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shinnslist · guides · How to find absentee owners in Boulder County, CO

How to find absentee owners in Boulder County, CO

Bottom line: An absentee owner is one whose tax bill is mailed somewhere other than the property. In Boulder County, open the Assessor's property record and compare the property address with the mailing address on file. A different city or state suggests the owner lives elsewhere. Trusts, PO boxes, managers and second homes can blur the signal.

Free beta checked October 18, 2026 · next check by January 18, 2027

Guide

What is an absentee owner?

An absentee owner owns a property but does not get the tax bill there. The county mails tax notices to the address the owner gave. When that address is somewhere else, the owner probably lives somewhere else.

It is a fact about where mail goes. It says nothing about whether the owner wants to sell.

Guide

How do you check one property in Boulder County?

  1. Open Boulder County Property Search.
  2. Search by address, owner name, or account or parcel number.
  3. Open the record. Read the owner of record, the mailing address on file, values, and the sales history.
  4. For recent sales and bulk files, see the Assessor's property data and sales page and data download page.

Then compare the two addresses:

  • Same address: the owner likely lives there.
  • Different address, same town: the owner may live nearby, or it may be a rental.
  • Different city or state: the owner likely lives elsewhere.

You can check the tax bill with the Treasurer too:

  1. Use the Treasurer's property tax search to see the current bill and payment history.
  2. The tax lien sale page explains the yearly sale of unpaid tax liens.

Guide

How do you spot out-of-state owners?

Look at the state in the mailing address. If it is not Colorado, the owner is out of state. Write down the property, not the person. Keep notes about parcels, not profiles of people.

Guide

What makes a property look absentee when it isn't?

  • Trusts and companies. The bill may go to a trustee, attorney, or company office.
  • PO boxes. Many owners use a PO box in the same town, especially in mountain areas without home delivery.
  • Property managers and lenders. Some bills go to a manager or a mortgage servicer.
  • Second homes. A cabin owned by someone who lives in Denver or another state is absentee by mail, and that is normal. It is not a sign of distress.
  • Recent sales. The mailing address may not be updated yet. Check the latest deed with the Clerk and Recorder.

Cities and towns such as Boulder, Longmont, Lyons and Nederland are inside Boulder County, so the county assessor, clerk and treasurer cover them.

Guide

Can you get the whole county at once?

Checking one parcel at a time is slow. Many assessors post bulk files or will send an existing export. See how to request assessor data under the Colorado Open Records Act. Read each file's terms before you use it.

Guide

How does shinnslist do this?

shinnslist runs this same comparison across Boulder County from public county records. It flags parcels where the tax mailing address differs from the property, and notes out-of-state mailing. Browse Boulder County on shinnslist or start a hunt. Owner names are never shown on public pages.

Guide

What rules apply if you contact an owner?

Be honest about who you are and why you are writing. Do not target or sort owners by race, religion, sex, disability, family status, national origin, or any other protected trait. shinnslist does not support cold calls or texts. This is not legal advice.

By the numbers

Absentee owners in Boulder County, counted

In shinnslist’s copy of the county record, 28,149 of 66,392 parcels with a mailing address (42%) send the tax bill to another address, and 3,787 send it out of state.

Source: shinnslist (county records), read October 16, 2026. How the counts are made and graded: How we grade. Nothing here predicts that an owner will sell. These are counts of public county records.

Boulder County hub

Questions

Questions people ask

Does an absentee owner want to sell?

Not necessarily. Absentee only means the tax bill goes somewhere else. Many absentee owners are happy landlords or second-home owners.

Is a PO box mailing address absentee?

Not by itself. Many local owners use a PO box. Check whether the PO box is in the same town as the property.

Where is the mailing address in Boulder County records?

On the Assessor's property record, usually next to the owner name. The Treasurer's tax record uses the same address for the bill.

Is it legal to look this up?

Yes. Assessor and Treasurer records are public in Colorado. Use them fairly and follow each site's terms.

Sources

Where each fact comes from