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Rental property LLCs in Florida

Yes, you can hold a Florida rental in an LLC. Filing Articles of Organization costs $100, plus a required $25 registered agent designation, so $125 to file. The annual report costs $138.75 if you file by May 1, and $538.75 after. Check the rental rules first: renting a whole home for stays under 30 days, more than three times a year, takes a state license and tax registrations, and some places restrict it sharply. Florida also charges documentary stamp tax on deeds, and forming the LLC doesn't move your deed or stop your lender's due-on-sale clause.

Last checked 2026-10-23. General information, not legal or tax advice.

Local rental rules come first

Florida licenses and taxes short-term rentals at the state level, and counties and cities add their own rules.

State rules for stays under 30 days. A rental is a transient public lodging establishment if it is rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for periods of less than 30 consecutive days, or advertised as a place regularly rented that way (Fla. Stat. § 509.013(4)(a)1). A house, duplex, triplex or fourplex rented like that is a "vacation rental" (§ 509.242(1)(c)). Each public lodging establishment needs a license from the state Division of Hotels and Restaurants (DBPR), and operating without one is a second-degree misdemeanor (§ 509.241(1)).

  • DBPR says renting a single room, rather than the whole unit, doesn't need its license (DBPR vacation rental guide).
  • Apply online; every rental address goes on the license. The application asks for a Florida sales tax number (or proof of exemption) and a federal EIN (DBPR HR-7028 packet).
  • A license "may not be transferred from one place or individual to another" and renews every year (§ 509.241(1)). Ask DBPR how to license the rental once your LLC holds title.
  • Renting short-term living accommodations, including beach houses, condominiums and vacation houses, means registering with the Department of Revenue (DOR). Sales tax on transient rentals is always reported to DOR; counties can add a transient rental (tourist development) tax on rentals of six months or less, which DOR or the county collects, depending on the county (DOR Sales and Use Tax; DOR Local Option Taxes).
  • State law says a local rule "may not prohibit vacation rentals or regulate the duration or frequency of rental of vacation rentals," but that doesn't apply to any local rule adopted on or before June 1, 2011 (§ 509.032(7)(b)). Whether a given city's rule is enforceable is a question for a Florida attorney.

Miami-Dade County (unincorporated areas). County Code § 33-28 covers unincorporated Miami-Dade; inside a city, follow the city's rules. A short-term rental needs a Certificate of Use before you list it, renewed every year after an inspection, plus a county Local Business Tax Receipt and a Tourist Tax Account for rentals of six months or less. Occupancy is capped at 2 people per bedroom plus 2, up to 12, not counting children under 3. In Estate and Low Density Residential areas the responsible party must live there more than six months a year. Operating without a Certificate of Use draws civil penalties of $100, then $1,000, then $2,500 (miamidade.gov Short-Term Vacation Rentals).

Miami Beach. Rentals of less than six months and one day are "prohibited in all single-family homes and in many multi-family housing buildings in certain zoning districts of Miami Beach." Where they're allowed, you need a Business Tax Receipt and a Resort Tax account, and both numbers must appear in every listing (miamibeachfl.gov; City Code § 102-386).

Orlando. A short-term rental is under 30 days and must be registered. Home sharing, where an owner or tenant lives on site and rents up to half the bedrooms, is allowed with a registration. Renting the entire home is generally not allowed under home share; it is a Commercial Dwelling Unit, limited to certain zoning districts, with a Business Tax Receipt (orlando.gov Home Sharing Registration; Orlando short-term rental fact sheet, Aug. 2021).

Orange County (unincorporated). A short-term rental of 179 days or less is permitted only in commercial districts C-1 to C-3, industrial districts, and planned developments that expressly allow it. A single-family home rented for under 30 days is permitted only in R-3; in other districts both are prohibited (Orange County Zoning Division FAQ).

Tampa. Anyone renting a house, apartment or rooming house for private gain needs a city Business Tax Receipt. Tampa repealed its rental certificate and rental registration requirement effective May 4, 2023, but the city says the Business Taxes "are still due for all residential and commercial rental properties" (tampa.gov Business Tax FAQ). I couldn't confirm a separate Tampa short-term rental permit on the city's site. Check with the city before you list.

Jacksonville (Duval County). "If you rent any home or room for 6 months or less, even for one weekend, you must collect and pay Duval County's 6% Tourist Development Tax," and the platform won't do it for you. Register the rental with the Duval County Tax Collector, and with DBPR if it needs the state license. Jacksonville Beach has its own licensing, and Atlantic Beach and Neptune Beach "generally prohibit" short-term rentals (jacksonville.gov Short Term Rentals; Duval Tax Collector).

