Aspen, CO short-term rental limits

What Aspen asks of you

• The city's program page lists three permit types: Classic, Owner-Occupied and Lodging Exempt.^[3]

• Ordinance 08-2025 wrote a fourth type into the code, the Temporary permit. It lets a new owner honor the seller's bookings for up to 90 days.^[7]

• A Temporary permit holder may not take new bookings or advertise the home.^[7]

• Only lodges and condo-hotels that meet the code's definition of a lodge qualify for Lodging Exempt. One permit then covers every unit under management.^[7]

• Each permit is issued to one natural person with an ownership interest in the property. It cannot be transferred, so a sale terminates it.^[7]

• Securing a spot on the Classic waitlist costs the $394 permit fee, which is not refunded. An applicant offered an opening has 14 days to accept it.^[3]

• Owner-Occupied applicants prove primary residence with two documents issued to them at the rental address. A driver's license, vehicle registration or voter registration all count.^[3]

• Lodging Exempt permits cost $148 per unit each year, under the fee table in section 26.530.080.^[7]

• A new Classic or Owner-Occupied applicant posts a notice at the property for 15 days. Property owners within 300 feet also receive it by mail.^[4]

• Homes inside an HOA need a signed approval letter from the association with the first application.^[7]

• Occupancy stops at two guests per bedroom, with two more on top. A studio holds three.^[7]

• Every listing shows the city permit number and the maximum occupancy. The number may sit in the title, the description or the platform's permit field.^[7]

• Booking platforms must take a listing down within 14 days of a city notice that its permit number is missing or invalid.^[7]

• The unit displays the permit, the business license and the Good Neighbor Guide. A posted statement reminds occupants of the city's noise ordinance.^[7]

• On pickup day, trash and recycling containers may sit at the curb from 6:00 a.m. onward. By 6:00 p.m. they must be back inside, where they remain the rest of the week.^[7]

• A permittee living outside the Roaring Fork Valley must name a qualified owner's representative who lives in the area.^[4]

• Whoever is named has to reach the property within two hours in an emergency.^[7]

• An occupant's complaint needs a response within two hours. A city inquiry allows 24 hours, after which a notice of violation follows.^[7]

• City inspectors give 48 hours' notice before entering a permitted unit.^[7]

• The program page says STR permits expire at the end of each year.^[3]

• Under section 26.530.040, a Classic or Owner-Occupied permit runs one year counted from its issue date. A permit not renewed within 14 days of expiring is abandoned.^[7]

• The program page tells permit holders to file sales, lodging and STR excise taxes with the city's Finance Department each month.^[3]

• The city's sales tax page says all sales tax has been reported to the Colorado Department of Revenue since January 1, 2025.^[6]

• A first conviction carries a fine of at least $500. Every day the violation goes on is charged as its own offense.^[7]

• Three administrative notices of violation within one permit year lead the director to revoke the permit.^[7]

• Applications, renewals and tax filings moved to the Localgov portal on June 1, 2026, replacing MuniRevs.^[3]

What Colorado asks wherever you host

These rules apply at this address whatever the city decides.

• When guests book through a platform, it collects Colorado sales tax on the full amount charged. The platform also handles any county lodging tax and local marketing district tax.^[1]

• Lodging taxes a city sets stay outside the state's system, since the Department of Revenue administers none of them. Home-rule cities that run their own sales tax sit outside it too, so start with your city.^[1]

• Hosts who take direct bookings need a Colorado sales tax license and collect the 2.9% state rate themselves. The license is $16, prorated, with a $50 deposit returned once your state tax tops $50.^[2]