Short-term rentals in Eagle, explained properly.

Section 5.17.040 has the owner or property management firm register the STR with the Community Development Director or designee, on forms the Town supplies, at least ten days before any advertising. A professionally managed firm may register several STRs by filing a list of all the STRs it manages, updated at least quarterly. Each change of ownership needs a new registration. The Town's page says registration is due annually by January 1 and is handled online through Xpress Bill Pay.

Section 5.17.030 requires a Town business license under Section 5.04.020 for each STR, and the Town's page says one is required for all lodging providers. The Town's FAQ says that once your registration is approved you are directed to the Town Clerk for the license, that there is a fee for it, and that one business license covers both a whole-home and a partial-home rental. We did not read Section 5.04.020 or a business license fee schedule, so the fee is not shown here.

The Town's FAQ says an STR license covers one dwelling unit, an owner may have at most one whole-home rental and one partial-home rental, and each STR needs its own registration. The business license covers both rentals. This limit comes from the FAQ page, so it is marked for review until it is matched to code text.

The Town's registration page and FAQ both say there is no fee to register an STR. Section 5.17.040 says the fee is set by resolution of the Town Council, and we did not read a fee resolution or a dated fee schedule, so this is marked for review. The Town business license has its own fee (see above).

Under Section 5.17.040(C), if the STR is in a unit that shares a wall with another unit, the registration form must include a copy of a written notice of the proposed STR use that the owner or property manager sent to the last known address of the record owner of the adjoining residential unit. The notice goes by first-class mail or email at least seven days before registering.

Section 5.17.050 has the owner or property management firm appoint the local representative and tell the Community Development Director or designee in writing within five days of the appointment or any change, with contact information. Initial complaints go to the local representative, who must take reasonable steps to resolve the issue within 60 minutes, including visiting the site if necessary (Section 5.17.130).

No registration form is accepted without an affidavit, signed by the owner or the property management firm, certifying that the STR is in habitable condition and complies with the standards in Section 5.17.060 (listed under Operating rules). The Town's registration page also links a self-compliance affidavit.

Advertising must show the STR registration number (or, for professionally managed STRs, the Town business license number) immediately after the description (Section 5.17.090). A sign posted conspicuously inside each STR must carry the local representative's current contact information, the street address of the STR and the registration number, and all exits must be clearly identified (Section 5.17.080). The Town's FAQ also says the registration document must be posted in a conspicuous place in the unit at all times.

Section 5.17.060 sets minimum standards that apply at all times while the STR is occupied, including sound structure, working detectors and extinguishers, an operable toilet, sink and tub or shower, enough trash receptacles, labeled electrical panels, and occupancy that complies with Title 4, Chapter 4.04 of the Code (which we did not read, so this page gives no occupancy figure). Pets are subject to Title 8, Chapter 8.12.

Section 5.17.070 says parking for each STR must comply with all applicable provisions of the Code, all vehicles must be parked in designated parking areas, and parking in any landscaped area is prohibited.

Violations of Chapter 5.17 are civil infractions, and each day of violation is a separate offense. Per STR in a 12-month period: a written warning for the first violation, $500 for the second, $1,500 for the third, and for any additional violation the STR is prohibited for two years. The owner is liable for all violations at the STR, and a property management firm is jointly and severally liable for the STRs it manages. The Town may also seek damages, specific performance and injunctions, including eviction of occupants and a ban on occupancy.

Chapter 5.05 levies the tax on every person or business that furnishes a lodging room or accommodation for less than one month or 30 consecutive days in the Town, at six percent of the rental fee, price or other consideration paid, per day per occupied room. The rate was set by Ordinance 24-2020 (December 8, 2020). The Town's page says the tax covers all short-term rentals, whole-house and guest-room, whether booked through sites such as Airbnb or Vrbo. The Town's pages word the base as net lodging sales (registration page) and gross short-term rents not already remitted by an intermediary (FAQ); this page follows the code. A taxpayer who pays $50 or more of this tax in a calendar year is exempt from the general occupation tax in Chapter 5.02. This page does not total the Town tax with state or county taxes.

Vendors remit the tax by the tenth day of each month for lodging provided in the preceding month, with a return. The Town Clerk may allow a vendor whose monthly tax is under $60 to file at intervals of up to three months. The Town says a return is required even if no income was generated, and that registrations, returns and payments are processed online through Xpress Bill Pay. If the tax is late, the penalty is ten percent of the tax due or $10, whichever is greater, and interest accrues at 1.5% a month (the Town's page states this as 18% a year); the Town Clerk may waive a penalty for good cause. Section 5.17.100 also requires all applicable Town sales and lodging taxes to be collected and remitted for each STR.

The Town's FAQ says Airbnb and Vrbo do not collect or remit lodgers' tax to the Town of Eagle on behalf of owners or authorized agents, and all lodging tax is remitted directly to the Town. The FAQ is undated, so confirm with the Town before relying on it. The state-level platform rules for state-collected taxes are in the Colorado section above.

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.

Colorado counties may add a county lodging tax, regional transportation authorities a visitor benefit tax, and local marketing districts a marketing tax on rooms subject to state sales tax. County lodging and visitor benefit taxes are filed quarterly with the Department of Revenue on form DR 1485; the Department's DR 1003 publication lists the rates.