Boulder, CO short-term rental license

What Boulder asks of you

• Short-term rentals are prohibited unless the city has issued a valid license for the property.^[4]

• A license can go to a natural person named on the deed who owns at least half the property. A trust whose beneficiary is a natural person can qualify too.^[4]

• An individual applicant submits a copy of a Colorado driver's license or identification card bearing the rental's address. A sworn statement adds that the home is their principal residence.^[4]

• The code presumes a home is not a principal residence if the entire unit is offered for rent more than 20 days in any month.^[5]

• A tenant cannot run a short-term rental, even with the landlord's approval.^[3]

• Every advertisement shows the license number together with the maximum unrelated occupancy.^[3]

• The application names two contacts able to reach the property within 60 minutes.^[4]

• Occupancy follows the limit in the city's property maintenance code. Nobody may be asked to sleep in a space that code treats as not habitable.^[4]

• No inspection is required. The owner certifies working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors instead.^[3]

• Paid meetings such as weddings or banquets cannot be held in a short-term rental.^[5]

• The license page says an accessory unit qualifies only if it and the license were legally established before January 3, 2019.^[3]

• Section 10-3-19(o) of the code sets that date at February 1, 2019, for both the accessory unit and the main home. Such a unit is rented 120 days a calendar year at most.^[4]

• Ordinance 8743, approved April 2, 2026, updated the Festival Lodging Rental License created by Ordinance 8715.^[6]

• That festival license covers up to 29 days a year, with no principal residence rule. Rentals run only during an approved event, from 10 days before it until nine days after.^[6]

• The only approved event so far is the 2027 Sundance Film Festival, January 21 to 31, 2027.^[6]

• A festival license costs $190 for four years, or $75 for one year on a unit already holding a long-term rental license.^[6]

• Administrative penalties reach $150 for a first violation of a provision, $300 for a second and $1,000 for a third.^[4]

• A court conviction carries a fine of $500 to $2,000 per violation. The court can also impose up to 90 days in jail, with or without the fine.^[4]

• After a revocation, the city waits at least six months before taking a new application for the same unit.^[4]

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]