STRWATCH.AI 50/50 MARKETS · UPDATED 2026-07-18 · ALL CITIES
STRWATCH.AI / CO / Denver

Is a short-term rental legal in Denver, CO?

HEAVILY REGULATED

Short-term rentals (stays under 30 consecutive days) are legal in Denver only in the host's one primary residence, so dedicated investment/second-home STRs are effectively prohibited.

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Sources checked2026-07-158 open items listed below

Both hosted and unhosted rentals are allowed only in the host's licensed primary residence (DRMC 33-47, 33-53(a); Denver Zoning Code 11.8.10.1.B). 'Primary residence' means the place where the person's habitation is fixed for the license term and is their usual place of return; a person can have only one (DRMC 33-46). How often the unit is rented within the year may be weighed as evidence it is not a primary residence (DRMC 33-53(a)(5)). Operators must be natural persons — corporations, partnerships and LLCs are barred (DZC 11.8.10.1.B). A host living in the primary dwelling may also rent an ADU on the same zone lot, but may not live in the ADU and rent the main house, rent the other side of a duplex, or rent a neighboring condo (city ADU/STR Q&A applying DZC 11.8.10). No city-imposed maximum number of guests per night (DZC 11.8.10.1.H), but simultaneous rental to more than one party under separate contracts is prohibited (11.8.10.1.G). STRs may not be in mobile homes, RVs or travel trailers; no non-resident employees; exterior signage limited to one non-illuminated sign of 100 sq. in.; rental for luncheons, banquets, parties, weddings or fundraisers is not an STR use (DZC 11.12.7.7). Stays of 30+ consecutive days are outside the STR ordinance and Lodger's Tax.

What you need to operate

Short-Term Rental License $50 application fee + $100 license fee per year (DRMC 32-110)
Denver Department of Excise and Licenses (Business Licensing)
Renewal: Annual; renewable up to 90 days before expiration per city renewal page (FAQ says 60 days); late renewal within 90-day grace period incurs 20% penalty (first 30 days) or 50% penalty (days 31-90); after 90 days a new license is required
Application requires a valid Colorado driver's license or state ID, at least two documents proving the unit is the applicant's primary residence (vehicle registration, voter registration, tax returns/financial documents, utility bill, or other), proof of possession (deed or lease, plus written owner permission if the applicant is a tenant), and a valid Denver Lodger's Tax account number (DRMC 33-48, as amended by CB20-0240, effective April 2020). License is non-transferable between persons or locations (DRMC 33-51). License number must be displayed on the face of every advertisement (DRMC 33-49(d)). Premises must have a functioning smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, and fire extinguisher (DRMC 33-49(a)), plus an on-site brochure with licensee, local responsible party, and emergency contacts and neighborhood info (DRMC 33-50). Licensee must keep records of nights/dates rented for the past year (DRMC 33-55(a)). Application must be completed within 1 year or it is closed.
official source
Denver Lodger's Tax ID (tax registration/license) Cost not verified
Denver Department of Finance, Treasury Division
Every host is a 'vendor' and must obtain a lodger's tax license before the STR business license can issue (DRMC 33-48(a)(4); Tax Guide Topic 97). Returns due by the 20th of the month following the reporting period; filing frequency set by Treasury Tax Rule 004. Hosts must also register for Occupational Privilege Tax. Registration fee amount not verified — see needs_review.
official source
Liability insurance (fire, hazard and liability) Cost not verified
Denver Department of Excise and Licenses / Licensing & Consumer Protection (Rules Governing Short Term Rental Licenses, effective 4/10/2019)
Renewal: Must be maintained in full force for the entire license term
Operating without fire, hazard and liability insurance within director-set limits is unlawful (DRMC 33-49(e)). Rules require liability coverage of no less than $1,000,000 in the aggregate, OR the licensee may instead conduct every STR transaction through a hosting platform providing equal or greater coverage per rental (Rule 3.2). Host must notify their insurance company that the property is used as an STR and submit an affidavit with the application (Rule 3.1). Lapse in coverage triggers automatic license suspension until reinstated (Rule 3.4).
official source
HOA notification affidavit Cost not verified
Denver Department of Excise and Licenses (STR Rules, Rule 3.3)
If the property is in an HOA, the applicant must inform the HOA of intended STR use before obtaining the license and submit a form affidavit verifying notification. (This is notice, not an HOA-consent requirement.)
official source

The full picture

Short-term rentals (stays under 30 consecutive days) are legal in Denver only in the host's one primary residence, so dedicated investment/second-home STRs are effectively prohibited. A host must hold a Short-Term Rental business license from the Department of Excise and Licenses ($50 application + $100/year, renewed annually) and a Denver Lodger's Tax ID before applying; only natural persons (not LLCs or other entities) may operate an STR. Hosts may rent a room, the whole home (including while away), or a permitted accessory dwelling unit on the same zone lot while living in the main house — but not a duplex's other unit, a neighboring condo, or the main house while living in the ADU. Guests pay 10.75% Denver Lodger's Tax plus 4% Colorado sales tax (14.75% combined), collected by the platform when the booking is transacted through a merchant-of-record platform. Hosts must carry at least $1,000,000 aggregate liability insurance (or book exclusively through a platform providing equal or greater coverage), keep a functioning smoke detector, CO detector and fire extinguisher, display the license number in every ad, allow only one rental contract at a time, and host no parties, weddings or similar events. Violations bring fines up to $999 per incident plus license suspension or revocation, and booking platforms face a strict-liability civil penalty of $1,000 per violation per day for processing payments for unlicensed Denver STRs.

