Colorado § 18-5-504 - Concealment or removal of secured property.

§ 18-5-504. Concealment or removal of secured property.

(1) If a person who has given a security interest in personal property, as security interest is defined in section 4-1-201 (b)(35), or other person with actual knowledge of the security interest, during the existence of the security interest, knowingly conceals or removes the encumbered property from the state of Colorado without written consent of the secured creditor, the person commits concealment or removal of secured property.

(2) Concealment or removal of secured property is:

(a) A petty offense if the amount is less than three hundred dollars;

(b) A class 2 misdemeanor if the amount is three hundred dollars or more but less than one thousand dollars;

(c) A class 1 misdemeanor if the amount is one thousand dollars or more but less than two thousand dollars;

(d) A class 6 felony if the amount is more than two thousand dollars but less than five thousand dollars;

(e) A class 5 felony if the amount is five thousand dollars or more but less than twenty thousand dollars;

(f) A class 4 felony if the amount is twenty thousand dollars or more but less than one hundred thousand dollars;

(g) A class 3 felony if the amount is one hundred thousand dollars or more but less than one million dollars; and

(h) A class 2 felony if the amount is one million dollars or more.

Source: L. 71: R&RE, p. 445, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 40-5-504. L. 77: Entire section amended, p. 964, § 34, effective July 1. L. 89: Entire section amended, p. 836, § 63, effective July 1. L. 98: Entire section amended, p. 797, § 9, effective July 1. L. 2006: Entire section amended, p. 503, § 46, effective September 1. L. 2007: Entire section amended, p. 1695, § 11, effective July 1. L. 2021: Entire section amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 462, p. 3187, § 247, effective March 1, 2022.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2007 act amending this section, see section 1 of chapter 384, Session Laws of Colorado 2007.

ANNOTATION

This section applies to any valid security interest, perfected or not. People v. Armijo, 197 Colo. 91, 589 P.2d 935 (1979).

This section is designed to protect the ability of a secured creditor to look to the particular security underlying a debt in the event of default. Removal and concealment of security is conduct which impairs that ability and is thus violative of this section. People v. O'Cana, 725 P.2d 1139 (Colo. 1986).

This section provides ample notice to the populace of the prohibited conduct and a sufficiently precise standard for those charged with its enforcement to satisfy constitutional standards of specificity and to withstand a void for vagueness challenge. People v. O'Cana, 725 P.2d 1139 (Colo. 1986).

No affirmative conduct by any third party is necessary to complete the offense defined in this section. Even though a secured party who is the victim of the conduct proscribed by this section may elect not to report such conduct to prosecuting officials does not alter the fact that the offense is completed by the accused's conduct. People v. O'Cana, 725 P.2d 1139 (Colo. 1986).

The offense of removing secured property established by this section requires proof that the defendant knew of the existence of the security interest, knew that he was removing the secured property from Colorado without first having obtained the creditor's written consent to such removal, and knew that such removal would impair the creditor's security interest. People v. O'Cana, 725 P.2d 1139 (Colo. 1986).

Leaving the state with a vehicle in which a former client has a security interest was found to be a violation of this section in an attorney disciplinary proceeding and was a basis for disbarment. People v. Odom, 941 P.2d 919 (Colo. 1997).