Denver Short-Term Rental Rules

Denver classifies any paid stay of fewer than 30 consecutive days as a short-term rental, from a whole-home booking to a single rented room. Crossing that 30-day line is the dividing point: shorter stays trigger the short-term rental licensing, tax, and primary-residence requirements, while longer stays fall under a different residential-rental framework.

The central pillar of Denver's framework is that a short-term rental must be the host's primary residence, the place where the person's habitation is fixed and their usual place of return. A person can have only one primary residence, and the city verifies it with cross-referenced documents such as a Colorado driver's license, voter registration, vehicle registration, tax-return address, and utility bills. Discrepancies can lead to denial or revocation.

A short-term rental generally requires a city license and a lodger's tax account, and the valid business license number must appear in all advertisements. Hosts must also meet risk considerations-equipment, insurance, and tax-compliance obligations. These requirements should be confirmed directly with the city, as details and rates can change.

Because the home includes two lower-level suite areas with kitchen or kitchenette and laundry access, it naturally raises short-term rental questions. But having separate spaces does not by itself permit short-term rental use; the primary-residence and licensing rules still govern.

The lower level's potential separate access can make a space feel like an independent rental, yet the same rules apply.

This is a key point for multi-suite homes: Denver rules can restrict operating more than one short-term rental contract on a single parcel. A host generally cannot, for example, rent multiple separate spaces to different short-term guests at once.

Remember that a license does not transfer with the sale.

Lodging taxes apply to short-term stays but not to stays of 30 days or more.