STR Permits, Caps, and Fines (Town-by-Town) — What Moves Fast & How to Verify Before You Underwrite
Short-term rental rules in Colorado change at the speed of local politics. In the Front Range and ski towns, the swing factors I see most often: primary-residence tests, cap/overlay maps, spacing buffers, license transfer rules, and fine schedules.
Quick tour (today’s snapshot):
Denver: license required and primary residence only; active enforcement; violations can trigger meaningful fines and loss of license.
Boulder (city): primary residence only, four-year license, annual affidavit; escalating civil penalties for unlicensed renting.
Colorado Springs: permit required; non-owner STRs banned in single-family zones and generally need a 500-ft buffer elsewhere.
Summit County (unincorporated + Breck nearby): basin/zone caps with waitlists; caps ratchet via attrition.
Steamboat Springs: overlay zones (some unlimited, some capped, some prohibited).
Vail: town license required and compliance standards; watch tax/fee updates and HOA rules.
Underwriting workflow I use before writing numbers:
Pull the city/county STR page + municipal code section for definitions (primary residence, owner-occupied, overlays).
Check GIS maps (caps/spacing) and the current license count/waitlist.
Confirm transferability (most licenses do not transfer at sale).
Verify fees/taxes and fine schedule; note renewal timing.
Read the HOA docs—they can be stricter than the city.
If you want me to screen a specific address, I’ll run this checklist and tell you whether the deal pencils under today’s rules.
—Andy | Vail Peak Realty
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