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
Denver Lodger's Tax 10.75% Entire amount charged for lodging sold for less than 30 consecutive days, including cleaning fees, pet fees and other charges (refundable security deposits excluded); collected at time of sale (DRMC 53-150 through 53-174) Yes source
Colorado state sales tax on lodging 4% Sale of lodging under 30 days; combined city+state rate charged in Denver is 14.75% (per Denver Tax Guide Topic 97) Not verified source
Denver Business Occupational Privilege Tax (OPT) $4.00 per month per owner/partner/manager (about $48/year for a self-employed host); employee OPT $5.75/month applies only to employees earning $500+/month in Denver Persons engaged in the business of selling short-term rentals in Denver; no $500 minimum for self-employed owners (DRMC 53-200 through 53-260) No source

Enforcement

PenaltiesHosts: fines up to $999 per incident for violations such as operating without a license (city STR FAQ, reflecting DRMC general penalty referenced in 1-13(a)), plus license denial, fine, suspension, revocation, or non-renewal for primary-residence violations, insurance non-compliance, zoning violations, or operation adversely affecting neighborhood health/safety/welfare (DRMC 33-53, 33-54; STR Rules Sections 4-5). Insurance lapse causes automatic suspension (Rule 3.4). Operating after license expiration is unlawful (DRMC 33-52(d)). Platforms: civil penalty of $1,000 per violation per day for receiving payment for unlicensed Denver STRs or record-keeping failures, strict liability (DRMC 33-49(f)-(h), enacted by CB20-1229). False application statements are made under penalty of perjury (DRMC 33-48(b)).
Platform liabilitySince CB20-1229 (passed November 2020; city summary states effective February 1, 2021), booking service providers are strictly liable ($1,000/violation/day) for processing payments for unlicensed STRs; platforms must retain 5 years of transaction records (host name, address, dates, price, license number) and the city publishes a list of all licensed STRs (DRMC 33-55). The Director of Excise and Licenses has subpoena power (DRMC 32-26).
NotesDenver pairs licensing with active primary-residence enforcement: the Director may weigh voter registration, tax records, time spent at the property and rental frequency (DRMC 33-53(a)). Per news reports (not independently verified against official records): the city has revoked licenses for primary-residence violations, and in 2019 the Denver DA filed felony 'attempting to influence a public servant' charges against four hosts over primary-residence attestations — those charges were later dismissed.

Pending changes

  • Colorado SB26-116 (Property Tax Modifications) as introduced would have created a state-administered municipal lodging tax framework and barred new/expanded municipal lodging taxes after Jan 1, 2027 outside that framework, and changed income-approach valuation of lodging property — provisions relevant to Denver's Lodger's Tax. All lodging-tax and lodging-valuation sections were stripped by amendment; the enacted version (signed June 2, 2026, general effective date Aug 12, 2026 subject to referendum petition) contains no lodging or STR provisions. No other pending state STR legislation found: the 2024 STR property-tax reclassification bills (SB24-033, postponed indefinitely 4/16/2024; HB24-1299, postponed indefinitely 4/22/2024) died, and no STR-specific bill was identified in the 2026 session, which has adjourned. No pending Denver ordinance or rule changes to the STR program were identified as of 2026-07-15. — passed-not-effective, 2026-08-12 [official]

What we could not verify (8)

  • Current codified text of DRMC Chapter 33, Article III (Secs. 33-46 to 33-57) could not be fetched from library.municode.com (HTTP 403); all code citations were instead verified against the city-posted signed ordinance PDFs (CB20-0240, CB20-1229) and official city summaries — confirm no post-2020 amendments to Article III in the codified DRMC.
  • Whether Denver charges a fee for the Lodger's Tax ID/license registration was not verified; value set to null.
  • Renewal window discrepancy between official pages: city FAQ says renewal may be submitted up to 60 days before expiration; the renewal application page says up to 90 days.
  • Colorado's 4% state sales tax on lodging and platform (marketplace facilitator) collection of the state tax were verified only via Denver's Tax Guide Topic 97, not against a Colorado Department of Revenue or C.R.S. source; collectedByPlatform for the state tax set to null.
  • CB20-1229 effective-date ambiguity: the signed bill text reads 'on and after February 1, 2020' for the platform prohibition, while the city's laws/rules page states it took effect February 1, 2021.
  • Enforcement history items (first license revocation; 2019 felony charges against four hosts, later dismissed) are sourced to news outlets (9News, BusinessDen) and were not verified against official DA or Excise & Licenses records.
  • The exact maximum fine ('up to $999 per incident') comes from the official city FAQ; the underlying DRMC Sec. 1-13(a) general-penalty text was not directly fetched.
  • No 2025-2026 Denver ordinance or rule changes to the STR program were found in official sources or news searches, but absence of change could not be positively proven; a check of Denver City Council records for 2025-2026 amendments to DRMC Ch. 33 Art. III is recommended.

Sources

A markdown mirror of this page lives at /denver-co.md for AI tools and researchers.

STRWatch publishes educational information about short-term rental regulation, checked against the official sources linked above as of the date shown. It is not legal advice, and rules change — a city can move between the times we check it. For decisions with money at stake, confirm with the authority linked above or a local attorney.