2016 Colorado Revised Statutes
Title 12 - Professions and Occupations
General - Continued
Article 61 - Real Estate
Part 1 - Brokers and Salespersons
§ 12-61-101. Definitions

As used in this part 1, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Employing real estate broker" or "employing broker" means a broker who is shown in real estate commission records as employing or engaging another broker.

(1.2) "HOA" or "homeowners' association" means an association or unit owners' association formed before, on, or after July 1, 1992, as part of a common interest community as defined in section 38-33.3-103, C.R.S.

(1.3) "Limited liability company" shall have the same meaning as it is given in section 7-80-102 (7), C.R.S.

(1.5) "Option dealer" means any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation who, directly or indirectly, takes, obtains, or uses an option to purchase, exchange, rent, or lease real property or any interest therein with the intent or for the purpose of buying, selling, exchanging, renting, or leasing said real property or interest therein to another or others whether or not said option is in that person's or its name and whether or not title to said property passes through the name of said person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation in connection with the purchase, sale, exchange, rental, or lease of said real property or interest therein.

(1.7) "Partnership" includes, but is not limited to, a registered limited liability partnership.

(2) (a) "Real estate broker" or "broker" means any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation who, in consideration of compensation by fee, commission, salary, or anything of value or with the intention of receiving or collecting such compensation, engages in or offers or attempts to engage in, either directly or indirectly, by a continuing course of conduct or by any single act or transaction, any of the following acts:

(I) Selling, exchanging, buying, renting, or leasing real estate, or interest therein, or improvements affixed thereon;

(II) Offering to sell, exchange, buy, rent, or lease real estate, or interest therein, or improvements affixed thereon;

(III) Selling or offering to sell or exchange an existing lease of real estate, or interest therein, or improvements affixed thereon;

(IV) Negotiating the purchase, sale, or exchange of real estate, or interest therein, or improvements affixed thereon;

(V) Listing, offering, attempting, or agreeing to list real estate, or interest therein, or improvements affixed thereon for sale, exchange, rent, or lease;

(VI) Auctioning or offering, attempting, or agreeing to auction real estate, or interest therein, or improvements affixed thereon;

(VII) Buying, selling, offering to buy or sell, or otherwise dealing in options on real estate, or interest therein, or improvements affixed thereon or acting as an "option dealer";

(VIII) Performing any of the foregoing acts as an employee of, or in behalf of, the owner of real estate, or interest therein, or improvements affixed thereon at a salary or for a fee, commission, or other consideration;

(IX) Negotiating or attempting or offering to negotiate the listing, sale, purchase, exchange, or lease of a business or business opportunity or the goodwill thereof or any interest therein when such act or transaction involves, directly or indirectly, any change in the ownership or interest in real estate, or in a leasehold interest or estate, or in a business or business opportunity which owns an interest in real estate or in a leasehold unless such act is performed by any broker-dealer licensed under the provisions of article 51 of title 11, C.R.S., who is actually engaged generally in the business of offering, selling, purchasing, or trading in securities or any officer, partner, salesperson, employee, or other authorized representative or agent thereof;

(X) Soliciting a fee or valuable consideration from a prospective tenant for furnishing information concerning the availability of real property, including apartment housing which may be leased or rented as a private dwelling, abode, or place of residence. Any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation or any employee or authorized agent thereof engaged in the act of soliciting a fee or valuable consideration from any person other than a prospective tenant for furnishing information concerning the availability of real property, including apartment housing which may be leased or rented as a private dwelling, abode, or place of residence, is exempt from this definition of "real estate broker" or "broker". This exemption applies only in respect to the furnishing of information concerning the availability of real property.

(b) "Real estate broker" does not apply to any of the following:

(I) Any attorney-in-fact acting without compensation under a power of attorney, duly executed by an owner of real estate, authorizing the consummation of a real estate transaction;

(II) Any public official in the conduct of his or her official duties;

(III) Any receiver, trustee, administrator, conservator, executor, or guardian acting under proper authorization;

(IV) Any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, or association acting personally or a corporation acting through its officers or regular salaried employees, on behalf of that person or on its own behalf as principal in acquiring or in negotiating to acquire any interest in real estate;

(V) An attorney-at-law in connection with his or her representation of clients in the practice of law;

