SHORT-TERM RENTALS OR PARTY CITY?

An Opinion By Jan Bergemann

Published September 1, 2026

Since quite some time many community associations are fighting against short-term rentals. Since Vrbo and Airbnb (just to name the two main short-term rental companies) are advertising all over the place owners seem to have realized that renting out their homes or condos is a great money-maker. It’s happening all over Florida, especially in favorite tourist areas. But many owners are not happy about their neighbors’ homes turning into party city and we have seem in the past many reports about horrible abuses.
 

In communities where a wide majority of owners is against short-term rentals it can easily be stopped by just amending the governing documents by just adding a provision to their CC&Rs disallowing short-term rentals.
 

But what happens if a majority of owners have realized that short-term rentals are a quick source of good income and are unwilling to amend the governing documents accordingly and turn the community into an organized short-term rental “hotel”? The latest great example is the “Club at Brickell Bay Condominium” (Party rocks on at Miami condo tower — despite city’s order to ‘cease immediately’) where a majority of owners are making big bucks by turning the community into a big party-city – much to the dismay of the owners who make this place their home.

Well, in some cities ordinances disallow short-term rentals, requiring special permits to be able to do it. And some folks ignore that short-term rentals require payment of special taxes. All these requirements are often ignored by some folks who just see the dollar signs and ignore everything else. In some cases even cease-and-desist orders from the city are openly ignored. We will see how cities react to folks who openly ignore all these requirements, or even ignore the fact that buildings don’t have a Certificate of Use allowing it to operate as a hotel. Some folks seem to forge that these short-term rentals are a serious competition to neighboring hotels, especially since they are not restricted by many regulations that are imposed on hotels.
 

Even the Florida Legislature has tried to limit short-term rentals in community associations – so far without any visible results.
 

How do you feel about short-term rentals – and would you be happy if your neighbors rent out their homes or Condos to short-term vacationers?