Denver County Foreclosure Resources

Denver follows Colorado's non-judicial foreclosure framework. The lender delivers a notice of election and demand to the Denver Public Trustee, that notice is recorded and mailed to the borrower, a combined notice is published and a notice of sale is posted on the property, and the sale is conducted by the Public Trustee under the power of sale contained in the deed of trust. No court judgment is required before the sale. This is structurally different from judicial states, where a lawsuit must be filed and a judge must enter judgment before the property can be sold.

The process is the same Colorado public trustee process that applies statewide; what differs is the office. Because Denver is a consolidated city and county, it has a municipal Public Trustee rather than a county public trustee, and that office performs the same statutory function — receiving and recording the notice of election and demand, handling publication and posting, administering the cure and redemption accounting, and conducting the sale. Homeowners in Denver therefore deal with the Denver Public Trustee, and it is that office rather than a court file that holds the authoritative record of a pending Denver foreclosure.

Colorado gives you a statutory right to cure by paying the delinquent amounts plus the costs of cure, and the standard cure period runs up to 15 days before the sale — or 11 days if the sale has been published. That deadline is fixed to the scheduled sale date rather than to a court calendar, so the sale date on your notice determines everything else. If you are trying to resolve a Denver foreclosure by payment, confirming that date with the Public Trustee immediately on receiving notice is the most important first step.

Colorado provides a post-sale redemption period, and its length depends on the lender's deficiency election rather than being a single fixed figure. A lender who waives deficiency obtains a streamlined process, while a lender who elects to pursue a deficiency faces a longer redemption period. For most residential properties the shorter track applies, generally 75 days from the sale date, with longer periods where the lender does not waive deficiency and where certain instruments were recorded before January 1, 1990. Determining which election the lender made is the first step in knowing how much time you have.

Colorado permits a deficiency, but it makes the lender choose between pursuing one and obtaining a longer redemption period — the regime is built to make waiving deficiency attractive in exchange for a faster process. Where a lender does seek a deficiency, the court may limit the amount to the difference between the debt and the property's fair market value rather than tying it to the sale price. That matters because a public trustee sale can bring less than the property is worth, and the fair-value limit prevents that gap from falling entirely on the homeowner.

Federal servicing rules govern how a servicer must handle a complete loss mitigation application, including restrictions on proceeding with foreclosure while an application is under review and the requirement to evaluate a complete application before a sale. Because Colorado is a non-judicial state, the foreclosure advances on the public trustee's statutory schedule rather than pausing automatically for a court, so the timing of your application relative to the scheduled sale date matters a great deal. If you have a pending application, treat the sale date as the operative deadline and pursue the servicer process in parallel with it.

Colorado Legal Services provides free civil legal representation for qualifying low-income homeowners, with a Denver office and a statewide intake line. The Colorado Foreclosure Hotline offers free counseling, the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority provides foreclosure prevention resources and HUD-approved counseling, and the Denver Department of Housing Stability offers local housing assistance. The Denver Public Trustee's office maintains the record of a pending foreclosure, including the scheduled sale date, which is the first thing to confirm.