El Paso County Public Trustee’s Online Auction will be held on Wednesdays at 10:00AM Mountain Time. The El Paso County Public Trustee has contracted with RealAuction.com to host their online auction.

Bidders may register at https://elpasoco.realforeclose.com. RealAuction.com offers a free bidder training class. Register for the class by calling (877) 361-7325 or emailing customerservice@realauction.com.

Per statute (C.R.S. 38-37-108), all payments made for redemption, cure, or purchase at sale “shall be in the form of cash, electronic transfer to an account of the public trustee available for such purpose, or certified check, cashier’s check, teller’s check, or draft denominated as an official check that is a teller’s check or a cashier’s check as those terms are defined in and governed by the “Uniform Commercial Code”, title 4, C.R.S., made payable to the public trustee, and certified or issued by a state-chartered bank, savings and loan association, or credit union licensed to do business in the state of Colorado or a federally chartered bank, savings bank, or credit union.” There will be a $10 fee charged for electronic funds transfer. Electronic funds must be verified as received into the Public Trustee's account prior to sale.

The pre-sale foreclosure reports are updated every Tuesday by approximately 2:00 P.M. and are available for viewing either in the Public Trustee's office or on this web site under Foreclosure Reports -- Pre-Sale Report.

No tax dollars are used to operate the office of the Public Trustee. Any funds received in excess of operating expenses are turned over to the El Paso County general fund, after ensuring the maintenance of an operational reserve, as required by law.

The Office of the El Paso County Public Trustee does NOT conduct seminars concerning the foreclosure process. Instead, we have compiled this web site as a tool to provide basic information to citizens interested in learning about the foreclosure process. If you have further questions, attend a sale and ask your questions of the Public Trustee.

Information concerning liens recorded against the real property can be obtained by visiting or contacting the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder located in the Citizens Service Center, 1675 W. Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, CO, 719-520-6200

At auction, the foreclosing lender bids what it deems to be fair market value for the property. A deficiency bid occurs when that written bid is less than the total owed to that Lender. The foreclosing lender may elect to sue the homeowner, or anyone else who signed the original promissory note, for the amount of the deficiency (the amount owed minus the amount of the bid) after the foreclosure. The deficiency amount is not the responsibility of anyone who purchases a property at auction.

In the event the foreclosing lender bid less than the amount due to it (a deficiency bid), the amount of the deficiency could be reduced by the funds generated by the Public Trustee sale if someone other than the foreclosing lender bids a higher amount for the property.

If there is no deficiency, the "overbid" in excess of the amount owed to the foreclosing lender is distributed first to junior lienholders (in order of lien priority, up to the amount of the lien) who file a timely intent to redeem and and do not have their lien redeemed. Any remaining overbid funds are paid to the owner of record at the time the notice of election and demand was recorded to begin the foreclosure.

A Notice of Intent to Cure must be filed with the office of the Public Trustee at least 15 days prior to the actual foreclosure sale date. If the sale date is delayed, the deadline to file an intent to cure is delayed along with it.

Upon receipt of the completed notice of intent to cure form, the Public Trustee will request the cure amount from the attorney for the foreclosing party. When the cure statement is received, the Public Trustee’s office will provide them to the party who filed the intent.

Cure funds must be paid to the office of the Public Trustee in cash or certified funds no later than the expiration of the cure statement, at noon if that day is also the day before the foreclosure sale.

A cure statement may be re-requested in writing after the expiration of a current statement.

There is no owner right to redeem for foreclosures initiated after January 1, 2008. If your foreclosure started before that date, and was not restarted following a bankruptcy, call us at 719-520-6780 to get information.

Colorado Revised Statutes §38-38-302 governs how a junior lien holder may exercise his right to redeem the property in a Public Trustee foreclosure.

Certain lienors with liens with priority junior to the deed of trust foreclosed (generally those liens recorded after the foreclosed trust deed) have the right to redeem. In order to redeem, a junior lienor must have a mortgage, deed of trust, a lien created or recognized by State or federal statute, or a judgment from a court of competent jurisdiction. The lien must have been recorded prior to the recording of the Notice of Election and Demand. An owner's association may have redemption rights without the separate recording of a lien.

How to File a Notice of Intent to Redeem by Junior Lienor

The holder of a junior lien must file Notice of Intent to Redeem with the office of the Public Trustee, and pay the $50.00 fee for each Notice of Intent to Redeem. The Notice of Intent to Redeem must be filed no later than 8 business days after the sale.

The Notice of Intent to Redeem must have attached to it a copy of the recorded instrument(s) that provide evidence of the lien and any assignment of the lien with evidence of recording affixed by the county clerk and recorder's office and an affidavit of the lienor, signed by the redeeming lienor or the lienor's attorney, setting forth the amount required to redeem such lienor's lien. Please Note: An agent for the lien holder cannot sign a Notice of Intent to Redeem.

Upon receipt of a Notice of Intent to Redeem, the Public Trustee will request a Redemption Statement from the holder of the Certificate of Purchase, stating the amount required to redeem. That redemption statement must be received by close of business on the 13th business day after sale, or the Public Trustee will generate a redemption statement and send it to the redeeming lienholder. The statement may include costs and expenses actually incurred which are permitted by C.R.S. §38-38-302 (3) for which the Certificate of Purchase holder has filed with the public trustee receipts or invoices evidencing such costs and expenses incurred after the purchase at sale, except that a Qualified Holder is not required to provide receipts or invoices. The Redemption Statement may be amended up until 2 days before the start of the first redemption period.

