How to avoid foreclosure in Colorado

How foreclosure works in Colorado, step by step

1. Missed payments and the hotline notice

   Federal rules generally stop a servicer from starting foreclosure until you are more than 120 days behind. In Colorado the lender must also mail you a notice at least 30 days after the default and at least 30 days before filing the foreclosure. It must give the Colorado foreclosure hotline number and the direct phone number of the lender's loss mitigation department. Call both as soon as you get it.

   12 C.F.R. § 1024.41(f); C.R.S. § 38-38-102.5

2. Notice of election and demand

   The lender files a notice of election and demand with the county public trustee, and it is recorded. The first sale date is set 110 to 125 calendar days after that recording for a home that is not agricultural property. The public trustee mails you a combined notice of the sale and your rights within 20 calendar days after recording, and again 45 to 60 calendar days before the first sale date.

   C.R.S. §§ 38-38-103, 38-38-108

3. Rule 120 court hearing

   The lender must get a court order authorizing the sale. A notice of the hearing must be posted on your home at least 14 days before the hearing date. If you want the judge to hear your side, file a written response (court form JDF 621) with the court and mail it to the lender's attorney at least 7 days before the hearing date. The court says that if no response is filed, a hearing may not be held and the judge can order the sale.

   C.R.S. § 38-38-105; C.R.C.P. 120

4. Ask for help and send proof to the public trustee

   Apply to your servicer for a loan modification or other option as early as you can. If the servicer confirms in writing that it received your complete application (dated at least 37 days before the sale) or that you accepted an option, give that letter to the public trustee no later than 14 calendar days before the sale. The public trustee must then check with the lender and continue the sale while waiting for an answer.

   C.R.S. § 38-38-103.2

5. Cure the default before the sale

   You can stop the sale by catching up. File a written notice of intent to cure with the public trustee at least 15 calendar days before the sale date. The public trustee gets a cure statement from the lender, and you must pay that amount to the public trustee by 12 noon the day before the sale. You pay the missed amounts plus allowed fees and costs, not the whole loan balance.

   C.R.S. § 38-38-104

6. Public trustee sale

   The public trustee sells the home at auction, in person or online depending on the county. The lender must bid at least its good faith estimate of the home's fair market value, less certain costs and senior liens, but does not have to bid more than what it is owed. You have no right to buy the home back after the sale. Lienholders junior to the foreclosed loan have 8 business days after the sale to file a notice of intent to redeem.

   C.R.S. §§ 38-38-106, 38-38-302

7. After the sale: title and moving out

   Title passes to the buyer when all lienholder redemption periods end or, if no one files to redeem, at the close of business 8 business days after the sale. The new owner cannot simply lock you out. After demanding possession, the new owner must file an eviction case in court if you do not leave. If the home sold for more than what was owed, ask the public trustee about leftover money.

   C.R.S. §§ 38-38-501, 13-40-104(1)(f), 38-38-111

Colorado foreclosure deadlines to know

These are the periods written into the law. Your own dates are on the notices you received. If a notice and this page disagree, trust the notice and ask a counselor or lawyer.

Your rights as a homeowner in Colorado

Other Colorado protections

• Hotline notice before foreclosure

  At least 30 days before filing, the lender must mail you the Colorado foreclosure hotline number, the direct number for its loss mitigation department, and a statement that foreclosure consultants cannot charge up-front fees.

  C.R.S. § 38-38-102.5

• Single point of contact

  By the 45th day of your delinquency, a servicer must set up a single point of contact who can tell you about your options, what you must send in, the status of your application and the deadlines. Servicers with 5,000 or fewer loans are exempt.

  C.R.S. § 38-38-103.1

• Dual tracking limit

  If your servicer confirmed a complete loss mitigation application or you accepted an option and are following it, you can give that written proof to the public trustee at least 14 calendar days before the sale. The public trustee must ask the lender about it and continue the sale until the lender responds. Small servicers are exempt.

  C.R.S. § 38-38-103.2

• Limits on fees for recovering sale surplus

  An agreement to pay someone to recover leftover sale money (an overbid) from the public trustee is not enforceable, and pushing you to sign one is a crime. After the money goes to the State Treasurer, a finder agreement is enforceable only if it is signed at least two years after the transfer and the fee is no more than 10 percent.

  C.R.S. §§ 38-38-111(2.5)(c), 38-13-1304

• HOA lien foreclosure protections

  If a homeowners association forecloses its lien, you can ask the court to stay the auction for nine months so you can list the unit for sale at fair market value. A 2024 law also lets the unit owner redeem after an association lien sale.

  C.R.S. §§ 38-38-109.5, 38-38-305.5

Colorado mortgage assistance programs

If the home is sold for more than you owe

Money bid above what the foreclosing lender is owed is called an overbid. The public trustee holds it until lienholder redemption periods end, pays junior lienholders who filed a notice of intent to redeem, and pays what is left to the borrower. The public trustee must mail you a notice about it within 30 days after the redemption periods end. Contact the public trustee's office after the sale to claim it. You do not need to pay anyone to do this. Unclaimed amounts of $25 or more are generally sent to the State Treasurer as unclaimed property two years after the sale, and you can claim them there without a fee. A 2026 law also lets a county hold unclaimed funds under its own resolution, so ask the public trustee where the money is. In a sheriff's sale the proceeds are deposited with the court.

C.R.S. § 38-38-111

Ways to avoid foreclosure

Most of your options come from federal rules and from whoever owns or insures your loan, so they work the same way in Colorado as anywhere else. What changes by state is how much time you have to use them.

• Repayment plan
• Forbearance
• Payment deferral or partial claim
• Loan modification
• Reinstatement
• Short sale
• Deed in lieu of foreclosure
• Chapter 13 bankruptcy