The City of Boulder requires a rental license for all rental properties in the city. If a property is occupied by a family member of the owner then no license is needed. The only other exception is if a property is going to be rented for no more than one year with the owners returning to reside on the property after a year then no rental license is required.

In 2004 BARHA worked hard with the City of Boulder to create a new rental inspection program. This new program was a great improvement over the old system. Currently a baseline inspection is required in order to get a license. This inspection is based upon a fixed checklist of items that are inspected. All Inspections are conducted by professionally trained, professional inspectors who are hired directly by the property owner/manager. Additional safety/mechanical inspections are then required every four years, again based upon a fixed inspection checklist. At the time a property is sold, a baseline inspection must be redone in order for new owner to get a new rental license. Often the new baseline inspection can be combined with a property inspection done for a potential buyer.

This new program is a huge improvement over the previous inspection system. The quality of the inspections is much higher. The checklist is oriented toward important issues of health and safety concern and the costs are more reasonable. BARHA is proud of the contribution is made to improve this system for all residential property owners.