State records guide

Property title search in Colorado

Facts below are taken from official Colorado county pages and the 2024 Colorado Revised Statutes, each linked, each checked on the date shown. General information, not legal advice.

What a Colorado title search has to account for

Which Colorado office records deeds?

The county clerk and recorder. CRS 38-35-109 addresses recording in the office of the county clerk and recorder of the county where the land lies, and CRS 30-10-408 covers the grantor and grantee indexes. The Washington County page linked above describes one such office, whose recording department preserves documents presented for recording, including real estate, maps, plats and surveys. There are 64 counties, and Broomfield and Denver are consolidated city-county governments.

The report traces the chain of title as far back as the county's records go, with document images of the key instruments, and verifies findings with the assessor, tax office, recorder and courts. When an owner has died, a probate title search finds the decedent's property by name and reports vesting at death and how title passes.

How does a Colorado Public Trustee foreclosure work?

The Douglas County Public Trustee page linked above describes Public Trustee foreclosure sales of deeds of trust containing a power of sale, and says that if the Public Trustee is not included in the deed of trust, the lender must sue the borrower and obtain a court order, with the Sheriff conducting the sale. CRS 38-39-101 sends a deed of trust naming a private trustee, or securing something other than an evidence of debt, through the courts.

A Public Trustee sale has a court step too. CRS 38-38-105 calls for a court order authorizing the sale, under Rule 120 or another rule of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, and says a sale without it shall be invalid. An auction title report on a Colorado parcel reports the foreclosing lien's position and the liens that would survive, in dollars, for the bidder's attorney.

Who can redeem after a Colorado foreclosure sale?

As the Adams County Public Trustee page linked above explains, for cases processed under the laws in effect as of January 1, 2008 and after, the owner or borrower no longer has a redemption period after the foreclosure sale, but has a longer period before the sale in which to cure the default.

After the sale, junior lienors as the law defines them hold a right of redemption. Whether a lienor qualifies depends on CRS 38-38-302, which looks at when the lien was recorded and whether the lienor is entitled to cure, and the Douglas page lists recording deadlines of 15 calendar days before the sale for assignments and judgment liens from July 1, 2026. Others can differ: Douglas County notes that the IRS may redeem under federal law for up to 120 days, and CRS 38-38-506 lets a court give omitted parties redemption rights. The Adams page says a Certificate of Redemption is issued to the party redeeming, and CRS 38-38-402 addresses recording it.

What happens to unpaid property taxes in Colorado?

As the Adams County Treasurer page linked above states, a buyer at the tax lien sale is issued a Tax Lien Sale Certificate of Purchase, and the purchase conveys no right of possession, use, improvement or access to the property. The holder may pay subsequent years' delinquent taxes.

The deed route was rewritten by Senate Bill 26-144, which repealed and reenacted article 11.5 effective June 1, 2026 and applies it to any treasurer's deed issued on or after that date, regardless of when the tax lien sale was held. After August 1 of the third calendar year following the sale, section 39-11.5-102 lets the lawful holder apply for a treasurer's deed, and section 39-11.5-103 has the treasurer record the application and the certificate of purchase, with its endorsements, within ten business days after confirming that all subsequent taxes are paid. Section 39-11.5-106 lets the owner redeem by filing an intent to redeem with the treasurer no later than seven calendar days before the scheduled public auction.

The treasurer then holds a public auction, at a courthouse, at the treasurer's or the clerk and recorder's building, or online, and within three business days records a certificate of option for a treasurer's deed for the purchaser under section 39-11.5-401. A lawful holder who was not the successful purchaser may repurchase the option under section 39-11.5-301 by filing a notice of intent within three business days and paying no later than noon on the eighth business day after the auction. When that period ends, section 39-11.5-501 vests title in the option holder, free and clear of liens and encumbrances junior to the certificate of purchase and subject to claims for overbid money, and the treasurer records the deed. Section 39-11.5-602 bars any deed under article 11 on or after June 1, 2026, and CRS 39-12-104 keeps a separate right for an owner under legal disability at the time of a tax deed. The report verifies tax sales and redemptions with the tax office and states the surviving liens, taxes and assessments in dollars.

Which package fits a Colorado property?

Every package covers Colorado property wherever it is recorded. Pick by situation:

• Probate law firm: Find every property a decedent held, how it was vested and what has to be paid before it passes. $595 per estate.
• Real estate law firm: A preliminary report with schedule-style exceptions and print-ready exhibits for your matter. $695 per property.
• Builders and developers: Multi-parcel research on access, easements, restrictions, mineral reservations and entity ownership. $995 first parcel.
• Auction buyer: Know the total cost to own, which liens survive the sale and whether to bid at all. $395 for 1 property.
• Home buyer: Confirm the seller owns the home and learn what has to be cleared before you pay. $449 per property.
• Home seller: Find the old mortgage, judgment or name mismatch before a buyer's title company does. $449 per property.

Questions about a title search in Colorado