Short-term rentals in Fruita, explained properly.

Sec. 17.09.060(C)(2) says a short-term rental permit may be issued only to the owner of the property used for short-term rental. The permit attaches only to the property for which it is issued and the property owner to which it is issued. The City's page says an individual may own multiple short-term rental properties.

The permit is nontransferable upon sale or other transfer of ownership. On a transfer, the new owner must apply for a new short-term rental permit if it wishes to continue the use. The City's page also lists a change of ownership of the property as an event after which a permit expires.

Sec. 17.09.060(E)(9) requires short-term rentals to be rented for a minimum of forty-five days in a calendar year, and failure to rent the property makes it ineligible for renewal in the subsequent year. The City's page repeats the 45-day minimum in its FAQ on revocation.

Sec. 17.09.060(B)(2) says private covenants running with the land may restrict or prohibit short-term rentals or similar uses, and that it is the property owner's responsibility, not the City's, to ensure compliance. The City's page says areas outside the downtown triangle are primarily newer developments governed by homeowners associations, which generally do not permit short-term rentals, and that an owner whose HOA permits them must follow the neighborhood rules and pay any associated fees.

Before a permit is issued the owner must obtain a sales and lodgers tax license as well as a business license and comply with all applicable local, State and federal taxes (Sec. 17.09.060(E)(1)). The City's page says short-term rentals are businesses that require a business license for each separate location, unless units are contiguous and operate as a unit, that the license does not transfer as it would for other businesses, and that the business license is a separate requirement handled by the City Clerk. The land use code adds that short-term rentals are not considered home occupations. The Colorado sales tax license is covered on the Colorado page; the lodging tax is Chapter 3.18.

Sec. 17.09.060(H) says a permit shall not be issued or renewed until the short-term rental permit fee has been paid and that the Fruita Council sets the fee annually. The City's page gives the annual business license fee as $30 per year, with renewal forms mailed every November and due by January 2nd, and says the Short-Term Rental Application Fee and the Business License Fee are non-refundable. The $30 comes from the City's page, which shows no fee schedule date, and the Council's current permit fee amount was not among the text we read, so ask the Community Development Department for the current fee before applying.

Permits are valid for a single calendar year and expire on December 31 regardless of when issued (a permit issued in July still expires that December 31) unless a renewal is requested. The renewal application must be submitted by December 1 of each year, and permits in compliance may apply for renewal. The owner must also register annually, certifying that the permit terms are still being met and updating any material changes to the unit or property. The City's page says renewals are filed on Cloudpermit by December 1, that owners must update their information in November, and that failing to renew by December 1 expires the permit. A permit is also ineligible for renewal after a year in which the 45-day minimum was not met.

The City's page says applications are submitted and renewed in Cloudpermit, and that an account is required. Under Sec. 17.09.060(H), within sixty days of receiving a complete application and application fee the Community Development Director may issue the permit, which may contain conditions and restrictions. The application must include a sketch or drawing of the unit showing all rooms, doors and windows with dimensions and the on-site guest parking areas, and, if the unit is reached by a shared driveway, a copy of a written instrument authorizing use of the driveway for short-term rental. The owner must give the name, address and phone number of the local point of contact and update them within ten days of a change. The City's step-by-step guide says fees are paid online through Payport, a State of Colorado payment service. Kitchen facilities may serve only the property owner and the guests.

The owner must permit inspection of the premises by the City or its agent or employee while the permit application is pending and afterwards upon reasonable notice. The local point of contact must be authorized by the owner to allow inspection to check compliance with the fire and building codes and the permit requirements. The City's Cloudpermit guide says an inspection is requested after payment is accepted and the permit is issued once the inspection is approved.

The owner must demonstrate and certify that the unit has, at all times, a working smoke detector, a working carbon monoxide detector and adequate and functional building egress from each sleeping room. A notice must be posted in a highly visible place for guests with the location of building exits and fire extinguishers, the local point of contact, the short-term rental application number, noise restrictions and quiet hours, parking restrictions, the trash disposal, storage and collection schedule, and relevant water restrictions (Sec. 17.09.060(E)(2)).

The owner designates one or more people to be the local point of contact, available and responsible for immediately responding, within a reasonable amount of time, to complaints about or violations of permit terms or public nuisance rules. Local means having a permanent address within a twenty-five-mile radius of the rental, and the owner may be the contact only if that criterion is met. The contact must be authorized by the owner to permit City inspection, must have physical access to the property and must be authorized to make decisions about it for the owner. The contact's name, address and phone number go to the City and must be updated within ten days of a change.

Advertisements must include the short-term rental application number assigned by the planning clearance, and failing to prominently display it in any advertisement of the accommodation is a violation. Advertising covers written, oral or video communication, signage, mailing, print, internet listings, email, social media and other means meant to induce a person to use the accommodation for consideration. Signs advertising short-term rentals, on or off the premises, are prohibited (Sec. 17.09.060(E)(10) and (11)).

Every vendor must collect the lodging tax from the guest, state it separately from the price, and may not assume or absorb it (Secs. 3.18.060 and 3.18.070). Returns for the preceding calendar month are filed with the Finance Director and the City's page says they are due by the 20th day of each month; payments are made in person at the Fruita Civic Center at 325 E Aspen Avenue. A vendor in compliance may deduct three and one-third percent of the amount remitted as a collection fee. If the tax is not remitted by the 20th, a penalty of 10 percent of the tax due or $10, whichever is greater, applies and interest of one percent a month accrues; the Finance Director may waive the penalty for good cause. Vendors keep sales records for three years. The Finance Director may accept returns at other intervals, and may allow a vendor whose monthly tax is under $60 to file at intervals of up to three months. Retail sales tax returns go to the State of Colorado, not the City.

Sec. 17.09.060(G) says violations are enforced under Chapter 1.28 of the Fruita Municipal Code, which we did not read, so the code's own penalty amounts are not shown here. A violation may also be punished by denial of a short-term rental permit for the property or owner for two years from the date of revocation, and all amounts owed to the City in connection with a violation are a first-priority lien on the rental property. The City's page says non-permitted owners may face municipal court proceedings and fines of up to $1,000 per day, and that the City planned compliance-checking software using GIS data and platform listings starting around the end of 2023 or beginning of 2024.

Grounds: failing to comply with Section 17.09.060 or a permit condition, failing to collect or remit lodging or sales taxes, giving materially false or misleading information, or excessive and substantial neighbor complaints that the owner or local contact did not adequately and timely address, as determined solely by the City. The owner receives notice and has ten days to respond, and the Community Development Director decides within ten days of the response date. Any aggrieved person may appeal the issuance, denial, suspension or revocation to the Fruita City Council within ten days of the decision (Sec. 17.09.060(F)). The City's FAQ cites Section 17.09.100 for the compliance ground; the code section for short-term rentals is 17.09.060, and this page follows the code.

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.