Question About Denver Airbnb Laws

[Scott Trench]

Question - If I were to buy a fourplex in Denver, could I rent out the remaining units Airbnb? 

Here's the checklist:

□ You must be a legal resident of the United States. □ The property must be your primary residence. □ If you do not own the property, you must obtain written documentation from the landlord or property owner allowing you to operate an STR. □ You must possess all applicable Business Taxes licenses, including the Lodger's Tax.  To obtain a tax license visit the Denver eBiz Tax Center and select "Register a new business" under "New User Registration." □ If your property is part of a homeowners association, please verify that STRs are allowed in your HOA. □ Check with your insurance carrier to ensure that your STR is covered.

Does "the property" cover a fourplex that you occupy? A larger building? Assume no HOA.

[James Carlson]

Well there are two answers to your question. Technical and practical.

I hate to bring bad news, but technically, no you cannot rent out the other units. I went to all the city council meetings and have studied the new ordinance for the Airbnb class I teach here in Denver. You can rent out accessory units to your primary residence (a carriage house, an attic apartment, etc), but you can't rent out the other side of a duplex. Essentially, if it has a different address, then it's not your primary residence, even if you own it, and it shares a wall. This provision is nuts to me, but it is what it is.

Now practically speaking, would you get caught? The big question is how Denver will enforce the new law. They don't have any extra staff to do active compliance checks, so it's likely to stay a complaint-driven system. So if you the other four units, all of which would be Airbnb rentals, there are fewer possible people to turn you in. What's your neighbor situation like?