Question 1

Does Florida homestead protection affect a second mortgage on my Fort Lauderdale rental?

Accepted Answer

Not on a rental held in an LLC, and usually not on one nobody in your family lives in. Article X, section 4(a) of the Florida Constitution ties homestead to property owned by a natural person and, inside a municipality, limits it to the residence of the owner or the owner's family. An LLC is not a natural person, so an investment property it holds is not homestead. Florida also lets an owner voluntarily mortgage even a true homestead (section 4(c)); the protection is against forced sale for unsecured judgments, not against a mortgage the owner signs. Our program lends only on non-owner-occupied investment property. This is not legal advice; your attorney or title company has the final say on your property.

Question 2

What happens to a second lien on a Broward rental if the first mortgage is foreclosed?

Accepted Answer

It goes through court, and a second lender has to claim any surplus itself. Florida forecloses only through the courts under Chapter 702, with no power of sale, and the clerk runs the sale under section 45.031. A subordinate lienholder can redeem only up to the later of the certificate of sale or the time set in the judgment; there is no redemption after that. In Broward, the Clerk holds foreclosure sales online at broward.realforeclose.com: bidders register first, post a deposit of 5% of their estimated high bid by 3:00 p.m. the business day before, and pay the balance by noon the business day after. Objections are due within 10 days after the certificate of sale is filed. If the sale brings more than the judgment, section 45.032 pays subordinate lienholders who file a timely claim before the former owner, so nothing reaches a second lender automatically. Read lien position explained before you stack debt.

Question 3

What does it cost to record a second mortgage in Broward County?

Accepted Answer

Florida's two mortgage taxes, about 0.55% of the loan combined, plus the county's recording fee. A recorded mortgage, first or second, pays documentary stamp tax of 35 cents per $100 under section 201.08(1)(b), with no cap for a recorded mortgage, and nonrecurring intangible tax of 2 mills (0.2%) under section 199.133. On a $150,000 second that is $150,000 x 0.55% = $825, an illustration, not a quote. Broward pays the standard statewide rates; the extra documentary stamp surtax Miami-Dade charges applies to deeds there, not to Broward. On a line of credit, intangible tax is paid once on the line's maximum under section 199.143(3), while documentary stamps follow each advance under section 201.08(1)(b). Recording runs through the county's Records, Taxes and Treasury Division at 115 S. Andrews Ave., Room 114. None of these are USA Mortgage fees.

Question 4

Can I borrow against a Fort Lauderdale vacation rental?

Accepted Answer

The program accepts short-term rentals, and Fort Lauderdale lets them run under a mandatory registration. Florida's section 509.032(7)(b) bars local governments from prohibiting vacation rentals or regulating how long or how often they rent, except under rules adopted on or before June 1, 2011. Fort Lauderdale still registers and inspects them: a vacation rental needs a city certificate of compliance, renewed by September 30 each year, and the registration is not transferable, so it does not convey with the property. City code caps occupancy at two persons per sleeping room and requires all guest vehicles to park in the property's driveway. Broward's tourist development tax on stays of six months or less is 6.0%, collected by the county. Outside Fort Lauderdale, check the rules of the city your rental sits in.

Question 5

Does Florida treat a second mortgage on a rental as a consumer loan?

Accepted Answer

Florida draws the line at purpose, by its own definitions. Chapter 494 defines a covered residential mortgage loan as one primarily for personal, family, or household use, and a business purpose loan as one whose proceeds the borrower intends to use primarily for a business purpose, judged by the CFPB's official interpretation of 12 C.F.R. 1026.3(a). That interpretation deems credit to acquire, improve or maintain a non-owner-occupied rental to be business purpose, but not if the owner expects to occupy the property for more than 14 days in the coming year. The statute also makes it a violation to present a residential loan as a business purpose loan. This is not a licensing opinion; talk to your attorney about your own structure.

Question 6

What carrying costs sit ahead of a second lien on a Fort Lauderdale rental?

Accepted Answer

Property tax and insurance, and both run high in Broward. A rental gets no homestead protection; non-homestead property is capped at 10% a year, but the cap resets on a sale, so your first full year is assessed at market value. Fort Lauderdale's 2025 total millage is 18.4464, inside a county range of 16.2843 in Weston to 23.1875 in Lauderdale Lakes; on a $400,000 assessment, 18.4464 mills is $400,000 x 18.4464 / 1,000 = $7,379 a year, an illustration. The state insurance regulator put Broward's average homeowners premium, including wind, at $6,136 as of March 31, 2026, versus $3,008 without wind. Price both into your rent roll before you add a second payment. Talk to your CPA about your own numbers.

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