Mo Mufti, REALTOR® LPT Realty, LLC FL Lic. SL3600299
THE VILLAGES · OWNERS, LANDLORDS, AND PART-YEAR OWNERS
Four sets of rules decide how: the Declaration of Restrictions recorded for your unit, Florida’s landlord-tenant law, the taxes on rentals of six months or less, and, if the home is your homestead, the property tax rule on renting it.
The short version: Start with your unit’s declaration. The 2026 declaration for Villages of Southern Oaks Unit No. 277 allows written, residential leases of at least one month, and Units 70 and 277 require a resident 55 or older in every occupied home, rented or not, apart from hardship exceptions the developer may grant. Rent for six months or less is taxed: 7% combined in the Sumter County part of The Villages, 11% in Lake, and 11.5% in Marion. Chapter 83 sets the deposit, notice, and access rules. And renting a homestead can cost the exemption: the Department of Revenue says a rental that starts after January 1 doesn’t cost that year’s exemption as long as the home isn’t rented more than 30 days per calendar year for two consecutive years.
District Government posts the Declarations of Restrictions online: on its Community Standards page, pick the county (Lake, Sumter, or Marion), the district, then the unit. The U/L number on a Villages ID card is the county’s first letter, then the unit and lot numbers. Three declarations from that lookup show how much the rental terms differ.
| Declaration | What matters to a landlord |
|---|---|
| Villages of Southern Oaks Unit No. 277, Wildwood (recorded February 6, 2026) | Leases only for residential use and at least one month, in writing, with a clause binding the tenant to the declaration and letting the developer end the lease if the tenant breaks it. No “for rent” sign in public view. |
| The Villages of Sumter Unit No. 70 (restated 2004) | No separate lease section. One for-sale or for-rent sign up to 12 by 12 inches, inside the home and visible only through a window. |
| The Villages of Sumter Unit No. 1 (1992) | Owners are to notify the developer when leaving the property for more than seven days and give a tentative return date (para. 2.18; Unit 70 para. 2.20 has the same rule). |
Under Units 70 and 277, the developer can deny occupancy to anyone who would break the requirement that at least 80% of homesites have a resident 55 or older, and residents must certify every occupant’s name and birth date on request. Hardship exceptions for residents between 19 and 55 are at the developer’s sole discretion. Living in The Villages under 55 covers that side.
Amenity access is a separate step. On District Government’s non-owner resident ID application, the homeowner certifies the applicant as a permanent resident of the home, which lets that person buy gate cards and get Guest IDs linked to it. The published requirements don’t mention leases, so ask District Customer Service (352-753-4508) how a tenant qualifies before you advertise amenity access.
Florida’s 6% sales tax, plus any county surtax, applies to rent for living quarters rented for six months or less, and the Department of Revenue lists single-family homes among its examples. The landlord charges the tax on top of the rent, remits it, and must register with the Department. Counties that collect their own tourist development tax take it directly.
| County | State tax + surtax (to the Department of Revenue) | Tourist development tax | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sumter | 6% + 1% | None; repealed effective October 1, 2020 | 7% |
| Lake | 6% + 1% | 4%, filed with the Lake County Tax Collector through TouristExpress by the 20th of the following month | 11% |
| Marion | 6% + 1.5% | 4%, paid to the Marion County Tax Collector, which has no contract with Airbnb, VRBO, or similar platforms to collect it | 11.5% |
Rent under a bona fide written lease for continuous residence longer than six months is exempt. A tenant who stays longer without one is exempt from the seventh month, once tax has been paid on the first six. State returns are due on the 1st and late after the 20th of the month following each reporting period, and a return is required even when no tax is due. Check the county on the property appraiser’s parcel record before you register.
A house rented to guests more than three times in a calendar year for less than 30 consecutive days, or advertised as regularly rented that way, is a vacation rental under Florida’s lodging law, and each needs a license from the Division of Hotels and Restaurants. A house rented for at least 30 days or one calendar month, whichever is less, and not advertised for shorter stays, is excluded. In Unit 277, the one-month minimum rules out shorter stays anyway.
