§ 38-25.5-102 — Certificate of taxes due

Colorado § 38-25.5-102

• Jurisdiction: Colorado
• Title 38: Property -
• Art.: State and Local Tax Liens

Text

(1) (a) As soon as practical but in no
event later than thirty days after receipt of a written request from a taxpayer or
authorized person, the treasurer of a public entity shall certify in writing as of the
date of the certificate the full amount of the taxes identified in the request known
to be due from the taxpayer. If there is a delinquency in the payment of taxes of an
unknown amount, the public entity shall, if practical, provide a good faith estimate
of the amount of the taxes due and indicate on the certificate that the figure
provided is an estimate. A fee of ten dollars shall be collected for each specifically
identified tax included in a certificate issued by a public entity in response to a
request.

(b) Notwithstanding the amount of the fee specified in paragraph (a) of this
subsection (1), if the public entity collecting the fee is a state agency, the executive
director of the state agency, by rule or as otherwise provided by law, may reduce
the amount of the fee if necessary pursuant to section 24-75-402 (3), C.R.S., to
reduce the uncommitted reserves of the fund to which all or any portion of the fee
is credited. After the uncommitted reserves of the fund are sufficiently reduced,
the executive director of the state agency, by rule or as otherwise provided by law,
may increase the amount of the fee as provided in section 24-75-402 (4), C.R.S.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section and notwithstanding
any other provision of law to the contrary:

(a) When signed by the treasurer of a public entity, a certificate of taxes due
shall be conclusive evidence for all purposes and against all persons, including the
public entity, that, at the time of certification, the property of the taxpayer was free
and clear of all such identified taxes due and any tax liens arising therefrom or was
subject to each such identified tax due and any tax lien arising therefrom in a
stated or estimated amount; and

(b) If more than one certificate of taxes due is issued by the treasurer of the
same public entity with respect to the same taxpayer and the later certificate sets
forth an amount of taxes due for a particular tax which is:

(I) In excess of the amount set forth in the earlier certificate, the earlier
certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the amount of taxes due and any tax
liens arising therefrom as of the date of that earlier certificate. The later certificate
shall be evidence of the amount of taxes due and any tax liens arising therefrom as
of the date of the later certificate, but any tax lien arising therefrom shall only be
effective for the amount of taxes which became due after the date of the earlier
certificate.

(II) Less than the amount set forth in the earlier certificate, the later
certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the amount of taxes due and any tax
liens arising therefrom as of the date of the later certificate;

(c) Any tax lien arising from taxes becoming due after the date of the latest
certificate of taxes due shall not be affected by this section.

(3) (a) This subsection (3) shall apply only to taxes identified in and due as of
the date of a certificate of taxes due. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to
the contrary, if a public entity completes an audit or investigation subsequent to the
date of such certificate which reveals a tax liability for the identified taxes due as
of the date of a certificate previously issued in excess of the amount certified in the
certificate, then the public entity shall retain whatever rights and remedies for
collection of such tax liability as otherwise provided by state or local law; except
that:

(I) In the event of a foreclosure initiated by a lender which results in a sale of
assets subject to any tax lien to a purchaser other than the lender, such tax lien
shall remain a lien on such assets but not on the proceeds to the lender of the
foreclosure sale, and neither the lender nor the purchaser shall have any personal
liability for the tax liability underlying the tax lien;

(II) In the event of a foreclosure initiated by a lender which results in a sale of
assets subject to any tax lien to the lender or in the event of a transfer of assets
subject to any tax lien to a lender in lieu of foreclosure, such tax lien shall remain a
lien on such assets, but the lender shall not have any personal liability for the tax
liability underlying the tax lien;

(III) In the event the circumstances described in subparagraph (II) of this
paragraph (a) occur and the lender subsequently sells such assets to a purchaser,
such tax lien shall remain a lien on such assets but not on the proceeds to the
lender of the sale, and neither the lender nor the purchaser shall have any personal
liability for the tax liability underlying the tax lien; and

(IV) In the event the circumstances described in subparagraph (I) or
subparagraph (III) of this paragraph (a) occur and the purchaser transfers such
assets to a subsequent purchaser, such tax lien shall remain a lien on such assets
but not on the proceeds of sale, and neither the subsequent purchaser nor any
subsequent purchaser thereafter shall have any personal liability for the tax
liability underlying the tax lien.

(b) In order to qualify for the protections provided by this subsection (3), a
lender or transferor shall comply with the following requirements:

(I) Upon receipt of a written request from a public entity, the lender or
transferor shall promptly provide to the public entity a description of any assets of
the taxpayer subject to a tax lien which have been transferred and the name and
address of the transferee of such assets. The lender or transferor shall maintain
records relating to such asset transfers for a minimum of four years; and

(II) Prior to a foreclosure sale or transfer of taxpayer assets which may be
subject to a tax lien, the lender or transferor shall request or cause to be requested
from the appropriate public entity a certificate of taxes due. Such request shall be
accompanied by or shall include a statement of intent. Such certificate of taxes due
shall have been issued no more than six months prior to the date of the foreclosure
sale or transfer of assets.

(4) This section shall not apply to general taxes for real property as
governed by articles 1 to 14 of title 39, C.R.S.

Legislative History

Source: L. 90: Entire article added, p. 1641, � 1, effective January, 1, 1991. L. 2001: (1) amended, p. 556, � 1, effective May 23.