Renting a Condo in Miami: Association Approval, Lease Minimums and Tenant Rules

Renting a condo in Miami often takes two yeses: the owner's and the condominium association's. Florida law lets an association charge a lease application fee only when its documents require approval and authorize the fee, capped at $150 per applicant, while minimum lease terms and limits on how often a unit may be leased come from each building's declaration.

Who gets a say in your lease

A Miami condo lease is a contract between you and the unit owner, but the building has a voice when its governing documents give it one. Section 718.303(1) of the Florida Statutes says every unit owner, tenant and association is governed by Chapter 718, the declaration, the documents creating the association and the bylaws, and that the bylaws are expressly incorporated into any lease of a unit. You are bound by rules nobody may have shown you, so ask for them before you sign.

Whether the association screens tenants at all depends on the declaration. The buyer-side version of approval, with its estoppel and closing mechanics, is at /blog/miami-condo-board-approval-process; this guide stays with the tenant.

The application fee has a statutory ceiling

Section 718.112(2)(k) sets the limit. An association may not charge a fee in connection with the lease or sublease of a unit unless it is required to approve the transfer and a fee for that approval is provided for in the declaration, articles or bylaws. Any such fee may be preset but may not exceed $150 per applicant. Spouses, or a parent or parents and any dependent children, count as one applicant, and no fee may be charged when the lease is a renewal with the same tenant.

The statute calls for the cap to be adjusted every five years for inflation, with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation publishing the adjusted amount; DBPR's condominium FAQ states it as $150 per applicant. Two unrelated roommates are two applicants. If a manager quotes more per person, ask which document authorizes it, in writing.

A second deposit, held by the association

If the declaration, articles or bylaws give it authority, the association may require a prospective tenant to place a security deposit of up to the equivalent of one month's rent into an escrow account the association maintains. That deposit protects against damage to the common elements or association property, and interest, claims, refunds and disputes are handled as provided in part II of Chapter 83, Florida's residential landlord and tenant law.

That money is the association's, not your landlord's, and your lease may require its own deposit to the owner, so budget for both.

Minimum lease terms live in the declaration

The minimum lease length for a Miami condo is set by its declaration and amendments, which is why two towers on the same block can give opposite answers about a six-month lease. Provisions commonly set a minimum term, cap how many times a unit may be leased in a year or bar leasing during a new owner's first period of ownership. Short stays are a separate subject, covered with pet policies at /blog/pet-friendly-and-airbnb-friendly-buildings-miami.

Section 718.110(13) adds a wrinkle that matters to tenants. An amendment prohibiting rentals, altering the duration of the rental term or limiting the number of times owners may rent during a specified period applies only to owners who consented to it and owners who acquired title after it took effect. So the rule governing your lease can depend on when your landlord bought. If a manager cites a minimum term, ask whether it comes from the original declaration or a later amendment that binds this owner.

What a renter can read before signing

Section 718.111(12)(c) gives a renter the right to inspect and copy only the declaration of condominium, the association's bylaws and rules, and the milestone and turnover inspection reports described in sections 553.899 and 718.301(4)(p). Leasing limits, guest and move-in rules, parking and pets sit in those documents. The information the association collects to approve your lease is, under the same paragraph, a record unit owners cannot inspect.

Two more documents are worth asking the owner for. Section 718.111(12)(d) requires the association to prepare a question and answer sheet and update it annually, and Section 718.504 says that sheet covers unit use restrictions, including restrictions on leasing. And where owners voted to forego retrofitting a fire sprinkler system, Section 718.112(2)(n) requires the unit owner to give a renter a copy of the notice of that vote before signing a lease.

Amenities, fines and suspensions once you move in

Section 718.106(4) hands you the building's shared spaces. When a unit is leased, the tenant has all use rights in the association property and the common elements generally available to owners, and the owner keeps those rights only as a guest unless the tenant waives them in writing.

Section 718.303(3) lets the association levy reasonable fines against an occupant for breaking the declaration, bylaws or reasonable rules, capped at $100 per violation or $1,000 in the aggregate, and suspend use of common facilities for a reasonable period. Before either, the board must give at least 14 days' written notice to the owner and, if applicable, the tenant, and an opportunity for a hearing before a committee of at least three people who are not officers, directors or employees. Separately, Section 718.303(4) allows a suspension without that hearing when the owner is more than 90 days delinquent, but never of the unit's limited common elements, access to the unit, utilities, parking spaces or elevators.

When your landlord owes the association

If the owner is delinquent on any monetary obligation to the association, Section 718.116(11) lets the association demand in writing that you pay your rent to it instead, until the owner's obligations are paid in full or the association releases you. If you already paid the landlord for the current period, you have 14 days after receiving the demand to give the association written proof, and payments to it start with the next period.

Your liability cannot exceed what you owe your landlord, the landlord must credit what you pay the association, and rent timely paid to the association after the demand is immune from the landlord's claim. If you stop paying after a demand, the association may use Chapter 83's notice and eviction procedures as if it were the landlord, yet it takes on none of the landlord's duties under section 83.51, and paying it gives you no vote or records rights. Ask for receipts, which the association must provide on request.

Questions renters ask about Miami condo leases

Where to research a specific building

Miami Condo HQ is a research publisher, not a brokerage, and has no live Miami MLS feed, so we publish no Miami rents or availability; the units at /condos-for-rent are illustrative samples. For a particular address, start with its profile in /buildings, the association document list at /condo-associations and area guides such as /neighborhoods/brickell and /neighborhoods/sunny-isles-beach. Take any dispute over a fee, deposit or fine to a Florida attorney, documents in hand.