Junior lienors are entitled to redeem in the order of seniority as shown by the County Clerk and Recorder’s records based on the recording of the instruments demonstrating their liens. The first (most senior in priority based on the recorded documents) junior lien holder may redeem from 15 to 19 business days after the sale, and each subsequent junior lien holder then has five additional business days to redeem the property. Redemption funds, in the form of cash or certified funds, must be received by 12 noon on the final day of the redemption period.

Certificate of Lienor

When a lienor makes the redemption payment to the Public Trustee, if there are additional redemption periods the payment must be accompanied by a Certificate of Lienor stating the amount owing on such lien through the end of the next redemption period and the per diem interest rate. This certificate may be amended to include costs and expenses actually incurred which are permitted by C.R.S. §38-38-302 (6) for which such lienor has filed with the public trustee receipts or invoices evidencing such costs and expenses incurred after the redemption payment, as long as the amended certificate of lienor is delivered no later than 2 days before the start of the next redemption period.

The fee for a Lienor Redemption is $30.00, plus a recording fee of $13.00 for the first page of the Certificate of Redemption and $5.00 for each additional page. A Deed is issued to the last redeeming junior lien holder after the expiration of all redemption periods.

The fee for a Deed is $30.00, plus a recording fee of $13.00 for the first page of the Deed and $5.00 for each additional page. Except for very old files, this fee is included in the bid.

Prepare in Advance

The Public Trustee makes no representations, warranties or promises of any kind about the physical condition or status of title of property being foreclosed. It is your responsibility to do your own research before coming to the sale. The Public Trustee does not promise that the trust deed being foreclosed is a first lien. A Public Trustee Deed contains no warranty of title. The Public Trustee does not check whether taxes have been paid or if there are other liens against the property.

You can obtain the foreclosure sale number of the property by looking it up at the Public Trustee's office, in the Notice of Sale published in the newspaper or on this website.

Sale Instructions

El Paso County Public Trustee’s Online Auction will be held on Wednesdays at 10:00AM Mountain Time. The El Paso County Public Trustee has contracted with RealAuction.com to host their online auction. Bidders may register at https://elpasoco.realforeclose.com. RealAuction.com offers a free bidder training class. Register for the class by calling (877) 361-7325 or emailing customerservice@realauction.com.

A Bidder must be identified by name and other information required by Realauction.com, including, but not limited to, driver’s license number, state ID, tax identification information or email addresses. A User ID and password will be provided by RealAuction.com.

Deposit of Funds. As a condition to the right to bid at the foreclosure sale, Bidder shall deposit with the Public Trustee, an amount equal to or greater than 10 percent of the Bidder’s anticipated high bid on each foreclosed property on which the Bidder intends to bid. The deposit shall be made either by electronic means or delivered in person. In order for funds to be available for the auction, all Cash, Certified Funds (i.e. certified check or cashier’s check, or teller's check) and Wires must be received by 4:30 p.m. (Mountain Time), the day before the auction.

Duty to Review. Bidder is solely responsible for reviewing all information made available regarding a foreclosure sale and foreclosed properties prior to bidding at a foreclosure sale. El Paso County, the Public Trustee and Realauction.com shall not be liable for any claim of loss alleged to have resulted from any errors, omissions or inaccuracies concerning any of such information.

Payment for Purchase. If a remaining balance is due (an amount beyond the amount of the deposited funds described above), all final payments must be delivered to the Public Trustee’s office by wire transfer, cash, or certified funds (certified check, cashier’s check, or teller's check) in a timely manner to allow for the receipt of funds and the update of the bidder’s account balance to complete the purchase by 2:00 p.m. (Mountain Time) the day of the auction. All funds must be drawn from a US Financial institution and no foreign currency is accepted.

Failure to complete a purchase. Failure to pay the balance of the winning bid or complete the purchase by 2:00 p.m. (Mountain Time) the day of the auction will result in a forfeited bid. The 10 percent deposit used to participate in the auction will be removed from the bidder’s available balance and held in a Public Trustee’s non-interest-bearing account for 30 business days or longer at the discretion of the office of the Public Trustee. At that time, the funds will be released back to the Bidder’s Realauction.com account.

Name on Certificate of Purchase/Confirmation Deed. The successful bidder at a foreclosure sale is solely responsible for providing to the Public Trustee, in writing, the complete and accurate name of the entity or person to which or whom Bidder wishes the Certificate of Purchase and, if applicable, the Confirmation Deed to be issued.

For detailed information on our foreclosure sale policy and foreclosure process visit https://elpasoco.realforeclose.com.

Some Important Facts

For foreclosures whose Notice of Election and Demand was recorded after January 1, 2008, the owner of the property at the time of sale has no further rights to the property. The property sold at a Public Trustee foreclosure sale can be redeemed by certain lien holders. If redemption occurs, the purchaser at sale will be paid the bid amount plus interest at the default rate specified in the evidence of debt secured by the deed of trust being foreclosed, plus certain other expenses described by Colorado Revised Statutes §38-38-301. Should there be no redemption, a Confirmation Deed for the property will be issued to the purchaser at sale upon request, the expiration of all redemption periods, and payment of the required fee and recording costs.