STRWATCH.AI / CO / Breckenridge

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

HEAVILY REGULATED

Rentals of units inside the Town of Breckenridge for fewer than 30 consecutive days require an accommodation-unit license before operation or advertising.

See permits and requirements

Sources checked15 open items listed below

The code regulates an accommodation unit, including a house, condominium, townhome, trailer or studio, rented for fewer than 30 consecutive days; it does not create a separate hosted-rental category. Primary residence is not a general eligibility condition. Occupancy is unit-specific: two persons per bedroom plus four, or four total for a studio. Properties subject to deed restrictions, HOA rules or leases may face separate private limits not established by the Town sources reviewed. The 30-day licensing threshold is not a blanket exemption from every tax or property restriction: state long-stay exemption conditions differ and state-administered local opt-outs remain unverified.

Permits and requirements

Accommodation Unit License and underlying BOLT eligibility $75/year studio; $100/year one bedroom; $125/year two bedrooms; $150/year three bedrooms; $175/year four or more bedrooms
Town of Breckenridge Finance Department
Renewal: Annual; licenses issued with a December 31 expiration must be renewed by December 31 of that year. Title transfer, abandonment, surrender, nonrenewal or revocation ends the license.
Before operating, the owner must be eligible for, apply for and receive a Town business and occupational license, pay required taxes and fees, identify advertising methods and any rental agent, and designate a responsible agent. The Town FAQ says the accommodation-unit license is required before advertising. The $75-$175 tier is the accommodation-unit business and occupational license tax enacted in section 4-1-4(A); it is separate from the annual regulatory fee. Section 4-1-11 requires payment at application and annually before expiry, with a 10% delinquency charge after 30 days unpaid.
official source
Annual accommodation-unit regulatory fee $756 per bedroom or studio annually reported in the FAQ reviewed September 5, 2026; adopted 2026 amount not independently confirmed
Town of Breckenridge Finance Department
Renewal: Annual, due with the accommodation-unit license
The code authorizes Town Council to set the annual amount through the budget process, not exceeding $756 per bedroom or studio, and carries forward the preceding year's amount if Council does not fix a new one. The fee does not apply when the unit is the license holder's primary residence and is rented no more than 21 days per year. The FAQ reviewed September 5, 2026 states $756, but its four-bedroom example contains an arithmetic inconsistency. Administrative rules require exemption documentation when first requested and annually: copies of two of driver license, voter registration and vehicle registration. Noncompliance triggers the fee. Primary residence means the fixed habitation and usual place of return for the license term; only one is allowed.
official source
Zone cap and waitlist eligibility Cost not verified
Town of Breckenridge Finance Department
Renewal: A waitlist position is property-owner-specific and becomes void on sale; when contacted, the owner has 14 business days to submit a complete application
Zone 1 is capped at 1,680 licenses, Zone 2 at 130, and Zone 3 at 390. Resort-zone eligibility requires at least 15,000 square feet of on-site resort amenity/conference area, or 7,000 square feet with an entrance within 150 feet walking distance of a ski lift terminal, subject to the director's specified equivalent/adjacent-space determinations (existing residential conversions cannot count), a 24-hour staffed on-site front desk and phone, separate 24-hour security, on-site housekeeping and enclosed garage parking; the director may impose shuttle conditions. Licenses valid before Ordinance 28's effective date may renew until title transfer even when their zone is over cap; the cap also does not bar an applicant whose building permit was issued on or before September 14, 2021 if the license application is filed within 20 days after certificate of occupancy. The July 2026 Town page lists 1,221 current Zone 1 licenses and 467 available licenses, 130 Zone 2 licenses with none available, 1,002 Zone 3 licenses with none available, and 1,711 Resort Property Zone licenses with no waitlist; the page warns lists are static and not real-time. Ordinary licenses are nontransferable, with limited no-consideration/family/entity/court exceptions and an optional temporary license of no more than six months for existing reservations after title transfer. A qualifying resort can license only in the resort zone. Transfer exceptions permit, but do not require, issuance of a new license: no-consideration family conveyance, grantor-created trust, grantor-controlled entity, same-party joint-tenancy change, death, court bankruptcy/receivership, no-consideration corrective/title/boundary/easement conveyance, court title/condemnation order, or spouses' separation/divorce. Administrative rules define controlling interest as at least 50% of voting stock, require Town forms for a temporary license, expire it six months from deed issuance (not application), and prohibit advertising under that temporary license.
official source
Operating, safety, responsible-agent and advertising standards Cost not verified
Town of Breckenridge Finance Department
Renewal: Responsible-agent/application information changes must be reported in writing within 30 days; rental-agent changes as soon as practicable
