Yes. Every Denver rental property needs a license, and a license needs a passing inspection. Under the Healthy Residential Rentals for All ordinance passed May 3, 2021, anyone offering, providing or operating a residential rental property in the City and County of Denver must hold a Residential Rental Property license. Obtaining one requires a passing inspection from a certified private home inspector. The license is good for four years unless ownership changes.
The rule
According to the Denver Department of Excise and Licenses (denvergov.org), on May 3, 2021 the Denver City Council passed an ordinance called Healthy Residential Rentals for All, requiring a Residential Rental Property license for any person to offer, provide or operate a residential rental property in the City and County of Denver.
Denver states three goals for the program: ensure minimum housing standards are maintained for the welfare, safety and health of residents; accurately track the city's housing stock and rentals, including single-family homes, duplexes, townhomes and condos being rented; and use the contact information to share city resources and strengthen landlord and tenant education.
How it rolled out
Denver Tenant Rights and Resources must be provided to the tenant when the lease is signed and if a rent demand is served.
All rental dwelling units could opt into early licensing at half the application fee, from $50 to $25.
A license required for any residential rental property of two or more dwelling units on a single parcel.
A license required for any residential rental property consisting of a single rental dwelling unit on a single parcel.
The phased design means the obligation reached large properties a full year before it reached single-family rentals, which is the reverse of Dallas, where single-family rentals are the entire program.
Who does the inspection
Denver does not dispatch municipal inspectors for licensing. Owners must obtain a passing inspection from a certified, private home inspector and pay the license fee to receive their license. That puts Denver in the same structural family as Baltimore and Detroit, where the city sets the standard and the private market performs the work.
The practical consequence is that the inspection is a procurement exercise rather than a scheduling one. The owner selects and pays the inspector, and the passing report is a document the owner must be able to produce. Our rental inspection ordinance reference compares this against the cities that inspect directly.
What it means in practice
The license runs four years unless ownership changes, so a Denver rental changing hands resets the clock rather than transferring the remaining term. For anyone acquiring rental property in Denver, that is a diligence item with a real cost attached, not a formality.
Denver also layered renter protections into the same ordinance from January 1, 2022, requiring owners to provide a written lease for all new tenancies exceeding 30 days, and to provide notice of tenant rights and resources when the lease is provided and again if a rent demand is posted.
Quick FAQ
Does Denver require a rental license?
Yes. Under the Healthy Residential Rentals for All ordinance passed May 3, 2021, any person offering, providing or operating a residential rental property in the City and County of Denver must hold a Residential Rental Property license.
How long does a Denver rental license last?
Four years, unless ownership changes. A change of ownership means the license does not simply carry over for the remaining term.
Who inspects a property for a Denver rental license?
A certified, private home inspector hired by the owner, not a city inspector. The owner must obtain a passing inspection and pay the license fee to receive the license. The application fee is $50, which was halved to $25 for owners who opted into early licensing.
Sources
Sources are named at the publisher level with their root domain, rather than linked or titled; every figure is verifiable at the named source.
- Denver Department of Excise and Licenses, residential rental property license program materials, 2022denvergov.org