Colorado Modifies Provision Regarding Legal Descriptions on Real Estate Documents
by: Lee Greenberg, Esq.
The state of Colorado recently modified a provision regarding the preparation of instruments affecting real estate and the legal description of property through the enactment of House Bill 13-1307. The new law has an effective date of August 7, 2013, unless a petition is filed against the law within ninety days of final adjournment of the general assembly.
Through House Bill 13-1307, the general assembly intends to clarify the Supreme Court of Colorado’s holding In Re Rivera, 2012 CO 42. In In Re Rivera, the court held that a recorded deed of trust that completely omits a legal description is defectively recorded and cannot provide constructive notice to a subsequent purchaser of another party’s security interest in the property.
House Bill 13-1307 clarifies the following for parties that currently have an interest in real property or that will acquire an interest in real property in the future:
- Notwithstanding the holdings and conclusions in In Re Rivera, the fact that a recorded document omits a legal description is not, by itself and without regard to the totality of the circumstances, determinative of whether the document is valid against any person obtaining rights in the real property; nor is it determinative of whether the document is valid or invalid;
- The fact that a document purporting to affect title to real property, whether recorded before or after the effective date of this law, does not include a legal description of the real property may, in the totality of the circumstances, but does not necessarily render defective, invalid, or void the recording of the document in the office of the county clerk and recorder of the county where the real property is situated; nor does it determine whether the document is valid against a person obtaining rights in the real property; and
- The fact that a document purporting to affect title to real property, whether executed before or after the effective date of this law, does not include a legal description of the real property may, in the totality of the circumstances, but does not necessarily, determine whether the document is valid or invalid.
Anna DeSimone founded Bankers Advisory in 1986 and is a nationally recognized authority in residential mortgage lending. She has received numerous industry awards and has authored more than 40 best practices guides and hundreds of articles.
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