A functioning smoke detector, carbon-monoxide detector and fire extinguisher are required. Vehicles must use on-site or Town-designated parking; sleeping in vehicles is barred; trash rules and the unreasonable-noise standard apply. The responsible agent must be available 24/7 and respond to Town complaints within 60 minutes. Ads must show the BOLT number and maximum overnight occupancy. Inspections may occur at reasonable times subject to the entry, consent, emergency and warrant provisions in section 4-6-9. The Town FAQ requires separate business licensing for compensated property managers/rental agents and responsible agents engaged in business; an uncompensated personal contact does not need that agent business license. Advertising methods must be approved by or disclosed in writing to Finance, with prominent 'Breckenridge Business License No.' and 'Maximum overnight occupancy' labels. Bedroom count defaults to the Summit County Assessor database; a different count requires Town inspection and all section 4-6-4 criteria (70 square feet, five-foot ceiling, no through-way, privacy walls/doors, required egress window, operable smoke/CO detectors within 15 feet and permanently affixed clothes storage). General noise limits are 55 daytime/50 nighttime dBA in the residential noise zone and 60/55 in the commercial noise zone, with nighttime 7 p.m.-7 a.m., measured under section 5-8-4; the stricter zone applies at zone boundaries. The Town hotline accepts identified complaints at the time of the incident; crime/safety issues go to law enforcement.
official source
Town sales and accommodations tax filing Electronic filing; Town guidance reviewed September 29 reports a $15 paper-return fee for 2026 periods
Town of Breckenridge Finance Department
Renewal: 20th following the assigned monthly, quarterly or annual period; next working day for weekend/postal holiday
Town accommodations returns ordinarily are due by the 20th of each month for the preceding month; the code permits authorized alternate intervals. Town guidance reviewed September 29 describes XpressBillPay, assigned monthly/quarterly/annual periods and next-working-day adjustment. For Town sales and accommodations taxes, a marketplace seller gets transaction-specific relief only with an explicit facilitator collection/remittance contract or a good-faith registration/collection certification. Direct or otherwise non-facilitated sales retain ordinary licensing, collection, remittance, filing and recordkeeping duties. Whether an existing platform-only host must continue submitting zero returns or close an account remains unresolved. Keep Town sales records at least three years and accommodations records three years following the return/payment due date. State-administered registration/filing follows the separate state requirement below; Town procedures do not establish state duties. Town guidance's sales-tax late charge is 10% (minimum $15), plus 1% monthly interest; section 3-5-14 separately imposes a 15% accommodations-tax deficiency penalty (minimum $25), plus 1% interest per month or fraction, payable within 30 days after demand. Collect disputed accommodations tax and give the purchaser the prescribed receipt; §3-5-12 requires that purchaser's exemption-refund application within 60 days of purchase, with vendor affidavit/original receipt and certificate. A vendor's return overpayment claim instead generally has three years from return filing under §3-5-13. Hold collected tax in trust and show it separately; qualifying consolidated returns need a per-location supplemental report. Fraud can add 50% plus monthly interest under §3-5-15; the ordinary late charge is not the fraud sanction.
official source
Colorado sales-tax license and assigned state filing Cost not verified
Colorado Department of Revenue
Renewal: Current license term, renewal amount and procedure not independently established in this city review
Obtain a state sales-tax license before retail sales unless exclusively offering and actually selling through qualifying marketplace facilitators. Direct/multichannel sellers retain licensing and applicable collection/filing duties. Marketplace relief requires correct transaction information and an explicit collection/remittance contract or facilitator certification; retain proof annually. Ordinary assigned returns report exempt and zero sales. Monthly filing is the default; approved quarterly filing applies above $50 but below $1,100 average monthly state plus state-administered local tax, and annual filing at $50 or less. Keep adequate records of direct and facilitated sales and annual relief documentation. A seller cannot claim a purchaser's refund for tax the seller did not collect, or protest a notice issued to its facilitator. The Department may increase filing frequency after its annual review or revoke nonmonthly approval for delinquency; request seasonal or other alternate schedules rather than assuming relief. Returns/payments are due on the twentieth after the period, or next business day for a weekend/legal holiday. Existing marketplace-only account closure and current license/renewal costs remain unresolved. County guidance says no separate County sales-tax license is needed.
official source

The full picture

Rentals of units inside the Town of Breckenridge for fewer than 30 consecutive days require an accommodation-unit license before operation or advertising. Licenses are controlled by four mapped areas: Zone 1 is capped at 1,680, Zone 2 at 130, Zone 3 at 390, and the Resort Property Zone is limited by qualifying inventory rather than a fixed number. The Town's July 2026 page reports availability only in Zone 1 and the Resort Property Zone; Zones 2 and 3 require waitlisting. Annual license fees are $75-$175 by bedroom count, plus a separate regulatory fee: the FAQ reviewed September 5 reports $756 per bedroom or studio, while the code sets that as a ceiling and the adopted 2026 fee attachment remains unverified. A primary-residence/21-day exemption applies. Occupancy, parking, safety, trash, noise, responsible-agent and advertising rules apply. Lodging under 30 days is shown at a combined 12.275% tax rate. Administrative fines can reach $1,000 per day until cure.

