Collier County, Florida, passes new short-term rental registration rules

Short-term rental operators in unincorporated Collier County, Florida, will be required to register their properties under a new law passed by county commissioners.

The regulations, which go into effect January 3, 2022, have been under discussion for years amid concerns about the impact of vacation rentals on residential neighborhoods.

Under the new rules, short-term rental owners are required to apply for a registration certificate for each property they operate and pay a one-time registration fee of $50. They must include their unique registration number in any advertising or marketing. Operators must also designate a contact that can be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to respond to issues. Hosts who fail to register may be fined up to $500 per day.

Florida state law does not allow local governments to ban short-term rentals entirely or regulate the length of stays or their frequency, but local governments may pass rules to control negative effects of vacation rentals.

The new registration requirements are designed to help Collier County more effectively address disturbances and conflicts at vacation rental properties, which often involve noise, trash, parking, or maintenance. The county will use registration information to create a searchable short-term rental contact database. In the past, it’s often been difficult for code enforcement to identify and contact vacation rental owners in order to deal with problems at properties.

“The core of this ordinance is that we need a contact person when somebody is partying at 2 a.m. That is the heart and the soul of this ordinance,” County Attorney Jeff Klatzkow said.

Officials estimate that 10,000 to 14,000 properties within the unincorporated county should register as short-term rentals under the new measure.

Collier County isn’t the only Florida county to pass registration rules recently. Earlier this year, St. Johns County passed a short-term rental law that required vacation rental operators to register with the county by November 5. Changes to the county Land Development Code will also limit vacation rentals to 10 guests at a time, a rule that will be phased in over three years for existing rentals. 

Collier County short-term rentals are already required to have a Florida Vacation Rental Dwelling License, obtain a state tax certificate from and register with the Collier County Tax Collector’s office, collect state and county lodging taxes from guests, and file lodging tax returns with both the state and the county.

Airbnb and Vrbo automatically collect and remit state lodging taxes on behalf of their hosts. Airbnb also collects and remits Collier County lodging taxes, while Vrbo sends Collier County taxes collected from guests directly to hosts, who must remit them to the county themselves.

MyLodgeTax can help vacation rental hosts automate and simplify lodging tax compliance on the local and state level, including tax registration and filing. For more on vacation rental lodging taxes in Florida, see our state Vacation Rental Tax Guide. If you have tax questions related to vacation rental properties, drop us a line and we’ll get back to you with answers.