What the LLC protects, and what it doesn't

Florida's LLC law says: "A member or manager is not personally liable, directly or indirectly, by way of contribution or otherwise, for a debt, obligation, or other liability of the company solely by reason of being or acting as a member or manager." (Fla. Stat. § 605.0304(1)). Skipping formalities isn't a ground for imposing liability on a member (§ 605.0304(2)). The protection is for liability that comes solely from being a member.

  • Guarantees still bind you. A personal guarantee you sign for a lender is your own promise.
  • Your own acts are yours. A repair you make yourself, or your own negligence, isn't shielded by the LLC; ask a Florida attorney.
  • It isn't insurance. The LLC still needs coverage that pays claims and defense costs.
  • Your personal creditors. A court can enter a charging order against your LLC interest. If the LLC has only one member and the charging order won't satisfy the judgment within a reasonable time, the court may order the interest sold at a foreclosure sale; with more than one member, foreclosure isn't available (§ 605.0503(3)–(6)).

One LLC, or one per property?

Separate LLCs keep one property's judgment away from the others, at $125 to file and a $138.75 annual report each. Florida also allows series LLCs now, but only since July 1, 2026 (§ 605.2802(1)). You can't file a Florida series LLC; an existing Florida LLC becomes one when it designates its first "protected series," which takes the consent of all members (§ 605.2201(1)) and costs $25 per series, filed online. A protected series gets no Sunbiz record of its own and files no annual report; the parent LLC files one (Sunbiz). By statute a protected series' debts are its own (§ 605.2401(2)(b)), but an asset counts as the series' only if the series keeps records that name it and describe the asset (§ 605.2301(2)(a)). A judgment against the LLC or another series can reach an asset that isn't a properly recorded associated asset of its series (§ 605.2404(2)). Ask a Florida attorney, your lender and your title company whether a series fits. More: Should you have a separate LLC for each rental property?. Other states: Mississippi · Alabama · Arkansas · Indiana · Louisiana · Tennessee.

Form it where the property is, or register there

An LLC from another state that owns a Florida rental should plan to register. A foreign LLC "may not transact business in this state until it obtains a certificate of authority" (§ 605.0902(1)), and Florida treats ownership "in this state of income-producing real property" as transacting business (§ 605.0905(3)). The application needs a certificate of existence from your home state dated within 90 days (§ 605.0902(2)), a Florida registered agent, and a name that includes "Limited Liability Company," "L.L.C." or "LLC." The fee is $125, the same as for a new Florida LLC (Sunbiz LLC fees). Skipping it costs the back fees plus a civil penalty of $500 to $1,000 for each year or part (§ 605.0904(7)), and the LLC can't bring a lawsuit in a Florida court until it registers, though its contracts and deeds stay valid (§ 605.0904(1), (4)). Registered foreign LLCs file the annual report too (§ 605.0212(1)).

What it costs the state

  • Articles of Organization: $100, plus the required registered agent designation of $25, so $125 to file (Sunbiz LLC fees; Fla. Stat. § 605.0213(2), (7))
  • Annual report: $138.75 if filed January 1 through May 1, $538.75 if received after May 1 (Sunbiz LLC fees)
  • How the annual report adds up: a $50 report fee plus an $88.75 supplemental fee, and a $400 late charge if the supplemental fee comes in after May 1 (§ 605.0213(5); § 607.193)
  • Name reservation (optional): $25, held 120 days (Sunbiz LLC fees; § 605.01125)
  • Foreign LLC registration: $100 filing plus $25 registered agent designation, $125 total
  • Protected series designation: $25 per series
  • Reinstatement after administrative dissolution: $100, plus each missed year's annual report fee
  • EIN: free from the IRS

Compare services: LLC services compared.

Forming the LLC, in order

  1. Pick a name that includes "Limited Liability Company," "LLC" or "L.L.C." and is distinguishable on Florida records (Sunbiz instructions).
  2. Name a registered agent with a Florida street address (no P.O. box). The LLC can't be its own agent.
  3. File the Articles of Organization with the Division of Corporations ($125 with the agent designation). The LLC exists when the Division files them, unless you set a later effective date.
  4. Write an operating agreement (not filed with the state).
  5. Get an EIN and open the LLC's bank account.
  6. Get the DBPR license, DOR and county tax registrations, and city or county approvals if you rent short-term.

Forming the LLC doesn't move your deed

Putting your rental in the LLC takes a new deed, recorded with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the property sits.

