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Rental property LLCs in Colorado

Yes, you can hold a Colorado rental in an LLC. You file Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State for $50, then a $25 periodic report every year, filed in a window around the anniversary of the month you formed. Rental rules are city by city: Denver and Boulder license long-term rentals, Fort Collins requires yearly registration, and Denver, Boulder and Aurora tie short-term rentals to the host's own primary residence. Boulder won't license a short-term rental held in an LLC. Forming the LLC doesn't move your deed, and a deed carries Colorado's documentary fee unless an exemption applies.

Last checked 2026-10-24. General information, not legal or tax advice.

Local rental rules come first

Colorado has no statewide short-term rental rules: "There are no statewide regulations regarding STRs," and state law lets boards of county commissioners license and regulate them (Legislative Council Staff, January 2026). Cities set the rest.

Denver. A residential rental property license is required for anyone "offering, providing, or operating a residential rental property for 30 days or more." The application needs a passing inspection by a certified private home inspector, a $50 application fee and a license fee ($50 for one unit, $100 for 2 to 10 units). A license is good for four years, and each single-unit property needs its own. Licenses are non-transferable and a change of ownership requires a new one, so expect to apply again in the LLC's name after the deed. Operating without one brings citations and fines of $150 to $5,000 (DRMC 27-203). An owner who lives on-site and rents a space without its own kitchen and bathroom is exempt (denvergov.org Residential rental property; FAQ). Short-term rentals (1 to 29 days) are licensed only at the host's primary residence, "the place in which a person's habitation is fixed for the term of the license and is the person's usual place of return." A property that isn't one "is not eligible to be licensed as a short-term rental" and would need a lodging facility license instead. The license costs $50 to apply and $100 a year, the licensee must carry $1 million in liability insurance (or list only on platforms that provide it), and lodger's tax is 10.75%. The application asks for the applicant's Colorado driver's license or ID card, so ask the city before you deed a home you live in to an LLC (denvergov.org Short-term rentals pages).

Boulder. Every rental property needs a city rental license, and getting it is the owner's job. A long-term license (30 days or more) costs $190 and needs a SmartRegs energy certification and a private rental inspection; a transfer of ownership means a new application and inspection. An owner who doesn't live in Boulder County must name a local agent who can reach the property within 60 minutes. A short-term rental (29 days or fewer) must be the owner's principal residence, and the city's application page says: "Ownership may not be in an LLC, corporation, or limited partnership to qualify." The owner must be a natural person, a trust or a nonprofit holding at least 50% of the property, and the name on the license must match the deed. A new license is $190 plus a one-time $25 business license fee, a yearly affidavit ($20) keeps it, and missing the affidavit revokes it. Properties with an ADU aren't eligible (bouldercolorado.gov Rental Housing Licensing, Long-Term and Short-Term pages).

Colorado Springs. Any property listed on a hosting platform needs a city short-term rental permit (29 days or fewer): $124.95, valid one year, no grace period for late applications. An owner-occupied permit means the owner lives there at least 185 days a year. A non-owner-occupied permit isn't available in single-family zones (R-E, R-1 6, R-1 9 and single-family PDZs), and elsewhere the unit must be 500 feet from another short-term rental. The permit "does not run with the property but is issued to a specific owner" and "shall not be transferred or assigned to another individual, person, entity, or address" (City Code § 7.5.1702), so deeding the home to your LLC means a new application. Since June 30, 2025, properties with an accessory dwelling unit can't get a new permit (Ord. 25-45) (coloradosprings.gov Short Term Rentals).

Fort Collins. Since January 1, 2025, most long-term rentals (30 days or more) must register with the city every year and self-certify that they meet minimum housing standards; no inspection is required. The fee is $37 a year per property plus $10 for each additional unit on the same property, each property registers separately, and fines follow if you don't. Short-term rentals (under 30 days in a row) need a separate license, are allowed only in the areas on the city's zoning map, and need a sales tax/business license first (fortcollins.gov Rental Housing and Short-Term Rentals pages).

Aurora. The city treats a short-term rental as a home occupation, which "only permits the resident of the home to engage in the business activity," so "you cannot rent your property short term if it is not your primary residence." It needs a city business license and the city's 8% lodger's tax. Long-term leases (longer than 30 days with an up-front written agreement) need no business license (auroragov.org Short-term vs. Long-term Rental).

Elsewhere in Colorado. Rental rules are local, and homeowners' association covenants can add their own. Ask your city and county before the first lease.

What the LLC protects, and what it doesn't

Colorado's LLC Act says: "Members and managers of limited liability companies are not liable under a judgment, decree, or order of a court, or in any other manner, for a debt, obligation, or liability of the limited liability company." (C.R.S. § 7-80-705). If someone tries to reach the members anyway, the court applies the case law on piercing a corporation's veil, and failing to follow company formalities "is not in itself a ground for imposing personal liability on the members" (§ 7-80-107).