(VI) Any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation, or any employee or authorized agent thereof, engaged in the act of negotiating, acquiring, purchasing, assigning, exchanging, selling, leasing, or dealing in oil and gas or other mineral leases or interests therein or other severed mineral or royalty interests in real property, including easements, rights-of-way, permits, licenses, and any other interests in real property for or on behalf of a third party, for the purpose of, or facilities related to, intrastate and interstate pipelines for oil, gas, and other petroleum products, flow lines, gas gathering systems, and natural gas storage and distribution;

(VII) A natural person acting personally with respect to property owned or leased by that person or a natural person who is a general partner of a partnership, a manager of a limited liability company, or an owner of twenty percent or more of such partnership or limited liability company, and authorized to sell or lease property owned by such partnership or limited liability company, except as provided in subsection (1.5) of this section;

(VIII) A corporation with respect to property owned or leased by it, acting through its officers or regular salaried employees, when such acts are incidental and necessary in the ordinary course of the corporation's business activities of a non-real estate nature (but only if the corporation is not engaged in the business of land transactions), except as provided in subsection (1.5) of this section. For the purposes of this subparagraph (VIII), the term "officers or regular salaried employees" means persons regularly employed who derive not less than seventy-five percent of their compensation from the corporation in the form of salaries.

(IX) A principal officer of any corporation with respect to property owned by it when such property is located within the state of Colorado and when such principal officer is the owner of twenty percent or more of the outstanding stock of such corporation, except as provided in subsection (1.5) of this section, but this exemption does not include any corporation selling previously occupied one-family and two-family dwellings;

(X) A sole proprietor, corporation, partnership, or limited liability company, acting through its officers or partners, or through regular salaried employees, with respect to property owned or leased by such sole proprietor, corporation, partnership, or limited liability company on which has been or will be erected a commercial, industrial, or residential building which has not been previously occupied and where the consideration paid for such property includes the cost of such building, payable, less deposit or down payment, at the time of conveyance of such property and building;

(XI) (A) A corporation, partnership, or limited liability company acting through its officers, partners, managers, or regularly salaried employees receiving no additional compensation therefor, or its wholly owned subsidiary or officers, partners, managers, or regular salaried employees thereof receiving no additional compensation, with respect to property located in Colorado which is owned or leased by such corporation, partnership, or limited liability company and on which has been or will be erected a shopping center, office building, or industrial park when such shopping center, office building, or industrial park is sold, leased, or otherwise offered for sale or lease in the ordinary course of the business of such corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or wholly owned subsidiary.

(B) For the purposes of this subparagraph (XI), "shopping center" means land on which buildings are or will be constructed which are used for commercial and office purposes around or adjacent to which off-street parking is provided; "office building" means a building used primarily for office purposes; and "industrial park" means land on which buildings are or will be constructed for warehouse, research, manufacturing, processing, or fabrication purposes.

(XII) A regularly salaried employee of an owner of an apartment building or complex who acts as an on-site manager of such an apartment building or complex. This exemption applies only in respect to the customary duties of an on-site manager performed for his or her employer.

(XIII) A regularly salaried employee of an owner of condominium units who acts as an on-site manager of such units. For purposes of this subparagraph (XIII) only, the term "owner" includes a homeowners' association formed and acting pursuant to its recorded condominium declaration and bylaws. This exemption applies only in respect to the customary duties of an on-site manager performed for his or her employer.

(XIV) A real estate broker licensed in another state who receives a share of a commission or finder's fee on a cooperative transaction from a licensed Colorado real estate broker;

(XV) A sole proprietor, corporation, partnership, or limited liability company, acting through its officers, partners, or regularly salaried employees, with respect to property located in Colorado, where the purchaser of such property is in the business of developing land for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes;

(XVI) Any person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation, or any employee or authorized agent thereof, engaged in the act of negotiating, purchasing, assigning, exchanging, selling, leasing, or acquiring rights-of-way, permits, licenses, and any other interests in real property for or on behalf of a third party for the purpose of, or facilities related to:

(A) Telecommunication lines;

(B) Wireless communication facilities;

(C) CATV;(D) Electric generation, transmission, and distribution lines;

(E) Water diversion, collection, distribution, treatment, and storage or use; and

(F) Transportation, so long as such person, firm, partnership, limited liability company, association, or corporation, including any employee or authorized agent thereof, does not represent any displaced person or entity as an agent thereof in the purchase, sale, or exchange of real estate, or an interest therein, resulting from residential or commercial relocations required under any transportation project, regardless of the source of public funding.