Colorado § 5-12-103 Greater rate may be stipulated

Colorado Statutes

§ 5-12-103 — Greater rate may be stipulated

Colorado § 5-12-103

Title 05Consumer

Art.Interest - General Provisions

This text of Colorado § 5-12-103 (Greater rate may be stipulated) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 5-12-103 (2026).

Text

(1)The parties to any bond, bill, promissory note, or other instrument of writing may stipulate therein for the payment of a greater or higher rate of interest than eight percent per annum, but not exceeding forty-five percent per annum, and any such stipulation may be enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction in the state, except as otherwise provided in articles 1 to 6 of this title. The rate of interest shall be deemed to be excessive of the limit under this section only if it could have been determined at the time of the stipulation by mathematical computation that such rate would exceed an annual rate of forty-five percent when the rate of interest was calculated on the unpaid balances of the debt on the assumption that the debt is to be paid according to its terms an

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(1) The parties to any bond, bill,
promissory note, or other instrument of writing may stipulate therein for the
payment of a greater or higher rate of interest than eight percent per annum, but
not exceeding forty-five percent per annum, and any such stipulation may be
enforced in any court of competent jurisdiction in the state, except as otherwise
provided in articles 1 to 6 of this title. The rate of interest shall be deemed to be
excessive of the limit under this section only if it could have been determined at the
time of the stipulation by mathematical computation that such rate would exceed
an annual rate of forty-five percent when the rate of interest was calculated on the
unpaid balances of the debt on the assumption that the debt is to be paid according
to its terms and will not be paid before the end of the agreed term.

(2) The term interest as used in this section means the sum of all charges
payable directly or indirectly by a debtor and imposed directly or indirectly by a
lender as an incident to or as a condition of the extension of credit to the debtor,
whether paid or payable by the debtor, the lender, or any other person on behalf of
the debtor to the lender or to a third party.

(3) The public policy of this state does not limit or prohibit contracting,
agreeing, or stipulating in advance for the payment of interest on interest or
compound interest.

(4) No law or public policy of this state limiting interest on interest, the
adding of deferred interest to principal, or the compounding of interest shall apply
to any promissory note secured by any mortgage or deed of trust or to one secured
by a mortgage or deed of trust where periodic disbursement of part of the loan
proceeds is made by a lender over a period of time as established by the mortgage
or deed of trust, or over an expressed period of time, or ending with the death of the
debtor, including, but not limited to, promissory notes secured by mortgages or
deeds of trust having provisions for adding deferred interest to principal or
otherwise providing for the charging of interest on interest.

(5) This section shall not apply to a commercial credit plan as defined in
section 5-12-107 (8) and extensions of credit made pursuant thereto, unless the
bond, bill, promissory note, instrument, or other written agreement evidencing the
plan expressly states that it is subject to this section.

Legislative History

Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 852, � 1. C.R.S. 1963: � 73-12-103. L. 72: p. 292, � 6. L. 75: (1) amended, p. 257, � 3, effective July 1. L. 79: (2) amended and (3) and (4) added, p. 317, � 1, effective July 1. L. 81: (4) amended, p. 396, � 33, effective June 8. L. 96: (5) added, p. 407, � 12, effective July 1.