Colorado § 38-20-206 - Sale of livestock - procedure.

§ 38-20-206. Sale of livestock - procedure.

(1) A lienor who receives a judgment on an agistor's lien may proceed to sell such livestock necessary to satisfy the lien. The sale shall take place not more than forty-five days after entry of judgment at the nearest public livestock market in this state. In addition:

(a) The lienor shall provide notice to the owner at least fifteen days before any sale. The notice shall include the time and place of the sale and a description of the livestock to be sold. Such notice shall be served by:

(I) Publication in one newspaper published in the county of the lienor's residence; or

(II) Posting in three public places within the county of the lienor's residence and delivering a copy to the owner or the owner's agent. If a copy is to be delivered to the owner's agent and such agent does not reside in the county of the lienor's residence, a copy of the notice shall be published in a newspaper published in the county of the agent's residence, or, if no newspaper is published in such county, a copy shall be mailed to such agent's place of residence.

(b) The purchaser shall receive a transfer of the registration papers for the purchased livestock by the public livestock market and the pertinent organization or registry.

(c) The public livestock market shall:

(I) Pay to the agistor from the sale proceeds the reasonable cost of the foreclosure, notice, sale, and the reasonable and necessary charges incurred by the agistor for preserving, maintaining, feeding, boarding, pasturing, caring, and keeping the livestock up to the date of the sale. The reasonable cost of keeping the livestock up to the date of the sale shall not exceed five dollars per head per day.

(II) Forward the remainder of the sale proceeds and render any unsold livestock to the court for distribution to the owner or the owner's agent. If the owner and the owner's agent are not known and there are sale proceeds to be forwarded, such proceeds shall be returned to the board. The board shall deposit such proceeds in its estray fund and make a record of such deposit, identifying the livestock and stating the amount realized from the sale. The board shall pay proceeds from the estray fund to any secured party that has filed a lien against the livestock sold and has submitted a claim for payment to the board. Such payments shall be made only to the extent of the amount owed to the secured party. Such record shall be open to public inspection.

(2) (a) When livestock are in danger of serious and immediate decay or waste, or are likely to rapidly depreciate in value pending foreclosure proceedings, or where the keeping of such livestock will be attended with great expense, the lienor may, upon providing such notice as the court may require, apply to the court for an immediate sale. The court, in its discretion, may order that the livestock be sold and that the sale proceeds be deposited with the clerk of the court pending further order of such court.

(b) Upon receiving an application pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (2), a court may, upon good cause shown, require the lienor to post bond for such amount as the defendant may be entitled for damages sustained in the event of wrongful foreclosure. Such bond shall be secured by two or more sureties, one corporate surety authorized to do business in this state, or a cash bond, whichever is approved by the court.

(3) The lienor may purchase the livestock and may bid all or any portion of the fair market value of the lien.

(4) When the livestock cannot be sold in one day, the sale may be continued on a day-to-day basis. Upon completion of the sale, the public livestock market shall file a bill of sale with the court that entered judgment of foreclosure. Such bill of sale shall include the amount for which each animal was sold and the name of each purchaser. The court shall record such bill of sale in its docket and shall preserve the original.

Source: L. 96: Entire part added, p. 1390, § 11, effective July 1.