In anticipation of the opening of the 2026 Florida Multifamily Middle Market Certification Program (more commonly known as the Live Local Tax Exemption) under Florida Statute Sec. 196.1978(3), Florida Housing Finance Corporation (“Florida Housing”) recently updated its application process and dates. This schedule has several key changes from the 2025 application process. These dates are critical to timely prepare a comprehensive application and create a smooth application process. Below are the newly published deadlines and some suggested best practices for a successful application. Our first suggestion is to start preparing your best practices now, several months in advance of the MMM portal opening, to make sure your property management team is properly collecting the data you will need to submit.
- October 1, 2025 – Preliminary Portal Opening
The Multifamily Middle Market (MMM) portal will open on October 1, 2025. The data template can be accessed, and supporting documentation can be uploaded. We suggest applicants do a test upload of your application to confirm a successful upload.
- January 1, 2026 – Formal Portal Opening
Applicants must formally submit their request to Florida Housing between January 1 and January 15, 2026, 3 p.m. We suggest an early application to avoid technical upload issues. Florida Housing staff constantly monitored uploads last year, but they must be given sufficient time to advise if they discover an issue with the upload.
- January 1, 2026 – Rent Roll Benchmark
Applicants must have appropriate rents, and tenants in place in units under consideration, no later than January 1, 2026. Your January 1, 2026, rent roll must be perfectly formatted to the Florida Housing requirements. We have found that no property management software has the same exact format and as a result give additional time to format as necessary.
- January 15, 2026 – Submission Deadlin
The online portal to submit applications closes on January 15, 2026, at 3 p.m EST. We strongly suggest that you submit your application well in advance of this deadline. There have been few instances of technical issues, but do not leave it to chance. A complete request must be submitted no later than January 15, 2025, 3 p.m. EST.
- February 15, 2026 – Issuance of Certification Notices
Florida Housing will provide certification notices to applicants and the local property appraisers no later than February 15, 2026.
- March 1, 2026 – Final Submission to Local Property Appraisers
If an owner receives a certification notice, they must then submit the notice, an application, and any other required documentation, to their local property appraiser no later than March 1, 2026. As a best practice, we always confer with the respective local property appraisers to confirm, in writing3 their specific updated delivery requirements and documents. There are 67 different property appraisers in Florida, and we have found these requirements can change by property appraiser and by year.
