RuleGridFlorida · Lee County
Lee County
Short-term / vacation rentals are legal in unincorporated Lee County. Operators need a state DBPR vacation-rental license for whole-unit rentals under 30 days done more than 3x/year, and must register with the Lee County Clerk to self-collect and remit the 5% Tourist Development Tax unless a booking platform remits it for them. Fla. Stat. 509.032(7)(b) bars the county from prohibiting rentals or regulating their duration/frequency; no dedicated unincorporated-Lee STR permit program was confirmable firsthand.
Not legal advice. Last verified 2026-07-02 · sources linked below.
Requirements checklist
-
state Florida DBPR Vacation Rental License Required
-
county Lee County Tourist Development Tax Account (self-remit) Required
-
county Lee County Local Business Tax Receipt (unincorporated area) Unknown
Taxes
| Tax | Rate | Administered by | Airbnb remits | Vrbo remits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Florida State Transient Rental Sales Tax | 6% | Florida Department of Revenue | Yes | No |
| Lee County Discretionary Sales Surtax | 0.5% | Florida Department of Revenue | Yes | No |
| Lee County Tourist Development Tax | 5% | Lee County Clerk of Court (self/locally administered) | Yes | No |
Operating rules
- Primary residence
- —
- Min stay (nights)
- —
- Max nights / year
- —
- Max occupancy
- —
- Zoning-restricted
- —
- Cap on licenses
- —
Grandfathering: Fla. Stat. 509.032(7)(b) preempts local regulation of the duration and frequency of vacation rentals, except for ordinances adopted on or before June 1, 2011, which remain grandfathered and enforceable. No Lee County pre-June-1-2011 vacation-rental ordinance was confirmed firsthand.
Zoning: Zoning-based STR restrictions, if any, would apply at the municipal level or via grandfathered ordinance; none confirmed firsthand for unincorporated Lee County.
- State law (Fla. Stat. 509.032(7)(b)) bars Lee County from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating rental duration/frequency in the unincorporated area.
- SB 280 (2024), which would have created a statewide vacation-rental registry, passed the Legislature but was vetoed by Gov. DeSantis on 2024-06-27, so no statewide registry is in effect.
- No dedicated unincorporated-Lee-County STR registration portal or permit program was confirmable firsthand; secondary sources indicate compliance runs through the state DBPR license, county tourist tax, and general code enforcement. Treat as unverified.
- Incorporated municipalities within Lee County (e.g., Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, Sanibel) maintain their own STR rules that are not covered by this county-level record.
Enforcement
- Active enforcement
- moderate
- Fines
- —
- Notes
- Lee County TDT is locally (self) administered by the Lee County Clerk of Court, so tax-collection enforcement and audit are handled at the county level rather than by DOR. No county-specific STR fine schedule was confirmable firsthand because the Lee Clerk and Lee County government sites (leeclerk.org, leegov.com) sit behind an Akamai bot wall and returned HTTP 403. Neighborhood impacts (noise, trash, parking, occupancy) in unincorporated Lee County are handled through general county code enforcement rather than a dedicated STR portal. Fine amounts unknown/unverified.
Official sources
- tax_page Florida DOR Form DR-15TDT — Local Option Transient Rental Tax Rates ↗ checked 2026-07-02
- tax_page Florida DOR Form DR-15DSS — Discretionary Sales Surtax Rates (2026) ↗ checked 2026-07-02
- tax_page Lee County Clerk of Court — Tourist Development Tax ↗ checked 2026-07-02
- license_page Florida DBPR — Vacation Rental / Transient Public Lodging Licensing Guide ↗ checked 2026-07-02
- statute Fla. Stat. 509.032 — Duties; local vacation-rental preemption ↗ checked 2026-07-02
- other US Census Geocoder — Lee County FIPS resolution ↗ checked 2026-07-02
Informational summary of publicly available sources; not legal advice. Verify against the linked official sources.