  • Sign and record it correctly. A deed must be signed in the presence of two subscribing witnesses (§ 689.01(1)). The clerk may not record it unless the signers', witnesses' and grantee's names and addresses, the preparer's name and address, and the notary's name are printed on it (§ 695.26(1)).
  • Documentary stamp tax is due on the deed. It is paid to the clerk when the deed is recorded (DOR). The rate is 70 cents on each $100 of consideration or fraction of $100 (§ 201.02(1)(a)). In Miami-Dade County it is 60 cents, plus a 45-cent surtax unless the deed transfers only a single-family dwelling (DOR; § 201.031).
  • A mortgage counts as consideration. Consideration includes "the amount of any mortgage, purchase money mortgage lien, or other encumbrance, whether or not the underlying indebtedness is assumed" (§ 201.02(1)(a)); DOR says the mortgage balance at transfer is consideration. DOR's published examples don't include an owner deeding to their own LLC. The nearest ones tax a corporation's deed to its subsidiary on the mortgage and credit-line balances, and an unmortgaged transfer to a parent company at $0.70 when the deed states nominal consideration (DOR Documentary Stamp Tax). Ask a Florida attorney or title agent what your deed will owe.
  • Selling part of the LLC soon after can trigger more tax. If you convey property to an entity "without full consideration," and then transfer any of your ownership interest in it for consideration within 3 years, tax of 70 cents per $100 is imposed on that sale of the interest (§ 201.02(1)(b)).
  • Property tax can reset. A nonhomestead residential property with nine or fewer units has its assessed value capped at a 10% annual increase, but it is reassessed at just value the January 1 after a "change of ownership or control." That includes "any sale, foreclosure, transfer of legal title or beneficial title in equity to any person," and the cumulative transfer of control, or of more than 50 percent of the ownership, of the legal entity that owned the property when it was last assessed at just value. The listed exceptions are correcting an error, a transfer between legal and equitable title, a transfer between spouses, and public-company share sales; a deed to your own LLC isn't listed (§ 193.1554(5)). Ask the county property appraiser what it will do before you sign.
  • Homestead. The exemption is for "a person who, on January 1, has the legal title or beneficial title in equity" to the property and makes it a permanent residence (§ 196.031(1)(a)). DOR says you are no longer eligible if the unit is rented, and only the property appraiser decides. If you live in the property, ask the appraiser before you deed it to an LLC or rent it.

Have a Florida attorney or title company prepare the deed. Then update leases, rent payment instructions, deposits, insurance and any license. Florida requires the landlord to give the tenant, in writing, the landlord's name and address or that of a person authorized to receive notices, and notice of changes (§ 83.50).

Check the mortgage before you transfer

Federal law lets a lender enforce a due-on-sale clause, and a transfer to an LLC isn't one of the exceptions for 1–4 unit homes (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)). Fannie Mae allows a transfer to an LLC the borrower controls for loans it acquired on or after June 1, 2016 (Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D1-4.1-02). Ask your servicer in writing. If the lender makes you refinance in the LLC's name, the new recorded mortgage owes documentary stamp tax of 35 cents per $100 secured, with no cap (DOR; § 201.08).

Insurance and taxes

Tell your insurer before title moves. For federal income tax, a single-member LLC is disregarded unless it elects corporate treatment (IRS). Florida has no personal income tax, and a single-member LLC disregarded for federal and Florida income tax purposes doesn't file a separate Florida corporate income tax return; an LLC classified as a corporation does (DOR). For short-term rentals, see the sales and tourist taxes above.

Keeping each LLC in good standing

  • File the annual report between January 1 and May 1 each year; the first is due in the year after formation (§ 605.0212(3)). An LLC that doesn't file can't maintain or defend a court action in Florida until it does (§ 605.0212(6)).
  • The state may dissolve an LLC that hasn't filed by the third Friday in September, effective the fourth Friday (§ 605.0714(1)(a), (2)). A dissolved LLC can only wind up its affairs (§ 605.0714(5)). Reinstatement costs $100 plus each missed year's annual report fee (Sunbiz LLC fees).
  • Keep the registered agent current, renew the DBPR license every year, and renew city and county tax receipts.

Before you file or transfer a property

  • Attorney: the deed, the stamp tax, series vs. separate LLCs
  • Servicer: is the transfer allowed?
  • Insurance agent: named insured, coverage
  • CPA: sales and tourist taxes, state and federal reporting
  • County property appraiser: reassessment, homestead
  • State, county and city: DBPR license, DOR registration, local receipts and permits
  • Calendar: annual report by May 1, DBPR renewal, tax filings

Form it with Corpus

Corpus prepares and files your Articles of Organization and includes the first year of registered-agent service. The Florida page shows the current price. Corpus isn't a law firm: the deed, the loan, the DBPR license and the local registrations are separate steps.

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Sources

Last checked 2026-10-23. Corpus is not a law firm and does not provide legal or tax advice.