RuleGridPrimary-residence requirement
A rule that the operator must live in the property as their primary (homestead) residence to run a short-term rental. Common in "owner-occupied" permit types.
Reference
Short-term-rental glossary
The licensing, tax, and zoning terms that show up in short-term-rental rules — defined in plain English, with links to the pages where they matter.
Short-term rental (STR)
A home or unit rented to guests for short stays, typically fewer than 30 consecutive days. Also called a vacation rental, or on platforms an "Airbnb" or "Vrbo" listing.
Transient rental
The legal term many jurisdictions use for renting living accommodations for a short period — often "six months or less" in Florida and "under 30 days" in Texas. Transient rentals are what trigger lodging taxes.
Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT)
A tax on short lodging stays used in Texas and many states. Texas levies a 6% state HOT; individual cities (and some counties) add a local HOT on top. See rates →
Tourist Development Tax (TDT)
Florida’s county-level "bed tax" on rentals of six months or less, charged in addition to state sales tax. Rates and whether Airbnb/Vrbo remit vary by county. See rates →
Discretionary sales surtax
A county-set percentage added on top of Florida’s 6% state sales tax, applied to transient rentals along with the state rate.
Owner-occupied vs. non-owner-occupied
Many cities split STRs into owner-occupied ("Type 1") and non-owner-occupied ("Type 2") categories, often with different caps, fees, or zoning rules — as in Austin and San Antonio.
Night cap (max nights per year)
A limit on how many nights per year a property may be rented on a short-term basis, used by some jurisdictions to curb full-time STR use.
Minimum stay
A required minimum booking length (for example, a 7-night minimum) that some jurisdictions impose on short-term rentals.
Grandfathering
When an existing property or license is exempt from newer restrictions because it operated before a cutoff date — for example, Florida’s June 1, 2011 preemption threshold.
Preemption
When state law limits what local governments may regulate. Florida preempts cities from banning vacation rentals (with a pre-2011 exception); Texas has no statewide STR preemption law in effect.
Business Tax Receipt (BTR)
A local business license (Florida) that many jurisdictions require short-term-rental operators to obtain and renew annually.
Certificate of Use
A local approval used by some Florida jurisdictions confirming that a property may lawfully be used as a vacation rental.
DBPR license
Florida’s state Vacation Rental license, issued by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, required to rent an entire dwelling more than three times a year for periods under 30 days. See rates →
Zoning district
A land-use category set by a city. Short-term rentals are often permitted only in certain districts and prohibited in others, which is where many local bans actually live.
Unincorporated area / CDP
Land not inside an incorporated city, where county rules (not city rules) govern. A Census Designated Place is a named but unincorporated community.
Platform remittance
When a booking platform such as Airbnb or Vrbo collects and pays certain taxes on the host’s behalf. Whether it happens varies by tax and by jurisdiction.
Homestead
A property that is the owner’s primary residence. Homestead status can affect STR eligibility and tax treatment in some jurisdictions.
Code enforcement / special magistrate
The local process — inspections, hearings, fines, and liens — used to enforce short-term-rental rules against unpermitted operators.
Lodging tax
An umbrella term for the taxes owed on short stays: the state sales or hotel tax plus any local bed / occupancy taxes, stacked together.
Informational summary of publicly available sources; not legal advice.