S.B. 08-41 Condemnation of mineral interests - limitation. Clarifies that the transportation commission, any other governmental entity acquiring land through condemnation for road, highway, or mass transit purposes, or any other person or entity acquiring an easement or right-of-way may only acquire interests in oil, natural gas, or other mineral resources beneath the land acquired to the extent required for subsurface support.
APPROVED by Governor April 25, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date,
see page vi of this digest.
S.B. 08-42 Public trustees - counties of the second class - salary adjustment. Adjusts the yearly salary of public trustees in counties of the second class in accordance with the following schedule:
● For public trustees in counties of the second class who are serving in office on or after the effective date of the act, the salary shall be increased to $56,500 per year;
● For public trustees in counties of the second class who are serving in office on or after February 1, 2009, the salary shall be increased to $64,500 per year;
● For public trustees in counties of the second class who are serving in office on or after February 1, 2010, the salary shall be increased to $72,500 per year.
APPROVED by Governor March 13, 2008
EFFECTIVE March 13, 2008
S.B. 08-144 Abandoned property - motor vehicles abandoned at motor vehicle repair shops - process to obtain title and sell vehicle. Establishes a process for a motor vehicle repair shop at which a motor vehicle has been abandoned to follow in order to obtain a certificate of title and sell the abandoned motor vehicle. Requires the repair shop or its agent to:
● At least 15 days after the vehicle becomes an abandoned motor vehicle, establish the retail fair market value of the vehicle;
● Have the abandoned motor vehicle inspected and a verification of the vehicle identification number (VIN) completed by a peace officer certified to perform VIN inspections and seek to obtain a certificate of title within one year of the completion of the inspection;
● Request a Colorado title record search of the VIN of the abandoned motor vehicle from the division of motor vehicles in the department of revenue or, if the vehicle is an out-of-state vehicle, the state in which the vehicle is registered;
● Use the information provided through the title and lien search to notify the owner of record and all lienholders of its possession of the abandoned motor vehicle. The notice must specify the location of the repair shop and that, unless claimed within 30 calendar days after the date the notice was sent, the motor vehicle is subject to sale.
● Purchase a surety bond for twice the retail fair market value of the abandoned motor vehicle;
● Write a statement under penalty of perjury that includes certain specified information regarding notification, the repair shop, the abandoned motor vehicle, and the circumstances of abandonment;
● At least 30 days after the postmarked date of the notice, present documentation of these requirements to a motor vehicle office and apply for a certificate of title for the abandoned motor vehicle.
Specifies that if the retail fair market value of an abandoned motor vehicle is less than $200, a sale shall be made only for the purpose of junking, scrapping, or dismantling the vehicle. Specifies that the purchaser shall not be entitled to a certificate of title for such a vehicle and establishes requirements for selling such vehicles.
After a repair shop has obtained a certificate of title for an abandoned motor vehicle, authorizes the repair shop, or its agent, to sell the motor vehicle in a commercially reasonable manner. Authorizes the department of revenue to promulgate rules to satisfy the requirements of the act.
APPROVED by Governor April 21, 2008
EFFECTIVE January 1, 2009
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date,
see page vi of this digest.
H.B. 08-1014 Residential real property sales - domestic wells - registration - notification. Beginning in 2009, prior to or at closing, requires a buyer of residential real estate that includes a small capacity well or domestic exempt water well used for ordinary household purposes to complete a form notifying the division of water resources in the department of natural resources (division) of the change in ownership of the well; except that, if the well is an existing well that had not previously been registered with the division, requires the buyer to complete a registration of existing well form. Requires the residential real estate contract approved by the real estate commission to require the buyer to complete the appropriate form. Requires a person who provides closing services for the transaction, or, if there is no such person, the buyer, to submit the appropriate form to the division within 60 days after closing with as much information as is available. Makes the division responsible for obtaining the necessary information from the buyer. Specifies that the person providing the closing service is not liable for delaying the closing of the transaction in order to ensure that the buyer completes the form.
APPROVED by Governor March 26, 2008
EFFECTIVE January 1, 2009
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date,
see page vi of this digest.
H.B. 08-1135 Common interest communities - covenants - architectural control - accommodation of persons with disabilities - imposition of fines - due process - alternative dispute resolution. Invalidates covenants, rules, or policies of common interest communities (CICs) that prohibit reasonable modifications of a structure as necessary to allow access by persons with disabilities in accordance with federal law.