Taxes on guests & hosts

TaxRateApplies toPlatform collectsOfficial source
Colorado state sales tax 2.900% State sales tax on taxable lodging inside Town; part of the published 12.275% short-stay total, not an additional charge. Rule 39-26-704–4 exempts a permanent-resident natural person with an enforceable written agreement for at least 30 consecutive days; electronic agreements qualify. Duration alone does not establish exemption. Not verified source
Summit County sales tax 2.000% Lodging under 30 days inside Town as one component of the published 12.275% combined rate; parcel location and applicable exemptions must be verified. State-administered filing follows the separate state requirement; long-stay local opt-outs and specific exemptions remain unverified. Not verified source
Mass transportation sales tax 0.750% Lodging under 30 days inside Town as one component of the published 12.275% combined rate; parcel location and applicable exemptions must be verified. State-administered filing follows the separate state requirement; long-stay local opt-outs and specific exemptions remain unverified. Not verified source
Housing authority sales tax 0.725% Lodging under 30 days inside Town as one component of the published 12.275% combined rate; parcel location and applicable exemptions must be verified. State-administered filing follows the separate state requirement; long-stay local opt-outs and specific exemptions remain unverified. Not verified source
Town of Breckenridge sales tax 2.500% Lodging under 30 days inside Town as one component of the published 12.275% combined rate; parcel location and applicable exemptions must be verified. Facilitator liability and conditional marketplace-seller relief are governed by section 3-2-7-1. Collection applies to qualifying facilitators on facilitated taxable sales, not every service or direct booking. The Town FAQ reviewed September 5, 2026 reports actual collection for Airbnb bookings since October 1, 2019 and Vrbo bookings since January 1, 2020; other named services are unverified. Not verified source
Town public accommodations tax 3.400% Purchase price of lodging inside Town; continuous residence or a written right to reside for at least 30 consecutive days is exempt. Government-capacity sales and qualifying directly billed/paid charitable-organization sales are also exempt under section 3-5-5. This is a component, not an additional 3.4% on top of the published 12.275% total. Qualifying facilitators must collect under section 3-5-7(C); collection is not universal across every service or direct booking. The Town FAQ reviewed September 5, 2026 reports actual collection for Airbnb bookings since October 1, 2019 and Vrbo bookings since January 1, 2020; other named services are unverified. Not verified source

Enforcement

PenaltiesThe finance director may impose an administrative fine up to $1,000 per day until cure, in addition to citations or general penalties; the fine is due within 14 days of the notice date (notice sent by first-class mail) and may be appealed. Advertising violations receive written notice and 15 days to comply. License denial, suspension or revocation may also apply under the code and administrative rules. Sections 4-6-14 and 4-6-15 require investigation, show-cause notice and hearing before suspension, revocation or conditions; licensees may use counsel, present evidence and cross-examine. The Town bears the preponderance burden. A written final manager decision is subject to appropriate Rule 106(a)(4) court review; stipulation discussions must begin at least 14 days before hearing.
Platform liabilitySections 3-2-7-1 and 3-5-7(C) require qualifying marketplace facilitators to collect and remit Town sales and accommodations taxes, assume retailer/vendor duties, and expose them to unpaid tax, penalties and interest. A seller's transaction-specific relief requires an explicit collection/remittance contract or good-faith facilitator certification; non-facilitated sales retain ordinary host duties. Accommodation-tax facilitator excludes advertising-only services. The Town FAQ reviewed September 5, 2026 reports Airbnb collection since October 1, 2019 and Vrbo since January 1, 2020, but named-service coverage of the state-administered components is not independently verified. No separate STR-license booking-platform prohibition or per-booking penalty was established.
NotesThe Town may inspect for health, safety and welfare enforcement, request consent where required, enter without an inspection warrant in a qualifying emergency, or seek a municipal-court inspection warrant. The 2026 Town annual-report packet describes a 14-day staff notice for unlicensed advertising followed by $1,000-per-day fines and, after 30 days of continued noncompliance, a $30,000 lien. Section 4-6-11 separately gives 15 days to cure its advertising-display requirements; the legal basis and relationship of the packet's 14-day workflow and lien escalation were not independently established. Section 4-1-12 expressly authorizes a recorded perpetual lien for unpaid accommodation-unit licensing fees, related penalties and attorney fees, but does not itself prescribe a flat $30,000 lien after 30 days. That packet workflow remains a reported practice, not a conclusively verified statutory escalation. Accommodations-tax assessments/refund denials have a separate written Finance petition due within 30 days from the assessment/decision date (§3-5-18); an estimated-assessment petition does not stop interest. Section 3-5-19 prints 30 days for Rule 106(a)(4) court review and requires a bond or cash deposit twice the audited tax, interest and other charges. Do not rely on that local 30-day court wording: the Colorado Supreme Court's Brown decision explains the strict 28-day Rule 106(b) limit unless a statute provides otherwise, and rejects extension for excusable neglect. This is general court-review authority, not a Breckenridge tax-specific ruling; confirm the applicable remedy and security requirement promptly. A jeopardy distraint hearing request must be written within seven days after issuance of the notice and demand for payment or distraint warrant; the hearing is due within 15 days of request and decision within 30 days after hearing (§3-5-21). Requesting it does not stay collection without satisfactory security. Tax liens and seizure/sale remedies are separate from license-fee liens and sanctions.