  • Guarantees still bind you. A personal guarantee you sign for a lender is your own promise.
  • Your own acts are yours. A repair you make yourself, or your own negligence, isn't shielded by the LLC; ask a Colorado attorney.
  • It isn't insurance. The LLC still needs coverage that pays claims and defense costs.

One LLC, or one per property?

Separate LLCs keep one property's judgment away from the others, at $50 plus a $25 periodic report every year for each LLC. Colorado has no series-LLC option that I could find: the word "series" doesn't appear anywhere in its LLC Act (C.R.S. Title 7, art. 80), and a 2020 bill to enact the Uniform Protected Series Act, HB20-1096, was postponed indefinitely by the House Judiciary Committee on February 27, 2020. So separate properties means separate LLCs. More: Should you have a separate LLC for each rental property?. Other states: Arizona · Texas · Missouri. All states: Rental property LLCs by state.

Form it where the property is, or register there

The simplest setup is a Colorado LLC for Colorado property. An LLC formed in another state files a Statement of Foreign Entity Authority with the Secretary of State, online only, for $100. It needs a registered agent located in Colorado who has consented and a principal office street address, and if its name isn't available here it must use an assumed name in Colorado. A foreign entity "shall not transact business or conduct activities in this state" until that statement is filed (C.R.S. § 7-90-801(1)). The activities that don't count include "Owning, without more, real or personal property" and acquiring mortgages or other security interests, and the list "is not exhaustive" (§ 7-90-801(2)–(3)). Leasing isn't on it, and the Secretary of State says it "cannot answer legal-based questions" about a particular business, so ask a Colorado attorney.

An unauthorized entity can't "maintain a proceeding in any court in this state for the collection of its debts" until it files. It also owes a fee of up to $100 for each calendar year it operated without authority and faces a civil penalty of up to $5,000, though its acts stay valid and it can still defend a suit (§ 7-90-802). A registered foreign LLC files the periodic report too.

What it costs the state

  • Articles of Organization: $50, filed online only (SOS fee schedule)
  • Periodic report: $25 a year, filed online; a late report adds a $50 penalty (SOS fee schedule)
  • Name reservation (optional): $25 (SOS fee schedule)
  • Foreign LLC Statement of Foreign Entity Authority: $100, online only (SOS fee schedule)
  • Statement of change for the registered agent or principal office address: $10 each (SOS fee schedule)
  • Statement curing delinquency: $100 (SOS fee schedule)
  • EIN: free from the IRS

Compare services: LLC services compared.

Forming the LLC, in order

  1. Pick a name that is distinguishable and includes "limited liability company," "ltd. liability company," "limited liability co.," "ltd. liability co.," "limited," "l.l.c.," "llc" or "ltd." (SOS LLC checklist). Reserving it is optional.
  2. Name a registered agent located in Colorado, an individual 18 or older or an entity, who agrees to serve. The LLC can be its own agent (SOS LLC checklist).
  3. File Articles of Organization online with the Secretary of State ($50). It asks for a principal office street address, a mailing address (a PO box is fine), whether members or managers manage the LLC, a statement that there is at least one member, and the person forming it. Pay by credit, debit or prepaid card, not check or cash. The principal office address and the filer's address are public (SOS LLC checklist).
  4. Write an operating agreement.
  5. Get an EIN and open the LLC's bank account.
  6. Get the city rental license or short-term rental permit (above) and, if you rent short-term, a sales tax license.
  7. Put the periodic report window on your calendar.

Forming the LLC doesn't move your deed

Putting your rental in the LLC takes a new deed, recorded with the clerk and recorder of the county where the property sits (C.R.S. § 38-35-109(1)).

  • Record it. An unrecorded deed isn't valid against anyone with rights in the property who records first, except between the parties and against those with notice; the statute calls this "a race-notice recording statute" (§ 38-35-109(1)).
  • The documentary fee is one cent per $100. Every person offering a deed for recording owes it, "measured by the consideration paid or to be paid": one cent for each $100, or major fraction, of consideration (about $1 per $10,000), and none when there is no consideration or $500 or less. The clerk and recorder collects it and won't record the deed until it's paid (§§ 39-13-102, 39-13-105). Denver's schedule lists $0.10 per $1,000 (Denver Clerk and Recorder).
  • Whether a deed to your own LLC owes it isn't spelled out. Exemptions include a deed "in consequence of a gift" (§ 39-13-104(1)(b)), but transfers to your own LLC aren't listed, and where there is consideration it counts "the amount of any lien or encumbrance against the real property" (§ 39-13-102(2)(b)). I found no official guidance on a deed from you to your wholly owned LLC, so ask your county clerk and recorder how it treats yours.
  • File the Real Property Transfer Declaration (TD-1000). Any conveyance document presented for recording "shall be accompanied by a declaration," signed by the grantor or grantee (§ 39-14-102(1)(a)). If it's missing, the clerk records the deed anyway and the assessor may fine the grantee $25 or 0.025% of the sale price, whichever is greater, again each later year (§ 39-14-102(1)(b)). The Act defines a "conveyance" as a transfer "for some consideration in money or money's worth" (§ 39-14-101(1.5)), and the Division of Property Taxation says a conveyance "subject to the documentary fee must be accompanied by a TD-1000" (Assessors' Reference Library ch. 3), so ask the clerk whether a no-money transfer to your LLC needs one.
  • The county charges a recording fee. Denver's is $43 per document; ask your county for its schedule.

