Colorado Foreclosure Laws

Colorado foreclosure law states that the public trustee, within twenty days after the date of the first publication of the notice of sale, shall mail a copy of such notice as it appeared in a newspaper of general circulation to the grantor at the address given in the deed of trust, and the public trustee shall also mail a like notice to each person who appears to have acquired a record interest in the property described in such notice of sale subsequent to the recording of such deed of trust, whether by deed, mortgage, judgment, or any other instrument of record, and, if the foreclosing party has a lien with priority over the lessee or lessees who have unrecorded possessory interests in the property being foreclosed and desires to terminate such possessory interests with the foreclosure, as evidenced by the inclusion of the names of the lessee or lessees or the occupant or occupants in the list supplied the public trustee pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, the public trustee shall also mail such a notice to the lessee or lessees of the premises.
Such notice shall be mailed to such person at the address given in the recorded instrument, or, if such notice is being sent to the lessee or lessees of the premises, such notice shall be mailed as provided in section 38-38-305 (1.5). Postage costs under this section shall be part of foreclosure costs. If such recorded instrument does not give such address or if only the county and state are given as the address of such person, it will not be necessary to mail any notice to such person. It is not necessary to mail a copy of said printed notice to any person whose interest does not appear of record at the time said notice of election and demand for sale is recorded.

Announcement at public trustee's sale.

Colorado foreclosure law states that at any foreclosure sale by a public trustee, the public trustee shall be required to read only the public trustee's number of the proceeding for the sale, the name of the grantor, the street address, if known, and legal description of the property, the name of the owner of the evidence of debt, the date of the sale, the date on which the notice was issued, and the first and last publication dates of the notice. In lieu of reading the legal description, the public trustee may display the legal description to those present at the sale.

Colorado foreclosure law states that within twenty days after the recording of the notice of election and demand for sale by the public, or not less than sixteen nor more than twenty-five days after the entry of a decree of foreclosure or the issuance of a writ of execution directing the sheriff to sell real property, the public trustee or sheriff shall mail a notice to the grantors of the deed of trust or mortgage being foreclosed, to any subsequent owners of the property being foreclosed, to the current owner of the property being sold, and to any other person having a right to cure a default or a right to redeem the property subject to foreclosure Such notice shall contain:

1. The names of the grantors of the deed of trust or mortgage and the original beneficiaries or grantees thereof;
2. The name of the current owner of an evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust or mortgage being foreclosed or the owner of the lien being foreclosed;
3. A statement that the notice of intention to redeem shall be filed at least fifteen calendar days prior to the end of the owner's redemption period;
4. A statement that the notice of intent to cure shall be filed at least fifteen calendar days prior to the date upon which the foreclosure sale is set; and
5. The names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the attorneys, if any, representing the foreclosing lienor.

The combined notice required shall be mailed to those persons who have a right to cure or redeem pursuant to an instrument evidencing such right which was recorded with the county clerk and recorder of the county in which said property is located subsequent to the recording of the deed of trust, mortgage, or other lien being foreclosed and prior to the recording of the notice of election and demand for sale or notice of commencement of the pending foreclosure action (lis pendens). Such combined notice shall be mailed to such persons at their respective addresses shown in the recorded instruments through which their rights to cure or redeem are derived. Postage costs under this section shall be part of the foreclosure costs.

Court order authorizing sale mandatory.

In all cases of foreclosure of property by the public trustee pursuant to a power of sale contained in a deed of trust, the owner of an evidence of debt secured thereby shall obtain an order authorizing sale from a court properly having jurisdiction to issue the same. Such order shall be dated, or recite that the hearing was completed, on or before the day prior to the last day on which an effective notice of intention to cure may be filed with the public trustee. In no event shall the public trustee sell the subject property prior to the issuance of such an order authorizing the sale.

Written bid required - form of bid.

The owner of an evidence of debt secured by a deed of trust, mortgage, or other lien being foreclosed in accordance with the provisions of this article and article 37 of this title, or the attorney or agent for such owner or holder, shall submit, before 12 noon on or before the day prior to the date of sale, a written bid to the public trustee or sheriff as provided in this section. The owner of such evidence of debt shall bid at least such owner's good faith estimate of the fair market value of the property being sold (less the amount of unpaid real property taxes and all amounts secured by liens against the property being sold which are senior to the lien being foreclosed and less the estimated reasonable costs and expenses, net of income, of holding, marketing, and selling such property); except that such owner need not bid more than the amount due under such evidence of debt as itemized on the written bid pursuant to subsection (2) of this section. The failure of the owner of such evidence of debt to bid at least such owner's good faith estimate of the fair market value of the property being sold shall not affect the validity of such foreclosure sale but may be raised as a defense by any person sued on a deficiency. Such owner or his attorney or agent need not personally attend the foreclosure sale. If such written bid is not timely submitted, the public trustee or sheriff shall continue the sale no longer than two weeks and shall announce the continuance at the time and place designated for the sale.

1. Any written bid submitted to the public trustee or sheriff shall be signed by such owner or by the attorney for such owner and shall set forth an itemization of all amounts due under the evidence of debt and deed of trust, mortgage or other lien being foreclosed, and all costs and expenses allowable by the evidence of debt, deed of trust, mortgage, or other lien being foreclosed, reasonable attorney fees, and costs incurred by such owner or the attorney for such owner in enforcing the owner's lien or in defending, protecting, and insuring the owners interest in the foreclosed property or any improvements located thereon
The public trustee or sheriff shall enter such bid by reading the bid amount set forth on the written bid and the name of the person or entity who submitted such bid.

Bids submitted pursuant to this section may be withdrawn or amended by any person authorized to submit a bid in writing, prior to the date specified in said subsection or orally, at the time of sale. If a bid is modified orally at the time of sale, the person making such bid shall immediately note such modification on the written itemization thereof and re-execute same.

Fees charged against grantor.

All fees, charges, and costs of every kind and nature incurred under the provisions of articles 37 to 39 of this title shall be an expense of the foreclosure sale chargeable as additional amounts owing under the deed of trust, mortgage, or other lien being foreclosed. Such amounts shall be deducted from the proceeds of any foreclosure sale, or, if there are not cash proceeds at such sale adequate to pay such amounts, to the extent of such inadequacy, such amounts shall be paid by the owner of the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust, mortgage, or other lien being foreclosed.
The public trustee or sheriff may require that the owner of the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust, mortgage, or other lien to be foreclosed deposit with the public trustee or sheriff at the time the notice of election and demand for sale is filed with the public trustee or the time the order of foreclosure is delivered to the sheriff a deposit of three hundred dollars, which shall be applied against the fee and expenses of the public trustee or sheriff described in this section.

Date of foreclosure sale.

Whenever property is to be sold by virtue of the foreclosure of any mortgage, deed of trust, or other lien, whether through the public trustee or through court, the date fixed for such sale shall be:

1. In the case of a sale by the public trustee, not less than forty-five days nor more than sixty days, or such longer period as provided in the deed of trust, after the date of recording of the notice of election and demand; and
2. In the case of a foreclosure through the court, not less than forty-five days after the date of commencement of the action to foreclose.
In case of a publication of an erroneous notice of sale in connection with a public trustee foreclosure, the sale may be postponed to a date subsequent to the expiration of the sixty-day period prescribed in subsection of this section but in no event to a date later than thirty days after the fifth correct publication of the corrected notice of sale.