FAQ for County Officials

County and State Roles/Workflow

Are counties responsible for approving the application?

Due to legislative changes, the application workflow is solely handled by the counties. Counties are now responsible for disseminating, collecting, vetting, and recording deferral applications.

The State will:

Confirm that the county property tax bill amount matches the requested, recorded loan amount for all applications.
Check for any application exceptions or problems (e.g., the account is ineligible from prior account history, has a discrepancy about the owner of record, etc.).

Please reach out to us if you have any questions on a particular application.

Does the county or the applicant fill in the online application?

Either the homeowner or county staff can use the online portal application.

The applicant can fill out an application individually through the portal;
The county can create and fill out an online application on behalf of a homeowner with the applicant present in the County Treasurer’s Office; or
The county can fill out, print and mail a completed online application on behalf of a homeowner. The homeowner signs the printed application and mails it back to the county for final recording.

How do new county staff log in to the online portal?

Each county staffer using the portal will need their own individual account login. Please contact us if you need to create an account for new staff, refresh your current login, or remove old accounts.

Do we have to create a brochure along with our tax notice?

No, you are not required by state law to produce a brochure; however, we encourage you to make information available to homeowners. Some counties include a separate leaflet or information insert with their tax bills to raise awareness of the program.

Who processes loan payments and payoffs?

Property Tax Deferral loans are state liens. Counties may not accept payments from homeowners, title companies, or third parties, and counties are not allowed to release liens. All payoff and payment questions must be directed to the Colorado Department of the Treasury at 303-866-5327 or cotreasproptax@state.co.us.

Eligibility and Applicant Requirements

Is the program effective for 2025 taxes or 2026 taxes?: Colorado property taxes are paid in arrears. The program is deferring payment of 2025 property taxes during calendar year 2026. Most county tax bill notices state that the tax amount is due for 2025 property taxes, payable in 2026. We encourage you to update your information on the county website if further clarification is needed.
What happens if the senior does not apply for their past loans?: Applicants do not need to reapply each year; they can forego a loan deferral and choose to pay the current property taxes. In this case, the past property tax deferral loans will remain in place. If the applicant wants to opt out of the program for the current year, they must inform the county or state, either verbally or through the online portal. The state will obtain and verify their up-to-date contact information to manage the participant’s future payoffs or the release of lien.
To clarify, if the applicant does not apply in the current year, they are responsible for paying their property taxes. If they skip a year, can they apply again in the future?: Correct. If an applicant chooses not to apply for a deferral this year, they will be responsible for paying their 2025 taxes in 2026 owed by the posted county deadlines. An applicant can skip years and still be eligible to apply in future years, as long as the eligibility requirements are met.
What proof does an active military service member need to provide if they are called up to active duty?: Neither counties nor the state need proof of military enrollment. When applicants sign the applications, whether through the online portal, PDF, or handwritten, they attest that they have been called into active military service as of December 31, 2025. There is no requirement for county or state officials to validate this attestation.
What if the state has a lien, the homeowner does not reapply and does not pay their taxes. Do we need to notify the State?: Absolutely. At that point, their past deferrals would become due and payable because they are no longer eligible for the program. Please reach out to the state Property Tax Deferral team so that we can follow up on this account. Additionally, please contact us as soon as possible if you learn of former deferral properties that are behind on property taxes, have gone into foreclosure, or will be sent to tax lien auction.

