Rent the House Out During Service Without Losing the Homestead
Renting out a Florida homestead normally counts as abandoning it, and the exemption goes. Fla. Stat. 196.061 disapplies that rule for members of the armed forces whose service results from a Selective Service obligation or who volunteered for service. The homestead exemption — and everything stacked on it — survives the rental.
Verified August 27, 2026
What this benefit is
Renting out a Florida homestead normally counts as abandoning it, and the exemption goes. Fla. Stat. 196.061 disapplies that rule for members of the armed forces whose service results from a Selective Service obligation or who volunteered for service. The homestead exemption — and everything stacked on it — survives the rental.
What it's worth: The homestead exemption survives renting the property out during service
- The ordinary rule at s. 196.061(1) is that renting a homestead constitutes ABANDONMENT of it, and the exemption is lost.
- That rule does not apply to members of the armed forces whose service results from a Selective Service obligation, or who volunteered for service.
- So the homestead exemption survives the rental — and with it every exemption stacked on the homestead, including the veterans exemptions.
- What is protected is the whole exemption package, which for a disabled veteran can be the entire tax bill.
- It is a protection rather than a payment, so no figure is published.
Who is entitled to it
- You are currently on active duty.
- You own and live in your home in this county.
- Your property is in Florida.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
- 1Tell your county property appraiser BEFORE you let the property, and cite Fla. Stat. 196.061. A rental discovered later looks like abandonment.
- 2Keep evidence of the service that took you away — orders, or the volunteer enlistment.
- 3Understand what is at stake: the homestead exemption carries the veterans exemptions with it, so this protects far more than the homestead alone.
- 4If you have already let the property and been told the exemption is lost, raise this section — it disapplies the abandonment rule for you.
- Form
- Notify the property appraiser before letting
- File with
- Your county property appraiser
- No renewal needed
Sources
- authority · statuteFla. Stat. 196.061
- operating · published policyFlorida Department of Revenue — property tax
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