Colorado § 18-5-302 - Unlawful activity concerning the selling of land.

§ 18-5-302. Unlawful activity concerning the selling of land.

(1) Any person who, after once selling, bartering, or disposing of any land, or executing any bond or agreement for sale of any land, again sells, barters, or disposes of the same tract of land or any part thereof, or executes any bond or agreement to sell or barter or dispose of the same land or any part thereof, to any other person, with intent to defraud, commits selling land twice. Selling land twice is a class 5 felony.

(2) Any person who knowingly makes a false representation as to the existence of an ownership interest in land which he has as a seller or which his principal has, and which is relied upon, commits a class 6 felony.

(3) A person who signs a lien waiver for a construction loan under section 38-22-119 and knowingly fails to timely pay any debts resulting from a construction agreement covered by the waiver commits a class 2 misdemeanor, unless there is a bona fide dispute as to the existence or amount of the debt.

Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 442, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-5-302. L. 89: Entire section amended, p. 835, § 59, effective July 1. L. 2009: (3) added, (SB 09-137), ch. 145, p. 610, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2021: (3) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3186, § 240, effective March 1, 2022.

ANNOTATION

The second sale must be for a consideration to make out a case under this section. Clement v. Major, 1 Colo. App. 297, 29 P. 19 (1892); Clement v. Major, 8 Colo. App. 86, 44 P. 776 (1896)(both cases decided under former G.S. § 888).

Term "ownership interest in land" not vague. The term "ownership interest in land", in the context of a false representation made to another, is not so vague or uncertain that persons of ordinary intelligence must guess as to its meaning or necessarily differ as to its application. People v. Alexander, 663 P.2d 1024 (Colo. 1983).

Subsection (2) requires actual reliance by the victim, without regard to how a reasonable person might have understood and reacted to the misrepresentation, and this requirement of actual reliance satisfies due process standards. People v. Alexander, 663 P.2d 1024 (Colo. 1983).

True representation not basis for conviction. This section does not permit a conviction for the making of a true representation as to an ownership interest in land, notwithstanding the fact that the true representation may create a false or mistaken belief in the victim with respect to the nature of the seller's interest in the land. People v. Alexander, 663 P.2d 1024 (Colo. 1983).