Miami Cites Club at Brickell Bay Over Short-Term Rentals, Warning of Fines Up to $5,000 a Day

The City of Miami has escalated its crackdown on short-term rentals at The Club at Brickell Bay, issuing a notice of violation this week that accuses the 43-story condominium tower of operating as an unpermitted hotel and warns that continued violations could bring fines of up to $5,000 a day. The action comes two months after the city ordered rentals of fewer than 30 days to stop at the building, an order residents say has been largely ignored.

The tower at 1200 Brickell Bay Drive has 643 units, and the city says it is authorized for only 30 short-term rental units. City officials determined in August that more than 300 vacation rentals were being advertised there, CBS News Miami reported. The Miami Herald has reported that about 500 units have been converted to short-term rentals since 2020.

What the notice says

According to CBS News Miami, the notice of violation states that the building's current use does not conform to its certificate of use. The notice was addressed to Brickell Bay Plaza Inc., the holder of the property's certificate of use, whose registered agent is the building's developer, Jerome Hollo. The city gave the company until Oct. 30 to come into compliance. As of this week, short-term stays at the property could still be booked online for dates in November, the station found.

The Miami Herald, as summarized by The Real Deal, reported that code inspectors issued a citation Tuesday night to the condo association's board and its attorney. If the association does not comply within 10 days, board members could be summoned to a code enforcement hearing tentatively set for Dec. 9 at Miami City Hall. The citation says the lodging violation is punishable by criminal arrest, closure of the business, or both, according to that report.

The two accounts differ on who received the city's paperwork, and the parties are already pointing at each other. In a statement to CBS News Miami, Hollo said Florida East Coast Realty and Brickell Bay Plaza Inc. have no involvement in the occupancy or control of the residential units and that the condominium association is responsible, adding that his companies control only the first-floor commercial leasing. He said the city had "accidentally cited" his company's 1201 Brickell office building for unpermitted lodging activities and predicted the matter would be cleared up quickly. An attorney for the condominium association told the station the notice was not directed at the association.

How the dispute began

The city's first move came in an Aug. 11 letter from Assistant City Manager Barbie Hernandez to the homeowners' association board. In it, Hernandez wrote that the building was being operated as a transient public lodging establishment in violation of Florida Statutes, the Florida Building Code and city law, and that the operation created "a significant life safety issue" because the building is not approved for the fire, life safety and disability requirements that apply to hotels, according to the Miami Herald's account published by the Tampa Bay Times. She directed that rentals of less than 30 days cease immediately, while allowing the 30 permitted units to keep operating.

The letter said the city had no record of any application for a vacation rental license at the building, and it accused building staff of turning away city inspectors sent to investigate complaints. NBC 6 reported that the city's letter also said many one- and two-bedroom units had been altered to create additional rooms, allowing 10 or more people to stay in a single apartment.

The association responded through lawyers. In a letter shared with CBS News Miami in August, it denied operating a lodging or hotel establishment while acknowledging the city's concerns. Board chair Maria Sindia Borras said in a statement that the newly elected board intended to work cooperatively with the city, had filed a detailed records request and hired a land use and zoning law firm, and had asked for a 90-day grace period. The city did not say publicly whether it granted that request.

Residents describe an "illegal hotel"

Christina Lardon, who bought her unit in 2008, has become the most visible critic of the rentals. Standing outside the tower this week, she told CBS News Miami that the building behind her was "an illegal, unpermitted hotel" where she happens to live, and she described crowded lobbies, travelers with luggage and elevators running at full capacity.

Lardon also questioned whether owners like her could end up paying for the fines. "So, am I on the hook also?" she asked the station, saying it would not be fair for owners who complied with the rules to cover penalties tied to the city's cease-and-desist order.

The Herald reported in August that none of the five board members elected in June live in the building and that all own or manage short-term rentals, and that a former board president had installed a hotel reservation system in the office. Residents have described loud parties, overflowing trash, broken elevators and other problems to city officials and reporters.

What Miami and Florida law require

According to the Herald's reporting, a rental of fewer than 30 days in Miami requires a certificate of occupancy and a certificate of use, a state lodging license, a city business tax receipt and an operational management plan. If more than 25 percent of a building's units are used as short-term rentals, the whole building must be reclassified as transient lodging and meet Florida Building Code standards for construction, accessibility and fire safety. The Club is classified as a multifamily residential condominium and is not authorized to operate as a condo-hotel.

State law limits how far Florida cities can go. Since 2011, section 509.032 of the Florida Statutes has barred local governments from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating how long or how often they are rented, with an exception for local rules adopted on or before June 1, 2011. Cities can still enforce licensing, building and safety rules, which is the ground Miami is using here. Condominium associations are separate: they can restrict rentals through their own governing documents and can sue owners who break those rules, a community association lawyer told The Real Deal.

Airbnb has not commented publicly on the Club at Brickell Bay case in the reports reviewed. In a 2025 statement to CBS News Miami about Brickell rentals generally, the company said hosts agree to comply with local rules, that Miami hosts must verify their listing complies with zoning and obtain a business license, and that it works with the city on enforcement and problem listings.

A wider push in the city

District 2 Commissioner Damian Pardo, whose district includes Brickell, said he plans further steps, including a proposed ordinance requiring citywide short-term rental registration and a dedicated task force. "We will do everything we can under the law to stop this," Pardo told CBS News Miami.

A resolution Pardo sponsored last month asks the city manager to scrutinize vacation rentals across Miami and report on condo buildings with repeat violations, and asks the city attorney for a report on how other cities have handled short-term rental registration since 2011, The Real Deal reported. The resolution did not itself impose new restrictions.

The complaints are not new in Brickell. In May 2025, CBS News Miami reported that the city had received more than 120 short-term rental complaints since January of that year, a dozen of which had led to property liens, and the president of the Brickell Homeowners Association said owners were using 30-day leases as cover for nightly rentals.

What's next

The city's Oct. 30 compliance deadline for Brickell Bay Plaza Inc. falls next week, and the association faces its own 10-day window under the citation reported by the Herald. If the violations continue, the case could go before a code enforcement hearing in December, where daily fines of up to $5,000 could begin to accrue. How those fines would be divided, and whether individual unit owners could be affected, has not been explained by the city.