipt. The county Certificate of Use is a separate program that applies in unincorporated Miami-Dade, not inside the city. Miami Beach follows its own, far stricter rules.

Is Airbnb legal in Miami Beach? Only in limited areas. Miami Beach prohibits short term rentals in all single-family homes and most residential multifamily districts, per the city's published requirements. Where permitted, you need a city Business Tax Receipt, a resort tax account, a DBPR license, and visible registration numbers on every listing.

What is the fine for an illegal short term rental in Miami Beach? Section 142-1111 of the city code set fines at $20,000 for a first violation, escalating to $100,000 for repeat offenses. A Miami-Dade circuit court ruled those amounts unlawful in 2019 and Florida's Third District Court of Appeal affirmed on July 22, 2020, because section 162.09 of the Florida Statutes caps the penalties at $1,000 per day for a first violation and $5,000 per day for a repeat. The fine schedule lost. The zoning rule did not. Treat the zoning as absolute.

Do I need a state license for a Miami vacation rental? Yes. Florida requires a vacation rental license from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The trigger sits in section 509.013 of the Florida Statutes: a unit rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 consecutive days is a transient public lodging establishment. It renews annually, and your license number belongs on every listing, alongside your city registrations.

What taxes do I collect on a Miami short term rental? In the City of Miami, about 13 percent: 6 percent state sales tax, 1 percent county surtax, and 6 percent in county transient rental taxes. In Miami Beach, about 14 percent, because the city's own 4 percent resort tax replaces the two county taxes Miami Beach is excluded from. In Surfside and Bal Harbour, about 11 percent. Platforms remit part of this. Registration, monthly returns and records stay on you, including in months with no bookings.

Can I rent out my Miami condo short term? Only if the zoning allows it and your building's condo documents allow it. Many Brickell and Downtown towers ban stays under 30 days regardless of city rules. Read the declaration and house rules before listing. The building's rules win over your licenses in every dispute.

Get a compliance read before you list

If you own in greater Miami and want a straight answer on whether your property can operate and what it would earn, we will walk it with you. Book a Revenue Gap Audit. Twenty minutes, and you leave knowing your jurisdiction, your license stack, and your number.

Own a rental in the area? Start with our Miami short-term rental management page, or see how we approach short-term rental management across South Florida. Related reading: The Real Cost of Self-Managing Your Miami Airbnb (And Why Most Owners Get It Wrong) and How Much Can You Really Make From an Airbnb in Miami? (2026 Data).

Updated September 15, 2026. Three corrections in this revision. First, an earlier version told City of Miami owners their license stack included a Miami-Dade Certificate of Use. Section 33-28 of the county code applies in the unincorporated areas of the county, and City of Miami properties need the city's own Certificate of Use for lodging units instead. An unsupported county certificate fee was removed with it. Second, the appellate ruling on the Miami Beach fine schedule was dated to 2023. The circuit court ruled in 2019 and Florida's Third District Court of Appeal affirmed on July 22, 2020. Third, the zoning line named only T3 as ineligible; the city's procedures also exclude single-family and duplex structures in T4-R. Tax rates were re-verified against the Florida Department of Revenue's 2026 discretionary sales surtax table and its local transient rental tax table. Statutory citations were checked against the Florida Statutes the same day.