Davie HOA Rules on Renting and Pets (2026)
Who Decides Whether You Can Rent Your Davie Home or Keep Your Pet?
In a Davie HOA, your recorded declaration and rules decide whether you can rent your single family home and which pets you can keep, not the Town. Florida Statute 720.306 lets an association impose at most a six month minimum lease term and a three rentals per year cap on existing owners. Confirm the leasing and pet articles through the estoppel and governing documents during your inspection period, before you remove contingencies.
The Town of Davie does not tell you whether you can rent your house or keep your dog. The community you buy into does. Those Davie HOA rental and pet rules live in a recorded declaration and a set of association rules that most buyers never read until after closing. That is the moment the surprise arrives. The cap on rentals is full. The dog is over the weight limit. The community requires you to live there a full year before you can lease.
You avoid all of it by reading two short sections of the governing documents before you write your offer. Here is exactly how those rules work in Davie and how to confirm them in time.
How Davie HOA Leasing Rules Actually Work
Most Davie homeowner associations control leasing through three levers. The first is a minimum lease term. Many declarations set a floor of six months or one year, which shuts down short stays and seasonal flips. The second is a rental cap. The community limits how many homes can be leased at once, and once that number is hit you join a waitlist. A cap set near one in five homes is common, so in a community of 500 homes only about 100 may be leased at any time. The third is an approval process. The association screens your tenant, charges an application fee, and can require the lease to run through management.
Florida law changed the ground rules in 2021. Under Florida Statute 720.306, a rental restriction adopted after July 1, 2021 applies only to an owner who takes title after that amendment or who agrees to it in writing. If you already owned your home when the community tightened its rental rules, you are generally grandfathered. There is one exception that reaches every owner. The association may still amend to prohibit leases shorter than six months and to cap rentals at three times per calendar year, and those two limits apply to everyone.
That distinction matters the day you buy. When you take title, you accept the leasing rules on the books at that moment. The grandfather protection belongs to the prior owner, not to you. So the rule you need is the current one, and the only way to know it is to read the recorded documents for the specific community. In western Davie, equestrian area communities like Long Lake Ranches (33330) tend to allow longer seasonal leases, while tighter gated communities closer to central Davie often run full rental caps and waitlists. You can compare how communities differ in the Davie HOA fees and rules comparison.
Pet Restrictions in Davie HOA Communities
Pet rules are set the same way leasing rules are, inside the declaration and the association rules. Three limits show up again and again in Davie communities. Breed restrictions ban specific dogs, often pit bulls and rottweilers. Weight limits cap a dog at a set number of pounds, with 25 or 35 pounds being frequent thresholds. Number limits restrict how many animals you can keep, such as two pets per home. A community can also require you to register the pet, carry liability coverage, or keep dogs leashed in common areas.
There is a federal line the HOA cannot cross. Under the Fair Housing Act, a service animal or an assistance animal is not a pet. Breed, weight, and number rules do not apply to an assistance animal, and a resident can request a reasonable accommodation even in a community that bans pets. The association can ask for limited supporting documentation and must follow the process in the HUD assistance animal guidance. If your household includes a large dog, read the pet article closely, because the covenant will tell you whether your animal fits before you fall in love with the house.
How to Verify the Rules Before You Make an Offer
The document that settles every question is the estoppel and the governing document set. When you go under contract, request the declaration, the bylaws, the current rules, and the estoppel certificate during your inspection period. The estoppel confirms the fees and any money owed. The declaration and rules carry the leasing and pet articles. Read those two articles first.
Florida sets a clock on the association. Under Florida Statute 720.30851, the association must deliver the estoppel within 10 business days of a written or electronic request, and the certificate stays valid for 30 days when delivered by hand or email, or 35 days by regular mail. Use that window. Follow these steps before your contingencies expire.
1. Request the declaration, bylaws, rules, and estoppel in writing the day you go under contract.
2. Read the leasing article. Confirm the minimum lease term, whether a rental cap exists, whether the cap is currently full, and whether a first year owner occupancy rule applies.
3. Read the pet article. Confirm breed, weight, and number limits against the animals you actually own.
4. Ask the management company in writing to confirm the current cap status and any waitlist, since these numbers change year to year.
5. Get every answer in writing and keep it with your closing file.
This is the work I do for every buyer before they remove contingencies. As a Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker and a Davie native, I built the HOA Fee Comparison tool on livingindavieflorida.com so buyers can see how the gated communities differ before they ever tour one. Reading the covenant before the offer is cheaper than discovering it after the closing. If you are still deciding on a community, start with the Davie neighborhoods guide and the buying a home in Davie walkthrough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I rent out my house if it is in a Davie HOA?
Often yes, but the recorded declaration sets the terms. Check for a minimum lease term, a rental cap that may already be full, and a required approval process. Some communities also make a new owner live in the home for a year before leasing, so confirm the current rules before you buy.
Can a Davie HOA stop me from keeping my dog?
An HOA can restrict pets by breed, weight, and number if those limits are written into the declaration or rules. Read the pet article before you offer. The one exception is a service or assistance animal, which is not treated as a pet under the Fair Housing Act.
How long does the HOA have to send the documents and estoppel?
Under Florida Statute 720.30851, the association must deliver the estoppel certificate within 10 business days of your written request. The certificate stays valid for 30 days by hand or email delivery and 35 days by mail. Request everything the day you go under contract so you have time to read it.
Do pet rules apply to service animals or emotional support animals?
No. Under the Fair Housing Act, a service animal or an assistance animal is not a pet, so breed, weight, and number limits do not apply. A resident may request a reasonable accommodation even in a community that bans pets, following the association’s documented process.
Talk to a Davie Real Estate Expert
Anthony Spitaleri, Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker and a Davie native, reads the leasing and pet articles in the governing documents for every buyer before they remove contingencies, not after the closing surprises them. If you want to know exactly what a specific community allows before you write an offer, the next step is a direct conversation. Schedule a free 15 minute strategy call and walk into your decision with every rule known.
Anthony Spitaleri
Living in Davie Florida
954-235-5783
Davie, Florida
livingindavieflorida.com
About Anthony Spitaleri
Anthony Spitaleri is a Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker, one of the most established residential real estate brands, with approximately 2,700 offices globally, founded in 1906. A Davie native who returned home in 2025 after 13 years in Miami Beach, Anthony specializes in luxury homes and estates above $1 million, acreage and equestrian properties with no HOA, and relocation buyers moving to Davie from out of state. He created livingindavieflorida.com, the most in-depth independent Davie real estate resource available, with in-depth coverage of Davie’s gated communities, acreage and equestrian properties, and luxury estates, plus original weekly market data, interactive tools, Town Council recaps, and a 24/7 AI concierge. Anthony has been licensed in real estate since 2013 (BK3281907), is a Certified Strategic Coach through Coaching Services International (CSI), an active member of the Davie Cooper City Chamber of Commerce, and a weekly volunteer at Bit by Bit Therapeutic Riding Center in Davie.
