whether short-term vacation rentals violate restrictive covenants requiring property to be used only for residential purposes and prohibiting its use for business purposes—appears to be a matter of first impression in Florida. See generally William P. Sklar & Jerry C. Edwards, Florida Community Associations Versus Airbnb and VRBO in Florida , Fla. Bar. J., Feb. 2017, at 16. However, courts in a number of other states have considered the issue and those courts have almost uniformly held that short-term vacation rentals do not violate restrictive covenants nearly identical to those at issue in this case. See Gadd v. Hensley , –––S.W.3d ––––, 2017 WL 1102982 (Ky. Ct. App. Mar. 24, 2017) (unpublished opinion); Houston v. Wilson Mesa Ranch Homeowners Ass'n , 360 P.3d 255 (Col. App. 2015) ; Wilkinson v. Chiwawa Communities Ass'n , 180 Wash.2d 241, 327 P.3d 614 (2014) (en banc); Estates at Desert Ridge Trails Homeowners' Ass'n v. Vazquez , 300 P.3d 736 (N.M. Ct. App. 2013) ; Russell v. Donaldson , 222 N.C.App. 702, 731 S.E.2d 535 (2012) ; Slaby v. Mountain River Estates Residential Ass'n , 100 So.3d 569(Ala. Civ. App. 2012) ; Applegate v. Colucci , 908 N.E.2d 1214 (Ind. Ct. App. 2009) ; Mason Family Trust v. DeVaney , 146 N.M. 199, 207 P.3d 1176 (N.M. Ct. App. 2009) ; Ross v. Bennett , 148 Wash.App. 40, 203 P.3d 383 (2008) ; Scott v. Walker , 274 Va. 209, 645 S.E.2d 278 (2007) ; Lowden v. Bosley , 395 Md. 58, 909 A.2d 261 (2006) ; Mullin v. Silvercreek Condo. Owner's Ass'n , 195 S.W.3d 484 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006) ; Pinehaven Planning Bd. v. Brooks , 138 Idaho 826, 70 P.3d 664 (2003) ; Yogman v. Parrott , 325 Or. 358, 937 P.2d 1019 (1997) (en banc); Catawba Orchard Beach Ass'n v. Basinger , 115 Ohio App.3d 402, 685 N.E.2d 584 (1996) ; but see Shields Mountain Property Owners Ass'n v. Teffeteller , 2006 WL 408050 (Tenn. Ct. App. Feb. 22, 2006) (unpublished opinion); Benard v. Humble , 990 S.W.2d 929 (Tex. App.– Beaumont 1999).
These decisions explain that in determining whether short-term vacation rentals are residential uses of the property, the critical issue is whether the renters are using the property for ordinary living purposes such as sleeping and eating, not the duration of the rental. See, e.g. , Wilkinson , 327 P.3d at 620 ("If a vacation renter uses a home ‘for the purposes of eating, sleeping, and other residential purposes,’ this use is residential, not commercial, no matter how short the rental duration." (quoting Ross , 203 P.3d at 388 )