Short-term rentals in Colorado Springs, explained properly.

A short-term rental may not operate without a City Short Term Rental Permit, issued by the Planning Department under City Code § 7.5.510. Each listing needs its own permit application and fee (for example, a backyard unit and a room in the house need two permits). The permit is valid for one year from issuance and can be renewed for further one-year periods. The City reviews a complete application within 10 business days.

Applicants choose an owner-occupied or a non-owner-occupied permit. The City Code defines an owner-occupied property as one actually occupied by the owner for at least 185 days a year. Non-owner-occupied rentals face the zoning and spacing limits below.

No non-owner-occupied short-term rental may be located in the R-E, R-1 9 or R-1 6 zone districts or in single-family planned development (PDZ) districts. The City says this applies to non-owner-occupied permit applications submitted after December 26, 2019, the date of its 2019 amendment. You can look up a property's zoning on the City's SpringsView map.

No non-owner-occupied short-term rental may be within 500 feet of another non-owner-occupied short-term rental. The City says this applies to non-owner-occupied permit applications submitted after December 26, 2019, and that it has no waiting list for non-owner-occupied permits.

Where an owner-occupied short-term rental is owned by an active-duty service member whose permanent duty station is in El Paso County, the City waives the single-family zone and 500-foot spacing limits for up to one year if the service member is ordered to a temporary duty station outside El Paso County.

The City says there is no cap on the number of short-term rentals it approves; the limits apply to non-owner-occupied rentals (zones and spacing).

One short-term rental is allowed within each lawful dwelling unit on a property, up to four per property. In a multi-family building held in common ownership (such as a condominium), each owner may have at most two short-term rentals; entities under common control count as one owner. The City's page says this means one listing on single-family-zoned property, two on R-2 property and up to four on multi-family-zoned property.

Where an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) is built on a property, neither the main house, the ADU nor any other structure on the property may be used as a short-term rental. A property that had both a legally permitted ADU and a legally permitted short-term rental on or before June 30, 2025 may continue as a nonconforming use until the uses change or the short-term rental permit expires, is withdrawn or ends.

The permit is issued to the specific owner, does not run with the property and expires on sale or transfer of the property. It cannot be transferred or assigned to another person, entity or address, but a third party may manage the rental for the owner.

The City's short-term rental permit costs $124.95 a year per permit, not counting sales tax license fees. There is no grace period for late renewals; for a non-owner-occupied permit, failing to renew before expiry can mean losing the established permit.

City Code § 7.3.301(C)(3)(c) says the owner shall obtain a sales tax license from the City Sales Tax Office and owe nothing to the City, and the permit application asks for a sales tax license customer ID. The City's January 2026 application checklist says a City sales tax license is not required if the rental is listed only on Airbnb or Vrbo, and the City's short-term rental page says booking platforms collect and remit City sales tax on their own City licenses, so owners who book directly need a City sales tax license. Check with the City Sales Tax Office before you apply.

Owners must keep property liability insurance of at least $500,000, or show that every hosting platform they rent through provides that coverage. Proof is not needed if reservations are handled only by platforms that extend at least $500,000 of coverage on terms the City accepts.

The application includes a safety self-inspection certification, the sales tax license customer ID, a 24-hour local contact, proof of insurance, proof the standards will be met, the owner-occupied or non-owner-occupied election and a signed statement. The City's checklist also asks for a signed and notarized annual affidavit, proof of listing on the hosting platform and proof of primary residence (two of: driver's license or state ID, vehicle registration, voter registration, a dependent's school registration).

Maximum overnight occupancy is two people per bedroom plus two more per dwelling unit, and never more than 15 people per dwelling unit.

While guests are staying, the owner or a designated local contact must be available at all times to respond within one hour to complaints. The contact must be the owner, the owner's property manager or agent within El Paso County, or a Colorado Springs resident. Changes to the contact must be updated with the City within three days.

The permit, with local contact and emergency safety information, must be displayed prominently inside the rental, and the City-issued permit number must appear in all marketing.

Using a short-term rental for commercial or large social events or gatherings, such as weddings, is prohibited.

Guests must use private driveways first, with overflow parking on the street where allowed. Parking on site outside the driveway (front yards, parkways, rear yards) is prohibited.

Guests may not sleep in unfinished buildings or accessory structures (such as sheds or garages), in commercial or industrial space, outdoors (such as tents) or in a recreational vehicle.

The owner or the owner's agents may not prepare or serve meals for short-term guests.

Owners must keep weekly residential trash collection.

An owner classified as a repeat or chronic repeat offender under the City's zoning enforcement rules (City Code § 7.5.907), or who had a short-term rental permit revoked in the previous two years, does not meet the permit standards.

Colorado Springs is a home-rule city that collects its own sales tax. Its 3.07% sales tax applies to the full price charged for lodging. Stays by a permanent resident under a written agreement for at least 30 consecutive days are exempt.

The City's Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax adds 2% of the entire purchase price of lodging, charged in addition to the 3.07% City sales tax. Stays by a permanent resident under a written agreement for at least 30 consecutive days are exempt.

El Paso County's 1.23% sales tax and the Pikes Peak Rural Transportation Authority's 1% sales tax are collected by the Colorado Department of Revenue together with the 2.9% state sales tax.

The City says marketplace facilitators such as Airbnb, Vrbo and Expedia must collect and remit Colorado Springs sales tax on their own City sales tax licenses. Owners who book guests directly must collect it themselves. All taxes owed to the City must be paid before a permit is issued.

Colorado charges its 2.9% state sales tax on the entire amount charged for rooms and accommodations. A stay may also owe local sales taxes that the Colorado Department of Revenue collects for counties and special districts, and any sales tax of a home-rule city that collects its own tax (see below).

State sales tax does not apply to a room or accommodations rented to a person who is a permanent resident of it and has a written agreement to occupy it for at least 30 consecutive days. Shorter stays are taxed.

The Colorado Department of Revenue says anyone who offers rooms or accommodations for rent must get a Colorado sales tax license and collect sales tax on taxable rentals. A seller who makes sales only through a marketplace may be exempt from licensing, collection and filing if the marketplace collects all state and state-administered local sales taxes for them. The license costs $16 (prorated) plus a $50 deposit, a separate license is needed for each business location, and licenses expire on December 31 of odd-numbered years.

For rooms rented through a marketplace (including online platforms), the marketplace facilitator must collect and remit the state sales tax and the local sales taxes the state collects, plus any county lodging tax and local marketing district tax. City taxes in home-rule cities are separate (see below).

The Colorado Department of Revenue does not administer any lodging tax imposed by a city or town, and it does not collect sales tax for home-rule cities that collect their own. Those taxes are licensed, filed and paid with the city.