Requires CICs to adopt and follow written policies for the imposition of fines on unit owners that, at a minimum:
● Create a fair and impartial method for determining whether a violation of the covenants actually occurred and whether the unit owner is responsible for the violation; and
● Provide the unit owner notice and an opportunity to be heard before an impartial decision maker.
In existing law encouraging alternative dispute resolution (ADR), adds specific statutory references to available public and private ADR resources, including the office of dispute resolution established by the Colorado judicial branch.
APPROVED by Governor April 21, 2008
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2008
H.B. 08-1148 Adverse possession - proof by clear and convincing evidence - good faith belief that adverse possessor was actual owner of property - damages - separate evidentiary hearing and computation. Requires a person asserting a claim for fee simple title to real property by adverse possession in any civil action filed on or after July 1, 2008, to prove each element of the claim by clear and convincing evidence.
In addition to any other requirements under existing statutory provisions, specifies that, in any action for a claim for fee simple title to real property by adverse possession for which fee simple title vests on or after July 1, 2008, in favor of the adverse possessor and against the owner of record of the real property, a person may acquire fee simple title to real property by adverse possession only upon satisfaction of each of the following conditions:
● The person presents evidence to satisfy all of the elements of a claim for adverse possession required under common law in Colorado.
● Either the person claiming by adverse possession or a predecessor in interest of such person had a good faith belief that the person in possession of the property of the owner of record was the actual owner of the property and the belief was reasonable under the particular circumstances.
Clarifies that the provisions of the act are limited to claims of adverse possession for the purpose of establishing fee simple title to real property and do not apply to the creation, establishment, proof, or judicial confirmation or delineation of easements by prescription, implication, prior use, estoppel, or otherwise. Additionally specifies that the provisions of the act do not apply to claims or defenses for equitable relief under the common-law doctrine of relative hardships or claims or defenses governed by any other statute of limitations.
Where the person asserting a claim of fee simple title to real property by adverse possession prevails on such claim, and if the court determines in its discretion that an award of compensation is fair and equitable under the circumstances, authorizes the court, after an evidentiary hearing separately conducted after entry of the order awarding title to the adverse possessor, to award to the party losing title to the adverse possessor:
● Damages to compensate the party losing title to the adverse possessor for the loss of the property measured by the actual value of the property as determined by the county assessor as of the most recent valuation for property tax purposes. If the property lost has not been separately taxed or assessed from the remainder of the property of the party losing title to the adverse possessor, requires the court to equitably apportion the actual value of the property to the portion of the owner's property lost by adverse possession, including, as appropriate, taking into account the nature and character of the property lost and of the remainder.
● An amount to reimburse the party losing title to the adverse possessor for all or a part of the property taxes and other assessments levied against and paid by the party losing title to the adverse possessor for the period commencing 18 years prior to the commencement of the adverse possession action and expiring on the date of the award or entry of final nonappealable judgment, whichever is later. If the property lost has not been separately taxed or assessed from the remainder of the property of the party losing title to the adverse possessor, specifies that such reimbursement shall equitably apportion the amount of the reimbursement to the portion of the owner's property lost by adverse possession, including, as appropriate, taking into account the nature and character of the property lost and of the remainder. Requires the amount of the award to bear interest at the statutory rate from the dates on which the party losing title to the adverse possessor made payment of the reimburseable taxes and assessments.
At any hearing on damages under the act, or in the event that adverse possession is claimed solely as a defense to an action for damages based upon a claim for trespass, forcible entry, forcible detainer, or similar affirmative claims by another against the adverse possessor, and not to seek an award of legal title against the claimant, specifies that the burden of proof shall be by a preponderance of the evidence. If the defendant is claiming adverse possession solely as a defense to an action and not to seek an award of legal title, requires the defendant to so state in a pleading filed by the defendant within 90 days after filing an answer or within such longer period as granted by the court in the court's discretion, and specifies that any such statement shall bind the defendant in the action.
APPROVED by Governor April 25, 2008
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2008
H.B. 08-1248 Joint tenancy - definition - means to sever - unequal interests. Clarifies that the doctrine of the four unities of time, title, interest, and possession is continued as part of the law of this state subject to other provisions. Defines the doctrine of the four unities of time, title, interest, and possession. Specifies when a joint tenant may sever a joint tenancy. Specifies that the interests in a joint tenancy may be equal or unequal, but that the interests are presumed to be equal and deemed to be equal for purposes of the "Colorado Medical Assistance Act". Establishes that the presumption is conclusive for specific people and rebuttable for all others. Specifies what happens upon the death of a joint tenant. States that nothing in the act shall be deemed to abrogate any existing case law.
