New Video: ‘Water! An Education for Homebuyers’ and Fact Sheet Available to Help Colorado Homebuyers and Real Estate Professionals

The State Engineer, head of Colorado’s Division of Water Resources, announces an entertaining and informative video for homebuyers and real estate professionals to demystify common questions around home ownership and Colorado water law. The video addresses wells and water rights and is paired with a fact sheet linking to information referenced in the video.

The fact sheet includes links to helpful documents like ‘The Beginner's Guide to Well Permits,’ a tool to find copies of well permits, and the ‘Ask DWR’ form. It also includes a link to the video, ‘Water! An Education for Homebuyers.’ The FAQ is a PDF meant to be shared with anyone who might find the information helpful.

Well? Water you waiting for! Check out the video on DWR’s website or YouTube.

Consumer Advisory: Rental Scams in Colorado

Over the years, the Division of Real Estate has repeatedly warned licensees and consumers alike of the existence of rental scams.  At this time, the Division would like to again remind you about this important, dangerous, and often expensive type of fraud. 

How They Work:

Although the form of rental scams can take many different shapes, there are many similarities. 

In rental scams, most often a scammer will post an advertisement for a property to rent at a very competitive price.  These posts are commonly made on free internet sites such as Craigslist, Facebook, or other social media, but, increasingly, scammers are using other websites and apps like Zillow and Redfin. Remember that rental listings can be posted in the newspaper or online. Scammers have been known to use otherwise reputable sources to perpetrate these scams. Most often, the advertisements appear to be legitimate and contain professional photographs and other property details. (Read More)

Colorado Real Estate Commission Update! New Forms Approved For Use in 2024

On June 28, 2024, an important non-rulemaking hearing of the Colorado Real Estate Commission (“CREC”) took place.  During the hearing, the Commissioners discussed important changes to the Commission-approved Contracts and Forms and voted to approve them.  Due to a variety of reasons, these forms will be available and for mandatory use earlier than in previous years. 

This year, the new Contracts and Forms will be effective in August 2024. The Division is working to promptly make redlined versions of these forms available for educational purposes and will release these forms for use in August 2024, in a clean format. 

Visit the Real Estate Contract and Forms website in the coming weeks to review the changes and to better understand how your practice may be affected.

Broker Practice Advisory: Post-Closing Occupancy Agreement

Effective January 1, 2021, the Colorado Real Estate Commission approved an updated Post-Closing Occupancy Agreement form for use by Colorado licensees. While spring weather
may result in added housing inventory on the market in Colorado, the higher interest rates and other factors may still require buyers and sellers to enter into an arrangement to rent-back a property to the sellers while they are making arrangements to move, execute a longer-term lease, or close on a new property. Whatever the circumstances may be, a Post-Closing Occupancy Agreement is an important tool in every licensee’s toolbox, should the need arise.

A Post-Closing Occupancy Agreement (the “Form”) is available for use for up to sixty (60) days following closing. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the primary reason is that lenders may interpret a term longer than 60 days to indicate that the property is not owner-occupied and, might constitute a breach of any lending agreements or deeds of trust. Licensees should know that if seller possession will last longer than sixty (60) days, a document should be prepared by an attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Colorado.

Essentially, the Form clarifies the responsibilities of the buyer (the temporary landlord) and the seller (the temporary tenant). Accordingly, it addresses a variety of topics: maintenance, damage taking place after closing, access to the property by the buyer, and the amount of rent, to identify a few. (Read More)

2024 Legislative Summaries for Division Licensees

The 2024 Legislative Session was a very busy one.  Although some bills were lost, many did become law.  All licensees, but also consumers, should be aware of those laws that affect the real estate practice.

The Division of Real Estate has prepared legislative summaries to aid you in better understanding the latest changes.

