Frequently Asked Questions

A STR (also known as a vacation rental) is the nightly or weekly rental of dwellings, dwelling units, mobile homes, rooms or accommodations, excluding hotel and motels, for less than 30 consecutive days, including but not limited to: single family dwellings, duplexes, multi-family dwellings, townhomes, condominiums, time share or similar dwellings. Many hosting sites provide a service to clients listing their properties online for rent to wide audience groups online.  Some examples include, but are not limited to: Vrbo, Airbnb, HomeAway, Trip Advisor, and many other vacation rental hosting sites.

Any property in unincorporated Grand County which is being rented for less than 30 consecutive days must be registered with Grand County’s short term rental (STR) program.  If your property is located in the town of Winter Park, Fraser, Granby, Grand Lake, Hot Sulphur Springs or Kremmling, your property may be required to register with the specific town, as each town has its own application process, fee structure, and regulations.

If you are using your property to generate income in Grand County, as described above, you must have a current Colorado sales Tax ID (Form CR 0100), issued by the Colorado Department of Revenue.  The property owner or property manager shall be responsible for remitting County sales tax and lodging tax. 

Colorado Sales Tax Withholding Account Application

 October 1, 2019 a new House Bill (HB1240) went into effect assigning sales tax collection responsibilities to a marketplace facilitator.  This essentially means that online booking sites, such as Airbnb, Vrbo and others, are now responsible for remitting sales tax on your behalf.  Please verify this with any site your are listing your property for rent.  To read more please visit the Colorado Department of Revenues website :  https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/tax/sales-tax-changes

Income earned from renting your property as a STR is subject to tax in the State of Colorado. Note - you may also be subject to federal taxes.

Yes.  Grand County passes along the processing fee for both credit cards and e-checks.  For the privilege of using a credit card, the additional fee is $.75 + 2.25%, for an e-check it is $1.00.

Each short-term rental shall have a primary and secondary person responsible to manage the Short Term Rental during any period it is occupied.  The 24-hour contact persons may be the property owner or property manager and they must reside in Grand County and be able to respond within one (1) hour or less.  Unless you reside within Grand County, you may not list yourself as a primary or secondary emergency contact.  You must list someone within one hour of the property who can be responsible for emergency situations which arise.  (Excessive trash on site, parking related issues, etc.)

Yes. If your rent your property to anyone for less than 30 days at any time during a calendar year, you must register with Grand County’s short term rental program

Yes. As indicated above, any property in unincorporated Grand County that is rented for less than 30 days for one or more times in a calendar year must be registered with Grand County’s STR program.

No. Any short term rental property must register with Grand County’s STR program, with a unique Colorado Sales Tax License. You may not use your local business license number.

No. The type of ownership, or whether it is a for-profit or not-for-profit entity is irrelevant.  If you are renting a property as a STR to generate income in Grand County, to any party or parties, the property must be registered with Grand County’s STR program.

Airbnb does remit sales and lodging tax to the State of Colorado; however if you list with an additional booking agency, like Vrbo, you are required to obtain your own Colorado Sales Tax license.   Further, if your property is CLOSE to one of the towns (Winter Park, Fraser, Granby or Grand Lake), we have noticed that Airbnb in particular may be charging you MORE taxes than you need to remit. Airbnb often pulls the closest town taxation rate, which is not required for unincorporated Grand County.  This may be an additional 4-6% charge on your property.  Airbnb is now requiring written notice if your property does not require Town Sales Tax; you may contact the Grand County Treasurer’s website to download a the specific tax rates for each town at http://co.grand.co.us/DocumentCenter/View/461

This may be true.  Please provide the name of your management company and contact person, and we will verify this information, and their preferred methods of contact.

The permit fees are used to administer and monitor compliance of terms, conditions and requirements for short term rental operations.  A third party consultant pulls the listing / hosting site data, and staff provide the necessary support to customers.

Yes. The Board of County Commissioners plans to hold a formal review on an annual basis.

Grand County requires a Short Term Rental Permit for "any property to be offered, advertised, operated, or rented as a short term rental." If your property is listed online as a short term rental, you must hold a valid Short Term Rental Permit, even if you don't have any current availability.

You may notify the county of your lease - providing a copy of the contract with expiration dates - and you will be removed from the STR requirement.  Should the lease terminate, and you choose to begin renting your property on a hosting site, or with a property management company for nightly rentals, you will be required to apply for a STR permit.

You may contact the County, notifying staff of this sale.  If the sale closes, staff will change ownership of the property.  If your listing expires, or the sale is terminated, and you choose to list your property on a hosting site, or with a property management company for nightly rentals, you will be required to apply for a STR permit.

Each STR is valid for one calendar year.  Upon issuance of a STR permit, the County will email a copy of the permit, permit number, expiration date, and emergency contact information to the property owner.  We ask that upon receipt, you, or your property manager place the permit on site as soon as possible, (in the kitchen, or other central location.)  Approximately ninety (90) days prior to the expiration of the permit, you will be notified about the upcoming expiration / renewal of the permit.

Click here to read the most current Resolution. 

New in 2023: Grand County Board of County Commissioners approved an increase in the Short Term Rental Permit fee to $100.00 per occupant, a cap on maximum occupancy for any short term rental property at 16 people, and further limiting the maximum occupancy to any short term rental property that utilizes an Onsite Wastewater Treatment System (OWTS/Septic System) to design capacity (2 people per bedroom plus 2 additional occupants).