Foreclosure in Colorado can happen one of two ways: a judicial foreclosure or a Public Trustee Foreclosure.

 

If your lender is foreclosing on you, the lender will most likely foreclose via the Colorado Public Trustee system. Gantenbein Law Firm defends homes against lenders such as Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, NationStar, Ocwen, Greentree and more.

 

Homeowners' Associations in Colorado often put liens on homeowners' homes and condos for unpaid dues. The HOA may then elect to judicially foreclose on your home to recover those fees, plus attorneys' fees and costs. Often, these fees are in dispute because they are unreasonable, or because you have a homeowner's defense against your Colorado HOA. It is imperative that you contact an attorney right away to dispute your HOA fees or HOA lien, and stop or resolve your HOA foreclosure.  

 

If you currently are being foreclosed upon by your lender through the Public Trustee process, you will receive, at some point during the foreclosure, a Notice of Hearing Pursuant to C.R.C.P. Rule 120. It is imperative that you contact a Colorado foreclosure defense attorney immediately to file a response to your Rule 120 Hearing. The purpose of a Rule 120 Hearing is for the lender to obtain an Order Authorizing Sale of your home. Without that order, the lender can not sell the property at a public foreclosure auction. Once a foreclosure sale occurs, the homeowner loses ownership rights to the property. The lender will then elect to evict the howoner from the property. There may be some post-foreclosure options available to the homeowner. Contact Gantenbein Law Firm to discuss your options post-foreclosure.

 

The judicial foreclosure process in Colorado is rarely used by lenders. Lenders only use the judicial process when there is a title defect or other issue preventing them from using the Public Trustee system. However, HOAs must foreclose via a judicial process. HOAs in Colorado have superior lien rights, via recent Colorado legislation, and may elect to foreclose on your home above other lien holders.  A judicial foreclosure is a traditional lawsuit to obtain a decree and order for foreclosure. Once the order has been obtained, the lender or HOA can then foreclose via the Sheriff's Office.

 

The foreclosure process in Colorado is very complex and complicated. Most of all the foreclosure laws in Colorado were drafted and lobbied for by the lenders. Colorado is the only state in the Nation to have such a foreclosure process. Keith Gantenbein began his legal career as an attorney for the lenders. He now owns his own consumer rights law firm, defending homeowners. He spoke out against the lenders and the foreclosure process in Colorado. Keith Gantenbein has spoken at various insitutions and CLEs including American Bankrutpcy Institute, Colorado Consumer Bankruptcy Assocation, El Paso County Bar Association and Colorado University School of Law about the ethical considerations in Colorado's foreclosure process. Currently, the foreclosure process is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney General's Office and the Colorado's Attorney General's Office. These investigations have been highlighted on numerous accounts by both The Denver Post and by several National media outlets.

 

Most recently, Keith Gantenbein helped draft House Bills 14-1295 and 14-1130 to protect homeowners and borrowers. These Bills were sponsered by well-known homeowner advocates Representative Beth McCann and Senator Jesse Ulibarri. Both Bills were recently signed into law by Governor Hickenlooper. House Bill 14-1295 adopts the CFPB Mortgage Servicing Rules and allows the borrower to provide loss mitigation to the Public Trustee's Office. It is designed to prevent the practice of dual-tracking in Colorado. House Bill 14-1130 concerns the overpayment of funds by borrowers when they cure, and directs the Public Trustee to return those fees to the borrowers. Previously, the money would be tendered to the lenders and, often, never seen again.