Keep a deposit in a separate account at a Florida financial institution, or post a surety bond, and don’t commingle it. After move-out, return it within 15 days if you make no claim. To claim part of it, send written notice by certified mail, or e-mail as the statute allows, within 30 days, or you forfeit the claim against the deposit.
At or before move-in, give the tenant in writing the name and address of the landlord or the person authorized to receive notices. A 3-day notice for late rent excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. A month-to-month tenancy ends with at least 30 days’ written notice before the end of a monthly period.
A tenant can’t unreasonably refuse entry for inspections, repairs, or showings to buyers. For repairs, reasonable notice is at least 24 hours, between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. The landlord may not use access to harass the tenant.
This part of chapter 83 doesn’t apply to transient occupancy in a hotel, condominium, motel, roominghouse, or similar public lodging; ask a Florida attorney where a short furnished stay falls. Planning to sell during a lease? Read selling a house with tenants first.
Renting all or substantially all of a homestead counts as abandoning it until the owner physically moves back in (section 196.061). That year’s exemption survives a rental that starts after January 1, unless the home is rented more than 30 days per calendar year for two consecutive years. The narrow exceptions cover members of the U.S. Armed Forces, and full-time federal diplomatic, intelligence, consular, or foreign service officers directed to reside, or stationed or deployed, outside Florida.
The Lake County Property Appraiser warns that not reporting a homestead that has become a rental could lead to a costly tax lien. By statute, an owner found to have received an exemption they weren’t entitled to, in any of the prior 10 years, owes the exempted taxes plus a 50% penalty on the unpaid taxes for each year and 15% annual interest. A home that loses homestead is reassessed at just value for non-school taxes as of January 1 of the year it becomes non-homestead, then capped at 10% a year. Filing details are in the homestead exemption guide.
A summer rental of your homestead runs into the 30-day rule. Under a one-month minimum lease, a single rental in a 31-day month passes 30 days by itself.
Without homestead, the 30-day rule doesn’t apply, but a winter lease of six months or less is taxable and the 55-or-older occupancy rule still applies where the declaration has one. More in owning part of the year.
Expect sales tax on a lease of six months or less and the same occupancy rule for your household. Weighing a purchase? See renting before you buy.
COMMON QUESTIONS
It depends on your unit’s Declaration of Restrictions. The 2026 declaration for Villages of Southern Oaks Unit No. 277 allows written, residential leases of at least one month. In Units 70 and 277, every occupied home, rented or not, needs a resident 55 or older, apart from hardship exceptions the developer may grant.
Yes, on rent for six months or less: the 6% state sales tax and county surtax, plus a 4% tourist development tax in the Lake and Marion County parts of The Villages. Rent under a bona fide written lease for continuous residence longer than six months is exempt.
No. Sumter County repealed its 2% tourist development tax effective October 1, 2020, so short-term rent there carries the 6% state sales tax and 1% surtax, 7% combined.
It can. Renting all or substantially all of a homestead counts as abandoning it under section 196.061. The Department of Revenue says you can rent after January 1 and keep that year’s exemption as long as the home isn’t rented more than 30 days per calendar year for two consecutive years.
Not in Unit 277, whose declaration requires leases of at least one month. Where shorter stays are allowed, a home rented more than three times a year for under 30 days is a vacation rental that needs a state license.
Mo will pull the declaration for your unit, flag the lease, occupancy, and sign terms, and show you what the home could sell for if renting doesn’t fit.
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Mo Mufti, REALTOR® · LPT Realty, LLC · 352-298-8602
Checked October 10, 2026. Declarations can be amended, and tax rates and statutes change, so confirm the current version for your unit and county before relying on a number.
Important: General real estate information only—not legal, tax, or financial advice. A declaration and a lease are legal documents; for a specific clause, a lease, or a tax registration, talk with a Florida real estate attorney or a CPA. Mo Mufti is a Florida REALTOR® (license SL3600299) with LPT Realty, LLC, not an attorney, CPA, or property manager, and is not affiliated with The Villages, District Government, or any tax office. The Villages® is a registered trademark, used here descriptively.
More Villages answers: Owning part of the year · Rent before you buy · Living there under 55 · Homestead exemption · Selling with tenants · What is my home worth?