Documentary fee imposed - amount - to whom payable

# (1)

There is imposed and shall be paid, by every person offering for recording in the office of the county clerk and recorder any deed or instrument in writing wherein or whereby title to real property situated in this state is granted or conveyed, a documentary fee measured by the consideration paid or to be paid for such grant or conveyance, which documentary fee shall be in addition to any other fee fixed by law for the recording of such deed or instrument in writing.

# (2)

The amount of documentary fee payable in each case shall be as follows:

# (a)

When there is no consideration or when the total consideration paid by the purchaser, inclusive of the amount of any lien or encumbrance against the real property granted or conveyed and all charges and expenses required to be paid for the making of such grant or conveyance is five hundred dollars or less, no documentary fee shall be payable.

# (b)

When the total consideration paid by the purchaser, inclusive of the amount of any lien or encumbrance against the real property granted or conveyed and all charges and expenses required to be paid for the making of such grant or conveyance exceeds five hundred dollars, the documentary fee payable shall be computed at the rate of one cent for each one hundred dollars, or major fraction thereof, of such consideration.

# (3)

All documentary fees shall be payable to and collected by the county clerk and recorder.

# (4)

In those cases in which real property located in two or more counties is granted or conveyed in a single transaction, each county clerk and recorder shall collect a portion of the total documentary fee referred to in subsection (2) of this section in the same ratio that the consideration fairly attributable to the part of such property located in his county bears to the total consideration. The allocation of the total consideration between counties is to be made by the person offering such deed or instrument in writing for recording.

# (5)

# (a)

For the purpose of determining the documentary fee in accordance with subsection (2) of this section, the amount of consideration paid for the grant or conveyance of residential real property, inclusive of liens, charges, and expenses, is the amount listed on the grant or conveyance document; except that, if there is no consideration amount listed on the grant or conveyance document or the amount listed is five hundred dollars or less, and there is a related declaration filed in accordance with section 39-14-102, then the amount of consideration paid is the total sales price listed on the declaration.

# (b)

In determining the amount of consideration paid for the grant or conveyance of commercial or industrial real property, inclusive of liens, charges, and expenses, the total amount of the sales price to the purchaser shall be deemed to be paid for the grant or conveyance of real property unless evidence of the separate consideration paid for personal property is submitted as shown on the purchaser's use tax return as filed with the department of revenue or unless evidence of such separate consideration is shown on the declaration filed pursuant to the provisions of section 39-14-102.

# (c)

Any such evidence submitted under paragraph (a) or (b) of this subsection (5) shall not be recorded or filed by the county clerk and recorder and shall not be subject to public inspection but shall be sent to the county assessor. Such evidence shall be used by the assessor as required by section 39-13-107 but shall be kept confidential and shall not be subject to public inspection.

# (d)

Solely for the purpose of computing the documentary fee, the property conveyed by a deed or other instrument will be regarded as residential unless the deed or other instrument includes a conspicuous statement or notation that the property is not to be regarded as residential. This provision does not authorize the alteration of a deed or other instrument after it has been executed. Source: L. 67: p. 942, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 137-13-2. L. 68: p. 33, § 4. L. 84: (5) added, p. 1004, § 1, effective July 1; (2)(a) and (2)(b) amended, p. 1004, § 1, effective January 1, 1985. L. 89: (5)(a) and (5)(b) amended, p. 1462, § 21, effective July 1. L. 2016: (5)(a) amended and (5)(d) added, (HB 16-1145), ch. 108, p. 310, § 1, effective April 15. L. 2025: (1) amended, (SB 25-275), ch. 377, p. 2104, § 314, effective August 6.