Yes, Florida HOAs and condo associations can restrict or even ban rentals, including caps on how often you rent, minimum lease terms, and screening. But condo owners have a crucial protection: a rental restriction adopted after you bought generally does not bind you unless you consented to it or you bought after it took effect. This "grandfathering" rule is one of the strongest protections a condo owner has against a sudden rental ban.

The statute

For condos, Florida Statute 718.110(13) governs amendments that restrict rentals. An amendment prohibiting owners from renting, changing the rental term duration, or limiting how many times an owner may rent per year applies only to owners who consent to it and owners who acquire title after its effective date. In plain terms: if you owned your unit before the restriction passed and did not vote for it, it generally does not apply to you.

For HOAs, Florida Statute 720.306(1)(h) is similar: a governing-document amendment adopted after July 1, 2021, that prohibits or regulates rental agreements applies only to owners who consent or who acquire title after its effective date. There are exceptions, including amendments about the rental term length or limiting rentals to a set number of times per year, and associations may still require a lease copy and tenant information.

What associations can do

Within those limits, associations can:

  • Set a minimum lease term (for example, no rentals shorter than a set number of days or months).
  • Cap the number of rentals per year.
  • Require board approval and tenant screening, and a copy of the lease.
  • Enforce these through fines and, in condos, suspension of use rights for delinquent owners.

How to tell if the association overstepped

  • It applied a new rental ban or restriction to you when you owned before it passed and did not consent (condo: 718.110(13); HOA: 720.306(1)(h) for post-July-2021 amendments).
  • It is enforcing a rule that was never validly adopted.
  • Its screening or approval process is being used to discriminate (fair housing law still applies).

Step by step

  1. Pin down the timeline. When did you take title, and when was the restriction adopted? That decides grandfathering.
  2. Get the amendment and adoption records with a records request (/documents/records-inspection-request): the amendment text, the effective date, and the vote.
  3. Object in writing if the restriction post-dates your purchase and you did not consent, citing 718.110(13) (condo) or 720.306(1)(h) (HOA).
  4. Escalate. Condo owners can use DBPR arbitration or mediation under 718.1255 and complaint form 33-032 (/documents/dbpr-complaint-guide). HOA owners use pre-suit mediation and the courts.
  5. Get an attorney if a valuable rental income stream is at stake; a letter citing the grandfathering statute often resolves it.

What you can do next

Establish when you took title versus when the restriction was adopted, then pull the amendment and vote with a records request (/documents/records-inspection-request). If the restriction came after your purchase and you did not consent, object in writing citing 718.110(13) (condo) or 720.306(1)(h) (HOA). Condo owners can escalate to DBPR on form 33-032 (/documents/dbpr-complaint-guide).