Time is up and the short term rental license moratorium that Summit County had in place has come to an end. New rules and fees have been determined and any new permit requests for properties that fall under county jurisdiction will be following the new STR rules. Short term rentals are considered to be any rentals that last for less than 30 days. Even if you rent just once a year a short term rental license is required if that rental is shorter than 30 days.
Property location matters
If your Summit County home is within the town limits of Breckenridge, Dillon, Frisco, Blue River or Silverthorne your short term rental regulations will be set by the towns. Just because your address is Breckenridge, it doesn’t mean you are within town limits. In fact, you could be in the county, Blue River or Breckenridge with a Breck address. If you are outside of town limits, Summit County rules apply. Summit County does include areas like Copper Mountain, Keystone, Wildernest, Peak 7 and Quandary. If you are unsure which regulations apply to your property, you can contact us or reach out to the town referenced in your address.
New STR rules
Property owners that are not within town boundaries can once again apply for a short term rental license. New licenses had been restricted but that has ended and you can once again apply for a license. If you do not have a license currently, your new license will be a Neighborhood license or Resort license. The Resort Overlay area is for areas identified as resort areas, that were designed more for short term rentals. Copper Mountain and Keystone both qualify for the Resort license. Properties in Tiger Run and the Ski Watch and Four O’Clock Run Subdivisions also have been identified as Resort properties. Everywhere else would need a Neighborhood license.
Resort Overlay licenses
If your property is in a Resort Overlay area, your short term rental license will have no restrictions on how many nights you are able to rent your property. You do need to follow all the same rules as Neighborhood properties. Rules like posting rules for renters, and including occupancy limits and license number in your advertising apply to all short term rental licenses.
Neighborhood licenses
Neighborhood licenses are slightly more complicated. There are three types, appropriately named Type I, Type II and Type III.
Type I is for primary residences that are occupied by the owner at least 9 months of the year. If that owner rents a portion of their home short term there are no restrictions on the number of nights they can rent. If an owner short term rents their entire home while they are not living in it, up to 60 rental nights are okay.
Type II is for everyone else. This license limits the number or rental nights to 135 a year.
Type III are for those that would like an exception to any of the rules.
Current license holders
There is a third category. That is for anyone that currently holds a short term rental license. The license is renewable annually for the same owner of the same property until September 30, 2025. There are no nightly rental restrictions on this license. At the owner’s discretion, a previous license can convert to a new license type during the renewal process.
STR fees
In addition to new rules, the fees associated with your licensing are increasing. They range from $200 for a Type I license to $500 for an older license renewal to $3000+ for a Type III. The increase will help to cover the costs associated with administration of the short term rental program. Evaluations will happen annually and fees may change moving forward. See the current fees.
Many more STR rules and regulations
As mentioned previously, there are many more rules to follow if you decide to short term rent your property. Those regulations include safety items like carbon monoxide and fire detectors, noise and trash rules and advertising rules. Review the complete list of rules for short term rentals in Summit County.
If you are feeling overwhelmed by all the rules that go along with short term rentals in Summit County, you can always hire a management company. They will handle everything for you. You can sit back and relax knowing everything is up to snuff while you earn some income from your second home.
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