(1) If a mortgagee, lienholder, or the mortgagee's or lienholder's assignee or the agent of either repossesses a motor or off-highway vehicle because of default in the terms of a secured debt, the repossessor shall notify, either orally or in writing, a law enforcement agency, as provided in this section, of the repossession, the name of the owner, the name of the repossessor, and the name of the mortgagee, lienholder, or assignee. The notification must be made at least one hour before, if possible, and in any event no later than one hour after, the repossession occurs. If the repossession takes place in an incorporated city or town, the repossessor shall notify the police department, town marshal, or other local law enforcement agency of the city or town. If the repossession takes place in the unincorporated area of a county, the repossessor shall notify the county sheriff.
A repossessor who violates subsection (1) of this section is guilty of a class 2 misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided in section 18-1.3-501, C.R.S.
If a motor or off-highway vehicle being repossessed is subject to the "Uniform Commercial Code - Secured Transactions", article 9 of title 4, C.R.S., the repossession is governed by section 4-9-629, C.R.S.
As used in this section, the term "repossessor" means the party who physically takespossession of the motor or off-highway vehicle and drives, tows, or transports the vehicle for delivery to the mortgagee, lienholder, or assignee or the agent of the mortgagee, lienholder, or assignee.
Source: L. 94: Entire title amended with relocations, p. 2469, § 1, effective January 1, 1995. L. 2001: (3) amended, p. 1448, § 47, effective July 1. L. 2002: (2) amended, p. 1564, § 377, effective October 1. L. 2005: Entire section amended, p. 825, § 35, effective August 8. L. 2013: (1), (3), and (4) amended, (SB 13-280), ch. 407, p. 2395, § 38, effective June 5.
Editor's note: This section is similar to former § 42-6-143 as it existed prior to 1994.
Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 2002 act amending subsection (2), see section 1 of chapter 318, Session Laws of Colorado 2002.