Do I need a real estate license to manage rental property for someone else in Florida?

What Florida law treats as brokerage

Section 475.01 defines a broker as a person who, for another and for compensation or valuable consideration paid or promised, directly or indirectly, negotiates or offers to negotiate the rental of real property, or advertises or holds out as engaged in that work. It also covers people who advertise rental property information or lists. A sales associate does the same work under a broker's direction.

Under section 475.42 (2026 statutes), acting as a broker or sales associate without a valid, current, active license is a third-degree felony, and a broker may not employ someone as a sales associate who lacks a valid license.[1][3]

Who is exempt?

Section 475.011 lists exemptions. The ones most relevant to rentals are:

• Owners leasing their own property, but not if they use an agent paid per transaction to lease to the public in the ordinary course of business.
• An attorney-in-fact acting only to sign contracts or conveyances.
• A salaried employee of an apartment community owner, or of a broker for that owner, working in the on-site rental office in a leasing role.
• A salaried manager of a condominium or cooperative complex who arranges rentals of units for terms of no more than one year.
• Anyone who, for compensation, rents or advertises transient occupancy in a public lodging establishment licensed under Chapter 509.
• An unlicensed tenant receiving a finder's fee from an apartment owner or property manager of no more than $50 per transaction, as of 2026, if that person does not advertise tenant-finding services.[2]

Vacation rental managers and annual leases

For DBPR vacation rental licensing, a licensed agent who holds a Group or Collective license is a management operator authorized by the owner, not someone with a Division of Real Estate license. The transient-lodging exemption in section 475.011 is tied to a Chapter 509 license; leasing homes on annual leases for others does not fall under that exemption.

Brokers who hold tenant deposits follow the deposit rules in section 83.49, which says it controls over conflicting provisions in Chapter 475. If you are unsure whether your arrangement needs a license, ask a Florida real estate attorney or DBPR before taking payment.[4][2][5]