Colorado § 38-25.5-102 - Certificate of taxes due.

§ 38-25.5-102. Certificate of taxes due.

(1) (a) As soon as practical but in no event later than thirty days after receipt of a written request from a taxpayer or authorized person, the treasurer of a public entity shall certify in writing as of the date of the certificate the full amount of the taxes identified in the request known to be due from the taxpayer. If there is a delinquency in the payment of taxes of an unknown amount, the public entity shall, if practical, provide a good faith estimate of the amount of the taxes due and indicate on the certificate that the figure provided is an estimate. A fee of ten dollars shall be collected for each specifically identified tax included in a certificate issued by a public entity in response to a request.

(b) Notwithstanding the amount of the fee specified in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1), if the public entity collecting the fee is a state agency, the executive director of the state agency, by rule or as otherwise provided by law, may reduce the amount of the fee if necessary pursuant to section 24-75-402 (3), C.R.S., to reduce the uncommitted reserves of the fund to which all or any portion of the fee is credited. After the uncommitted reserves of the fund are sufficiently reduced, the executive director of the state agency, by rule or as otherwise provided by law, may increase the amount of the fee as provided in section 24-75-402 (4), C.R.S.

(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section and notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary:

(a) When signed by the treasurer of a public entity, a certificate of taxes due shall be conclusive evidence for all purposes and against all persons, including the public entity, that, at the time of certification, the property of the taxpayer was free and clear of all such identified taxes due and any tax liens arising therefrom or was subject to each such identified tax due and any tax lien arising therefrom in a stated or estimated amount; and

(b) If more than one certificate of taxes due is issued by the treasurer of the same public entity with respect to the same taxpayer and the later certificate sets forth an amount of taxes due for a particular tax which is:

(I) In excess of the amount set forth in the earlier certificate, the earlier certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the amount of taxes due and any tax liens arising therefrom as of the date of that earlier certificate. The later certificate shall be evidence of the amount of taxes due and any tax liens arising therefrom as of the date of the later certificate, but any tax lien arising therefrom shall only be effective for the amount of taxes which became due after the date of the earlier certificate.

(II) Less than the amount set forth in the earlier certificate, the later certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the amount of taxes due and any tax liens arising therefrom as of the date of the later certificate;

(c) Any tax lien arising from taxes becoming due after the date of the latest certificate of taxes due shall not be affected by this section.

(3) (a) This subsection (3) shall apply only to taxes identified in and due as of the date of a certificate of taxes due. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, if a public entity completes an audit or investigation subsequent to the date of such certificate which reveals a tax liability for the identified taxes due as of the date of a certificate previously issued in excess of the amount certified in the certificate, then the public entity shall retain whatever rights and remedies for collection of such tax liability as otherwise provided by state or local law; except that:

(I) In the event of a foreclosure initiated by a lender which results in a sale of assets subject to any tax lien to a purchaser other than the lender, such tax lien shall remain a lien on such assets but not on the proceeds to the lender of the foreclosure sale, and neither the lender nor the purchaser shall have any personal liability for the tax liability underlying the tax lien;

(II) In the event of a foreclosure initiated by a lender which results in a sale of assets subject to any tax lien to the lender or in the event of a transfer of assets subject to any tax lien to a lender in lieu of foreclosure, such tax lien shall remain a lien on such assets, but the lender shall not have any personal liability for the tax liability underlying the tax lien;

(III) In the event the circumstances described in subparagraph (II) of this paragraph (a) occur and the lender subsequently sells such assets to a purchaser, such tax lien shall remain a lien on such assets but not on the proceeds to the lender of the sale, and neither the lender nor the purchaser shall have any personal liability for the tax liability underlying the tax lien; and

(IV) In the event the circumstances described in subparagraph (I) or subparagraph (III) of this paragraph (a) occur and the purchaser transfers such assets to a subsequent purchaser, such tax lien shall remain a lien on such assets but not on the proceeds of sale, and neither the subsequent purchaser nor any subsequent purchaser thereafter shall have any personal liability for the tax liability underlying the tax lien.

(b) In order to qualify for the protections provided by this subsection (3), a lender or transferor shall comply with the following requirements:

(I) Upon receipt of a written request from a public entity, the lender or transferor shall promptly provide to the public entity a description of any assets of the taxpayer subject to a tax lien which have been transferred and the name and address of the transferee of such assets. The lender or transferor shall maintain records relating to such asset transfers for a minimum of four years; and

(II) Prior to a foreclosure sale or transfer of taxpayer assets which may be subject to a tax lien, the lender or transferor shall request or cause to be requested from the appropriate public entity a certificate of taxes due. Such request shall be accompanied by or shall include a statement of intent. Such certificate of taxes due shall have been issued no more than six months prior to the date of the foreclosure sale or transfer of assets.

(4) This section shall not apply to general taxes for real property as governed by articles 1 to 14 of title 39, C.R.S.

Source: L. 90: Entire article added, p. 1641, § 1, effective January, 1, 1991. L. 2001: (1) amended, p. 556, § 1, effective May 23.