Application Submission, Recording, and Liens

Do we have to record the application and the lien release?: Yes, the county will record the eligible application with their Clerk and Recorder. Once the loan is paid off, the state will send a Release of Lien to the homeowner, title company, or authorized third party. It is the responsibility of the homeowner/authorized agents to present and pay for the release of lien to the County Clerk and Recorder.
Does “recording” mean recording with the County Clerk and Recorder?: Yes, you will record eligible applications as a state tax lien with your County Clerk and Recorder.
Can we submit all the applications as we receive them, or do we submit them all at once?: To manage the application processing, the best practice is to adopt a weekly or biweekly submission schedule, depending on the volume of eligible applications received. This workflow includes reviewing, tracking and recording the eligible applications, then submitting them to the State via email weekly or biweekly. Please email copies of the original recorded applications and the updated spreadsheet tracker to cotreasproptax@state.co.us.
Where do I find a state lien?: Ask the Clerk and Recorder to look for a state tax lien when recording the eligible application. Some counties will track general tax liens. Please refer to your Clerk and Recorder to input the appropriate lien type.
Will the Clerk’s office charge us for a recording?: By statute, County Clerk and Recorders are not allowed to charge for recording the initial deferral application. County Treasurers may need to remind their Clerk and Recorder of this law. When the loan is paid off, the State releases the lien. It is then the responsibility of the homeowner, title company, or authorized third party to pay for the release of the lien.
Where do I find a state lien?: Ask the Clerk and Recorder to look for a state tax lien when recording the eligible application. Some counties will track general tax liens. Please refer to your Clerk and Recorder to input the appropriate lien type.
Why should we not stamp “copy” on recorded applications?: The State and most counties require a clean copy of the original lien to officially release it. Once the application is completed, counties may stamp “Copy” on the lien certificate that is sent and/or emailed to the homeowner.

Loan and Mortgage Details

How do I confirm a reverse mortgage?

When filling out the application for or with a homeowner, please ask them if they have a reverse mortgage. If they do not have a reverse mortgage, please mark the corresponding attestation box. The applicant will attest to this fact with their signature. If they have a reverse mortgage, the homeowner is NOT eligible for a deferral loan.

Please define HELOC.

HELOC stands for home equity line of credit. It is a revolving line of credit up to a fixed amount, used when needed, secured by a lien for the full amount. Similarly, a second mortgage is a second loan (fixed amount) secured by the property and a lien.

Please confirm that the HELOC amounts are the full amount of their HELOC, not their current balance.

Yes, please use the full amount of the HELOC when calculating eligibility.

Do you rely on the amount that the homeowner tells you for their mortgage?

Yes, homeowners attest to the mortgage amount, eligibility calculations, and the eligibility criteria when they sign the application. Please note that the mortgage balance will fluctuate month to month with payments and any applicable escrows.

How do I confirm a VA loan vs. a non-VA loan?

If you are creating an application for an active military applicant, you will need to inquire with the homeowner and mark the appropriate box. The calculation percentage is different for a VA vs. a non-VA loan. Whether creating or reviewing a PDF/paper application or using the online portal, the applicant will attest that the application information is true with their signature(s). You are not required to verify the loan type.

What if a current or prior deferral applicant obtains a reverse mortgage?

Securing a reverse mortgage triggers the following actions:

Their current or past deferral loans no longer meet the eligibility requirements.
The account should be flagged, and the State should be notified immediately.
The State will handle communication and repayment of the deferral loan account(s).

Importantly, reverse mortgage companies do not allow any other liens to be placed on their managed properties. Deferral participants who take out a reverse mortgage risk endangering the terms of their loan contract, triggering default and immediate repayment.

Tracking, Tax Rolls, and State Payments

Are the specific data points that you’d like the county to track for the summary spreadsheet template?

Yes, we have sent the tracking template to counties and posted it on the County Resource Hub. A tracking spreadsheet with these fields is automatically generated when you download eligible online portal applications for official recording.

If a homeowner fills out an application online, does the county still need to fill out an Excel spreadsheet with that information?

Yes. To accurately confirm the payment amounts to the counties, an Excel worksheet is the preferred method of tracking. The State has posted an Excel tracking template on the County Resource Hub with the required data points for tracking both PDF/paper and online portal applications.

Counties will need to track and total two separate application areas:

Paper/PDF applications: Eligible applications will need to be vetted/reviewed for eligibility, recorded with the clerk and recorder and emailed to the State.
Online applications: Eligible applications will need to be downloaded from the county portal, recorded with the clerk and recorder, and emailed to the State.

