Picture two listings, both in Osceola County, priced within a few thousand dollars of each other. One sits inside ChampionsGate Resort. The other sits inside Celebration, three miles up the road. An investor who has done homework on Osceola County knows the county is one of the most short-term rental friendly markets in the state, so the assumption follows naturally: if the county allows it, both houses should work the same way.
Only one of them does.
Osceola County earned its reputation honestly. Kissimmee's US-192 resort corridor alone carries more than 18,000 vacation rental properties, one of the densest concentrations of short-term inventory anywhere in Florida. The county built a tourism economy around short stays and licenses accordingly. Celebration sits inside that same county boundary and, for nearly every residential parcel in it, outside that permission entirely.
The Law Everyone Quotes, and Where It Stops
Florida's short-term rental preemption law prevents cities and counties from banning vacation rentals outright or capping how long or how often guests can stay, unless the local ordinance predates June 1, 2011. That law is why Osceola County can zone for resort-style rental activity without a city council stepping in to unwind it.
The part investors miss is that preemption runs against public government. It says nothing about private contract. Homeowners associations operate under a separate statute, Florida's HOA Act at Chapter 720, which lets a recorded declaration restrict rental activity regardless of what the county permits. Courts have consistently upheld minimum lease terms in HOA declarations as enforceable covenants that run with the land, not suggestions a board can wave away.
That is the seam an investor needs to see before writing an offer. County permission and community permission are two separate systems. State preemption protects one of them. It has nothing to say about the other.
What Celebration's Own Declaration Says
The Celebration Residential Owners Association, known locally as CROA, governs the majority of residential property in Celebration under a master Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions recorded in Osceola County's public records. CROA describes its own role as protecting and preserving property values by promoting a safe, community-oriented neighborhood, and the enforcement tools behind that mission are where the rental question actually gets answered.
The master Declaration sets a minimum lease term of 30 days and prohibits using residential property for transient or hotel purposes. That alone rules out the weekend-turnover model that works two exits down the highway. On top of the master floor, several individual villages layer stricter minimums through their own supplemental declarations, pushing some parcels to a six-month or one-year minimum. Which villages carry which floor isn't something a general search turns up. It lives in that village's specific supplement, not the master document, which is exactly why so many buyers miss it until after closing.
Here is how the layers actually stack:
| Layer | Who sets it | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| State preemption | Florida Legislature | Blocks counties and cities from banning short-term rentals or capping duration and frequency, with a narrow exception for ordinances adopted before June 2011 |
| County licensing | Osceola County | Requires a Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation vacation rental license and Tourist Development Tax registration for qualifying short stays |
| CROA master Declaration | Celebration Residential Owners Association | Sets a community-wide 30-day minimum lease and bars transient or hotel-style use of residential parcels |
| Village supplemental declarations | Individual village associations | Some villages extend the minimum further, to six months or a full year, on top of the master floor |
Each layer adds restriction. None of them removes one set by the layer above it.
Same County, Opposite Answer
The contrast is the point. Kissimmee's resort corridor supports an overlay zoning district where over 18,000 vacation rentals operate with county blessing. Celebration, a few miles away and governed by an entirely different set of documents, prohibits the same activity outright across its residential villages. Same county. Same state preemption law technically in force. Opposite answer, because the deciding authority isn't the county at all.
Investors who came to Osceola County specifically for short-term yield have working alternatives nearby, and they are worth naming because the covenants there run the opposite direction. Encore Resort at Reunion and ChampionsGate Resort both operate under governing documents that explicitly permit short-term rental, which is the actual reason those communities show up in vacation rental portfolios while Celebration does not.
The Name Doesn't Tell You Which Rules Apply
A second trap sits inside the first one. Developments marketed as Celebration Pointe and West Celebration use the Celebration name but are governed by entirely separate homeowners associations, outside CROA's Declaration altogether. A listing description that says "Celebration" doesn't confirm which covenant regime applies to that specific parcel. Two houses at similar price points, both described the same way in marketing copy, can carry completely different rental rules depending on which HOA actually holds the recorded declaration for that address.
The way to settle it isn't the listing sheet. It's the property appraiser's parcel record and the title commitment, which show the actual governing association attached to that specific lot.
State preemption protects your right to rent short-term from your city council. It has nothing to say about your homeowners association.
What Enforcement Actually Costs
CROA's tools aren't theoretical. A violation of the CC&Rs can draw:
- Fines assessed directly against the property owner
- Injunctive relief pursued through the courts to stop the rental activity
- Liens placed on the property for unpaid fines
Osceola County adds a second, separate exposure layer on top of the association's enforcement. A property operating without the required vacation rental license faces county action independent of whatever CROA is doing at the same time. An owner caught in violation isn't managing one enforcement track. They're managing two.
Pull These Documents Before the Inspection Period Closes
Before writing an offer with rental income in mind, request:
- The master CROA Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions
- The supplemental declaration specific to the village where the parcel sits
- An HOA estoppel certificate confirming current rental status and any pending violations
- Property appraiser parcel data confirming which association actually governs the address, not just the neighborhood name used in marketing
All four are available through the title company. None of them should wait until after the inspection period expires.
If Retroactive Protection Is the Plan, Check the Purchase Date
Florida added a protection for owners in 2021: a new rental restriction adopted by an association generally applies only to owners who purchase after the amendment takes effect. That protection matters for a current owner facing a board vote to tighten the rules. It does nothing for a buyer purchasing after a restriction is already recorded, since the restriction was already part of the public record before closing. An investor counting on this exception to buy into Celebration and rent short-term anyway is reading the statute backward.
What Celebration Investment Actually Looks Like
None of this makes Celebration a poor investment. It makes it a different one. An investor who wants short-term yield has working, covenant-approved options at Encore Resort at Reunion and ChampionsGate Resort. An investor drawn to Celebration for its walkable Town Center, its schools, and its Disney-adjacent workforce should underwrite the property as a long-term rental from the start, where tenant demand comes from year-round residents rather than weekend guests. That's a different pro forma, a different tenant pool, and a different exit strategy, and it works when the numbers are built around it from day one rather than discovered after an offer has already been accepted.
FAQ
Does living in the home part-time change the rule? The master Declaration restricts the use of residential property for transient or hotel purposes. The restriction attaches to how the property is used, not to whether the owner occupies it part of the year.
Are Celebration condos under the same rule as single-family homes? No. Celebration's condo communities are handled through their own separate condo associations, each with its own budget, management, and rules, so the rental terms for a condo live in that building's own governing documents rather than CROA's master Declaration.
If my village's supplement doesn't mention short-term rental, does that mean it's allowed? No. The master CROA Declaration's 30-day minimum and transient-use prohibition apply community-wide regardless of what a village supplement adds. A village supplement can only add restriction on top of that floor, not remove it.
If you're comparing a specific address in Celebration against one in Reunion or ChampionsGate, the difference that matters isn't the county line. It's the four documents attached to that one parcel. Abe Mendez works the Celebration and Kissimmee investment corridor directly and can pull the right declaration before you write the offer, not after. Reach out for a strategy consultation before your inspection period starts the clock.