APPROVED by Governor April 25, 2008
EFFECTIVE April 25, 2008
H.B. 08-1260 Manufactured homes - filing and recording of documents - affidavit of real property - declaration of value. Requires certain documents related to an application for a certificate of title for a manufactured home to be filed and recorded by a county clerk and recorder. Creates the following new certificates (certificates) related to a manufactured home that are also required to be filed and recorded by a county clerk and recorder:
● A certificate of permanent location, which is used when the manufactured home is permanently affixed to the ground;
● A certificate of removal, which is used when the manufactured home is removed from its permanent location; and
● A certificate of destruction, which is used when a manufactured home is destroyed, dismantled, or sold or otherwise disposed of as salvage.
Requires the property tax administrator to establish the form of the certificates, which must include specified information for each certificate. Requires a certificate to be filed with an authorized agent of the department of revenue (authorized agent), which is in conjunction with the current process related to a certificate of title, or with a county clerk and recorder.
Requires an authorized agent who is not a clerk and recorder who receives a certificate or other manufactured home-related document for filing and recording to forward the document to the clerk and recorder for filing and recording.
Requires certificates and other manufactured home-related documents to be indexed. Requires a clerk and recorder to forward a copy of any certificates filed and recorded to the assessor for the county or city and county (assessor). Establishes fees for the filing and recording of certificates and other manufactured home-related documents.
Creates an affidavit of real property, which can be used to prove that a manufactured home and the land upon which it has been permanently affixed are real property.
Requires any manufactured home title application that is submitted to an authorized agent to be accompanied by a declaration, completed and signed by the purchaser or transferee. Requires the authorized agent to forward the declaration to the assessor. Requires each assessor to maintain a data bank, consisting of information derived from the declarations, to be used for the valuation of manufactured homes.
Establishes the amount of an account, deposit, certificate of deposit, or bond that is required for the issuance of a certificate of title for a manufactured home.
APPROVED by Governor April 14, 2008
EFFECTIVE July 1, 2008
H.B. 08-1270 Deeds - covenants - common interest communities - void provisions - restrictions on solar, wind, and energy efficiency equipment. Extends an existing prohibition on covenants and deed restrictions that effectively prohibit solar energy devices to apply also to wind-electric generators. Allows reasonable restrictions based on aesthetic considerations, safety requirements, and, in the case of wind-electric generators, noise.
Prohibits a common interest community (CIC) from effectively prohibiting energy efficiency measures, defined to include shade structures, shutters, attic fans, evaporative coolers, energy-efficient outdoor lighting devices, and retractable clotheslines. Allows reasonable restrictions based on aesthetic considerations, so long as the CIC considers the impact of such restrictions on the cost and performance of the energy efficiency measure as well as the criteria contained in the governing documents of the CIC.
APPROVED by Governor April 24, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date,
see page vi of this digest.
H.B. 08-1356 Residential landlords and tenants - attorney fees in forcible entry and detainer action - warranty of habitability - tenant responsibilities - unlawful exclusion - legislative declarations. Prohibits a residential landlord or tenant who prevails in a forcible entry and detainer action from recovering attorney fees, unless the residential rental agreement contains a provision for either party to obtain attorney fees.
Creates a warranty of habitability in every rental agreement for a residential premises. Establishes that the warranty is breached if:
● A residential premises is uninhabitable;
● The residential premises is in a condition that is materially dangerous or hazardous to the tenant's life, health, or safety; and
● The landlord has received written notice of the condition described and failed to cure the problem within a reasonable time.
Specifies that misconduct by a tenant or a person under the tenant's control does not constitute a breach of the warranty of habitability, and specifies that a condition resulting from domestic violence or abuse reported to a landlord is not misconduct. Establishes that a residential premises is considered uninhabitable when it substantially lacks specified characteristics. Permits a tenant in certain circumstances to assume responsibility for one or more of these characteristics. Prohibits a deficiency in a common area from rendering a residential premises uninhabitable, unless it materially and substantially limits the tenant's use of his or her dwelling unit.
Imposes upon every tenant of a residential premises a duty to use that portion of the premises within the tenant's control in a reasonably clean and safe manner. Establishes what constitutes a failure to keep a premises in a reasonably clean and safe manner. Prohibits a tenant from knowingly, intentionally, deliberately, or negligently destroying, defacing, damaging, impairing, or removing any part of a residential premises or knowingly permitting any person within his or her control to do so.