Have a Colorado attorney prepare the deed. After it records, update leases, rent payment instructions, deposits and insurance, and apply for any city rental license or short-term rental permit in the LLC's name.

Check the mortgage before you transfer

Federal law lets a lender enforce a due-on-sale clause, and a transfer to an LLC isn't one of the exceptions for 1–4 unit homes (12 U.S.C. § 1701j-3(d)). Fannie Mae allows a transfer to an LLC the borrower controls for loans it acquired on or after June 1, 2016 (Fannie Mae Servicing Guide D1-4.1-02). Ask your servicer in writing.

Insurance and taxes

Tell your insurer before title moves, and before you list short-term: Denver requires $1 million of liability coverage and Colorado Springs $500,000, which a hosting platform's coverage can satisfy. For federal income tax, a single-member LLC is disregarded unless it elects corporate treatment (IRS). The Colorado Department of Revenue says it "will generally treat the income from your LLC in the same way as indicated on your federal income tax return." I found no Colorado franchise or minimum tax for LLCs on the Department's LLC page or the Secretary of State's fee schedule.

  • Furnishings in a rental are taxable personal property. The Division of Property Taxation says "Furniture, freestanding appliances, and security systems found in rental properties are taxable regardless of the terms or duration of the lease agreement." A declaration schedule is due to the county assessor by April 15 each year (DPT personal property FAQ). Ask your assessor what you must report.
  • Five or more units in one project can classify as lodging. The Division's manual classifies a residential unit as commercial lodging when it is a "hotel unit": more than four residential units in one project owned directly or through intermediate entities by one person or related persons (including entities under common control) and used to provide lodging to the public on an overnight or weekly basis (ARL ch. 6; § 39-1-102(5.5)(c)(III)). A 2024 bill that would have made a short-term rental that isn't the owner's primary residence lodging property if rented more than 90 days, SB24-033, was postponed indefinitely.
  • Short-term stays can owe sales and lodging taxes. Anyone who offers rooms or accommodations for rent needs a sales tax license, and a marketplace facilitator collects state sales tax and any county lodging tax on stays it books. A stay of at least 30 consecutive days by a permanent resident under a written agreement is exempt. Counties may add a lodging tax, reported quarterly on Form DR 1485, and cities set their own, such as Denver's 10.75% and Aurora's 8% (Department of Revenue Rooms & Accommodations guide).

Keeping each LLC in good standing

  • File the $25 periodic report online in the window from two months before to two months after the LLC's "periodic report month," which is on its Summary page in the Secretary of State's business search. The first is due by the last day of the second month after the first anniversary of your formation month (§ 7-90-501(4)(c)): for an LLC formed in October 2026, December 31, 2027.
  • Miss it and the status slides: for a January report month the due date is March 31, then "Noncompliant" with a late report due May 31, then "Delinquent" (SOS delinquency FAQ). The late penalty is $50 (fee schedule).
  • A delinquent LLC "may not maintain a proceeding in any court in this state for the collection of its debts" until it cures, which could matter if you ever sue a tenant for unpaid rent (§ 7-90-903(1)). Its existence continues. It cures by filing a statement curing delinquency ($100), and its name is held for 400 days before another entity can take it.
  • Keep the registered agent and principal office current ($10 statement of change). An LLC that doesn't name a new agent after the old one resigns goes delinquent too (§ 7-90-901(1)(c); SOS FAQ).
  • Renew city permits: Denver's long-term license every four years, its short-term license yearly; Boulder's short-term affidavit and Colorado Springs' permit yearly; Fort Collins' registration yearly.

Before you file or transfer a property

  • Attorney: the deed, the documentary fee and TD-1000, separate LLCs
  • Servicer: is the transfer allowed?
  • Insurance agent: named insured, short-term rental liability coverage
  • CPA: sales and lodging tax, personal property tax
  • City: rental license or short-term rental permit in the LLC's name (Boulder won't issue a short-term license to an LLC)
  • County assessor: personal property schedule, property classification
  • Calendar: periodic report window; city renewals

Form it with Corpus

Corpus prepares and files your Articles of Organization and includes the first year of registered-agent service. The Colorado page shows the current price. Corpus isn't a law firm: the deed, the loan, taxes and city licenses are separate steps.

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Sources

Last checked 2026-10-24. Corpus is not a law firm and does not provide legal or tax advice.