What we could not verify (15)

  • The annual regulatory fee is stated by the Town's FAQ and main STR page as currently $756/bedroom-or-studio, but the codified Town Code 4-6-3(B)(2) only sets a ceiling ('not to exceed seven hundred fifty six dollars ($756.00)'), with the actual annual figure fixed each year by Town Council as part of its budget process. This session did not locate the specific 2026 budget resolution reaffirming $756 as the operative (vs. a lower) figure for the current year; the two Town-facing pages corroborate $756 as currently in effect but a primary budget-resolution citation was not obtained.
  • Resolution 2025-12 Section 3 adopts all 2026 operating-budget fees effective January 1; its full text was read, but the adopted budget's specific regulatory-fee page was not obtained. The FAQ/work-session packet state $756 and its four-bedroom arithmetic example is internally inconsistent.
  • The July 2026 license totals and availability are static rather than real-time; confirm current Zone 1 availability and Zone 2/3 waitlist positions directly with the Town before relying on them for a transaction.
  • No affirmative Town insurance requirement was found in the fetched licensing code and pages, but absence was not established from an express official statement.
  • Town tax facilitator liability and conditional seller relief are now documented in sections 3-2-7-1 and 3-5-7, but named-platform coverage of all state-administered components and continuing zero-return/account-closure duties remain unverified.
  • Official current records were not obtained for the separate Colorado Property Owners for Property Rights litigation or any reported remand. No current case disposition or preemption conclusion is asserted.
  • The 2026 annual-report packet describes a $30,000 lien after continued unlicensed-advertising noncompliance, but the codified authority and precise prerequisites were not independently located.
  • No comprehensive official source established all deed-restriction, HOA, lease, or master-plan restrictions applicable to an individual property; parcel-specific private and land-use restrictions require separate review.
  • Live code was read through Ordinance 8, Series 2026 (August 25); the legislative index through September 8 includes Ordinance 9 traffic changes and Ordinance 7 ADU changes. Individual-property land-use effects and exhaustive later or proposed STR changes are not established by that index alone.
  • The federal court dismissal of a constitutional challenge to Breckenridge's STR cap ordinance (Colorado Politics, cited in sources[] as type 'news') was not independently verified against a court record or the Town's own legal-notices page; it is not asserted as fact in the main fields, only listed as background in sources[].
  • July 2026 Zone 1 arithmetic is inconsistent: 1,680 cap minus 1,221 active equals 459, not the published 467 available. This is a dated source report, not verified live availability.
  • No single stay duration guarantees exemption from every layer. State exemption requires permanent natural-person residency and an enforceable written 30-day agreement; local opt-outs remain unverified.
  • State license/renewal costs and procedures, and existing marketplace-only account closure, remain unverified; ordinary state assigned-period zero-return duties are documented.
  • Local §3-5-19 prints a 30-day Rule 106 court deadline, but Supreme Court Brown describes a strict 28-day rule unless a statute provides otherwise. Confirm the applicable tax-review route and bond/cash security; do not rely on the longer local wording.
  • Current official SOS rules now establish state licensing, filing and exemption conditions. Local exemption opt-outs, state license/renewal amounts and existing marketplace-only account closure remain unverified. The February 2026 DOR lodging guide was inaccessible; no content was inferred from its access-error response.

Sources

A markdown mirror of this page lives at /breckenridge-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.