Establishes a tenant's remedies for a breach of the warranty of habitability, which include termination of the rental agreement, injunctive relief, and damages. Specifies that only a party to or person listed on a rental agreement may allege a breach and when the breach may be used as a defense to a landlord's claim for possession. Specifies defenses to the allegation of a breach. Requires a landlord's summons and complaint in a forcible entry and detainer action to include notice to the defendant that the assertion of a claim of a breach of a warranty of habitability will require payment to the court of rent due less expenses resulting from the claimed breach.
Prohibits a landlord from retaliating against a tenant who proves a breach of the warranty of habitability by discriminatorily increasing rent, decreasing servies, or taking or threatening to take legal action. Grants a landlord a rebuttable presumption that a landlord's action to terminate tenancy for a violation of a rental agreement or to increase rent, decrease services, or terminate tenancy at the end of any rental term is not discriminatory.
Subject to specified exceptions, prohibits a landlord from removing or excluding a tenant from a residential premises without resorting to court process. If a landlord willfully and unlawfully removes the tenant from the premises or willfully and unlawfully causes the termination of heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas, or other essential services, allows the tenant to seek any remedy available under the act or any other law.
Makes legislative findings and declarations that the provisions of the act are a matter of statewide concern. Establishes the underlying purposes and policies of the act. Specifies that the act does not apply to specified types of institutional, group, short-term, recreational, and other housing or occupancy arrangements.
APPROVED by Governor June 2, 2008
EFFECTIVE September 1, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date,
see page vi of this digest.
H.B. 08-1365 Time share estates - foreclosure - single action against multiple obligors. Allows a plaintiff foreclosing an assessment lien against a time share estate to join as defendants in a judicial foreclosure action multiple obligors with separate time share estates and the junior lienors thereto if:
● The judicial foreclosure action involves a single common interest community;
● The declaration giving rise to the right of the unit owners' association (association) to collect assessments creates default and remedy obligations that are substantially the same for each obligor named as a defendant in the judicial foreclosure action;
● The action is limited to a claim for judicial foreclosure to enforce a lien for assessments; and
● The plaintiff does not allege, with respect to any obligor, that the association's lien is prior to any security interest that has priority over all other security interests and was recorded before the assessment became delinquent, even if the plaintiff could claim that the association's lien has priority to the extent of certain common expense assessments under current law.
In a judicial foreclosure action in which multiple obligors with separate time share estates and the junior lienors thereto have been joined as defendants:
● Allows a court to sever for separate trial any disputed claim.
● Allows the plaintiff to publish a single notice for all joined defendants for whom service by publication is permitted, so long as all information required in a published notice for each defendant individually is included in the combined published notice.
● Specifies that the action is a single action, suit, or proceeding for purposes of filing fees.
States that, unless otherwise ordered by the court, each time share estate foreclosed by joining multiple obligors and junior lienors shall be subject to a separate foreclosure sale, and any cure or redemption rights with respect to the time share estate shall remain separate. Specifies that the plaintiff in a judicial foreclosure action in which multiple obligors and junior lienors are joined as defendants is deemed to waive any claims against a defendant for a deficiency remaining after the foreclosure of the lien for assessment and for attorney fees related to the foreclosure action.
APPROVED by Governor May 28, 2008
EFFECTIVE August 5, 2008
NOTE: This act was passed without a safety clause. For further explanation concerning the effective date,
see page vi of this digest.
H.B. 08-1402 Mortgages - foreclosure process - residential foreclosures - notice to borrower - foreclosure prevention efforts - funding - grant program - appropriation. In residential foreclosures filed on or after August 1, 2008, requires a commercial lender to give the borrower a written notice, at least 30 days after the borrower's default and at least 30 days before filing its notice of election and demand, containing contact information for the Colorado foreclosure hotline and the lender's loss mitigation representative.
Creates the foreclosure prevention grant fund, to be administered by the division of housing in the department of local affairs (division), for the purpose of providing outreach and notice of foreclosure prevention assistance to persons in danger of foreclosure and communities with high foreclosure rates. Directs the division to solicit gifts, grants, and donations to the fund and to develop criteria for the award of grants to qualified local organizations to carry out these outreach efforts. Gives supervisory responsibility over the grant program to the state housing board. Requires the division to report annually to the general assembly on its activities and the receipts and expenditures from the fund.
Appropriates $100,000 from the general fund to the foreclosure prevention grant fund, and from the foreclosure prevention grant fund to the department of local affairs for allocation to the division, for purposes of the act.
APPROVED by Governor June 5, 2008
EFFECTIVE June 5, 2008
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