An accompanying Excel spreadsheet report is automatically produced by the portal when you download eligible applications. This worksheet report can be filtered by dates, eligibility, and other data points.

The final tracking sheet containing all eligible PDF/paper and online property tax accounts must be emailed to the state by 5 p.m. April 8, 2026, along with clean copies of the recorded applications.

Can the state send a file of outstanding balances to each county?

Yes, we have sent each county an Excel spreadsheet listing amounts for each of their deferral applicants, which includes interest through April 30, 2026. Please email the Property Tax Deferral team at cotreasproptax@state.co.us if you would like us to send the spreadsheet again.

When the State pays these deferred taxes, is it a one-time payment? In what format are we supposed to receive these payments?

Each county will receive a one-time, lump sum payment from the Colorado State Treasury by April 30. These payments are accompanied by a detailed Excel spreadsheet that lists every homeowner and dollar amount for whom the State is paying property taxes. The application Excel report includes fields for the property tax amount; applicant name and address; and property parcel ID number. This spreadsheet ensures that the county can correctly apply the payment to the applicant.

Where and how do Assessors upload tax rolls and in what format? Or does that mean just deliver the tax roll to the Treasurer?

County Assessors must ensure tax rolls are uploaded to Cotality (formerly CoreLogic) to ensure a smooth and efficient application process. Prompt, accurate uploads help prevent delays in deferral approvals and loan disbursements. For most counties, uploading tax rolls is a long-standing, automated process that will not require new action.

To confirm that your county's tax rolls have been successfully uploaded, or to arrange a data upload tailored to your specific county workflows, please contact the portal upload administrator, George Gonzalez, at gegonzales@cotality.com.

Alternatively, we can connect you with the portal administrator. Please email us at cotreasproptax@state.co.us with the following information:

County Assessor or staff name(s)
Their county email address
Their direct work phone

Are you getting the property tax information from the assessor’s tax roll upload, or do the treasurers need to upload this data daily?

The online portal requires specific data—housed with the County Assessor—to auto-populate portions of the application.

The online portal administrator is available to help ensure assessor data has been uploaded correctly. Please email George Gonzalez at gegonzales@cotality.com for support.

Property and Ownership (Deeds/Trusts)

What if the property has a “deed of restriction”?

Please reach out to us for applications involving deed restricted properties. We will need information on the specific deed restriction (e.g., who is listed on the deed besides the owner).

If properties are owned by trusts, do we still need to gather trust information? Where do we enter the name of the property that the trust is held under?

In most cases, the tax bill should reflect the trust name if a trust has already been established with the county Assessor. It is recommended for both the county and the State to obtain trust information and contact the trust if:

A trust is newly established for a prior deferral applicant, or
An applicant’s trust is applying for a deferral for the first time.

Entering Trust Name and Information

If a PDF or paper application is used for a trust application, enter their name(s) at the top. Alternatively, you may input the trust name in the field below the signature line.
- Important: Please check the box near the signature line that indicates a trust account. Please fill in the name of the trust’s point of contact and their phone number.
If the applicant applied via the online portal, the trust name will auto-populate for previous participants. Please select the System Value option to use the trust name from previous applications.
- The System Value may not pull up the trust name if:
  - The applicant has not registered the trust name with the County Assessor, or if the Assessor’s file names are not up to date, OR
  - A newly established trust is applying on behalf of the homeowner.
- To fix this, please type in the trust name, the trust point of contact, and their phone number in the top contact information area or next to the trust checkbox near the signature lines.
  - Important: Please check the box near the signature line that indicates a trust account. Please fill in the name and phone number for the trust point of contact.

Can homeowners and county staff input the truncated or shortened version of the legal property description for deferral applications?

Yes, if the legal description is very long, write or type: APN # ______ - see full legal description