Final language of these acts and other information about the Colorado General Assembly can be found on the Colorado General Assembly’s website at: https://leg.colorado.gov

To track any bills, you can visit the Colorado General Assembly’s website and use the “Find A Bill” tool to research any bills, past or present.  

Recent Board and Commission Appointments

The Division of Real Estate is responsible for three essential boards and commissions that oversee real estate licensees and regulate the industry: (1) the Colorado Real Estate Commission (“CREC”), (2) the Board of Real Estate Appraisers (“BOREA”), and (3) the Board of Mortgage Loan Originators (“MLO”).  Several positions on these boards and commissions have recently been filled. 

These positions are appointed by the Governor, and, in addition, individuals appointed to BOREA and MLO are also confirmed by the Senate. Appointments to the boards and commission reflect the geographic and demographic diversity of Colorado, including having members from both rural and urban parts of the state, and having members of diverse political, racial, disability, and cultural groups and of diverse sexual orientations and genders. To see a full list of the members for each, please visit the Division Boards, Commissions & Programs page.

HB24-1091: Fire-Hardened Building Materials in Real Property

Colorado has seen its fair share of wildfires and wildfire destruction.  On December 30, 2021, the most destructive fire in Colorado history, the Marshall Fire, burned through the town of Superior, the neighboring city of Louisville, and parts of unincorporated Boulder County.  Homes and businesses were damaged and destroyed, and significant portions of the surrounding environment, including the Marshall Mesa and Davidson Mesa, were substantially altered.

To help empower homeowners of common-interest communities (“HOAs”) and to safeguard and protect their properties, the Governor signed House Bill 24-1091 into law on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.  HB24-1091 generally prohibits covenants and other restrictions that disallow the installation, use, or maintenance of fire-hardened building materials in residential real property, including in common interest communities. (Read More)

HOA Forum: Wildfire Mitigation and HOA Communities

Wildfires are becoming larger, more intense, and more destructive in Colorado. Wildfire mitigation is the act of hardening a home and creating defensible spaces to reduce the chance of home loss.

The HOA Information & Resource Center is pleased to announce Abby Silver, Wildfire Coordinator with Wildfire Partners/Boulder County Community Planning and Permitting, as guest speaker for this month’s HOA Forum.  Please join us in learning more about ways in which HOAs can support and enhance wildfire mitigation, as well as what new changes to the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (“CCIOA”) were recently enacted regarding this subject.

On Friday, July 26, 2024 at 1:00 pm (MT), join the HOA Information Officer for a live webinar discussion. All are welcome to attend. 

Presentation Details: 

• Date: Friday, July 26, 2024
• Time: 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. (MT)
• Location: Online Webinar Only

You may register for the event here:

HOA Center Advisory: Corporate Transparency Act Applicability To Common Interest Communities 

In recent months, there has been some confusion about the effects of the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) on Colorado Common Interest Communities (HOAs, POAs, Condominiums, Cooperatives, etc.). The CTA was enacted in 2021 to limit illicit financial activity, but, since passage, there has been some debate about if Common Interest Communities are subject to the law. 

Confusion arose a few months ago when a District Court in the Northern District of Alabama ruled that the CTA is unconstitutional because Congress exceeded its power by enacting it. Likely, this ruling will be appealed however, subsequent to the Alabama ruling, on June 10, 2024, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) updated its CTA Frequently Asked Questions to further confirm that in most cases, a homeowners’ association is a reporting company. It is important to point out that the CTA is a federal law, not a state law. Therefore, the applicability of the CTA is nationwide. (Read More)

Quarterly Discipline

This serves to inform the public of the current and/or most recent disciplinary action taken against the individuals listed. It does not, nor should it be intended to, serve as a complete listing of any and all discipline taken against the individual licensees. 

2024 Disciplinary Actions and License Relinquishments Spreadsheet

Find the program you want to view by toggling through the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet.

To obtain a complete public disciplinary history for a specific licensee visit the Division's Records Management System and search a licensees personal record by name or license number.