State Foreclosure Laws

Summary:

Judicial foreclosure is employed when no power of sale clause is included in the security instrument. In Colorado, the lender must sue the borrower and obtain a court order to foreclose.

The non-judicial procedure is used when a power of sale clause authorizing the lender to sell the property in the event of default is included in the loan document. The Colorado foreclosure process differs from most other states in that the Governor appoints a Public Trustee for each county.

The Public Trustee acts as an impartial third party in handling non-judicial foreclosures. The procedure is as follows:

1. The lender's attorney files the required documents with the Public Trustee who then records a notice of election and demand with the county clerk. The Public Trustee then must publish the notice of election and demand in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the property is located for five consecutive weeks.
   
   
2. The Public Trustee must also mail a copy of the notice of election and demand and a copy of the notice of sale to the borrower at the address in the recorded security instrument within ten days of the publication. The Trustee must also, at least twenty one days before the date of sale, mail to the borrower a notice containing instructions on how to redeem the property.
   
   
3. The borrower may stop the process by filing a notice of “intent to cure” with the Public Trustee at least fifteen days prior to the sale and then bring the loan current by noon of the day before the sale.
   
   
4. The sale must take place between forty five and sixty days after the   recording of the notice of election and demand.  The Public Trustee may hold the sale at any entrance of the courthouse unless other provisions were made in the deed of trust.

Right of redemption: None (Repealed), See below.