Article 15. Offenses - Making, Financing, or Collection of Loans

As used in this article, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) To “collect” an extension of credit means to induce in any way any person to make repayment thereof.
(2) “Creditor” means any person who extends credit or any person claiming by, under, or through any such person.
(3) “Debtor” means any person who receives an extension of credit or any person who guarantees the repayment of an extension of credit or in any manner undertakes to indemnify the creditor against loss resulting from the failure of any person who receives an extension of credit to repay the same.
(4) To “extend credit” means to make or renew any loan or to enter into any agreement, express or implied, whereby the repayment or satisfaction of any debt or claim, whether acknowledged or disputed, valid or invalid, and however arising, may or will be deferred.
(5) An “extortionate means” is any means which involves the use, or an express or implicit threat of use, of violence or other criminal means to cause harm to the person, reputation, or property of any person.
(6)
(a) “Loan finance charge” means the sum of all charges payable directly or indirectly by the debtor and imposed directly or indirectly by the lender as an incident to or as a condition of the extension of credit, whether paid or payable by the debtor, the lender, or any other person on behalf of the debtor to the lender or to a third party, including, but not limited to, any of the following types of charges that are applicable:
(I) Interest or any amount payable under a point, discount, or other system of charges, however denominated;
(II) Premium or other charge for any guarantee of insurance protecting the lender against the debtor’s default or other credit loss;
(III) Charges incurred for investigating the collateral or credit-worthiness of the debtor or for commissions or brokerage for obtaining the credit.
(b) The term does not include the charges as a result of additional charges as defined in section 5-2-202, C.R.S., delinquency charges as defined in section 5-2-203, C.R.S., deferral charges as defined in section 5-2-204, C.R.S., similar charges specifically authorized by law, or additional interest charges permitted by section 5-12-107 (3), C.R.S.
(7) “Repayment” of an extension of credit includes the repayment, satisfaction, or discharge, in whole or in part, of any debt or claim, acknowledged or disputed, valid or invalid, resulting from or in connection with that extension of credit.

Any person who makes any extension of credit in any amount regardless of the loan finance charge with respect to which it is the understanding of the creditor and the debtor at the time it is made that delay in making repayment or failure to make repayment will result in the use of extortionate means of collection is guilty of extortionate extension of credit, which is a class 4 felony.

(1) The provisions of this section are nonexclusive and in no way limit the effect or applicability of section 18-15-102.
(2) In any prosecution under section 18-15-102, if it is shown that the factors enumerated in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of this subsection (2) were present in connection with the making of the extension of credit in question, there shall arise a presumption that the extension of credit was extortionate:
(a) The extension of credit was made with a loan finance charge in excess of that established for criminal usury.
(b) At the time credit was extended, the debtor reasonably believed that one or more extensions of credit by the creditor had been collected or attempted to be collected by extortionate means or the nonrepayment thereof had been punished by extortionate means.
(c) Upon the making of the extension of credit, the total of the extensions of credit by the creditor to the debtor then outstanding, including any unpaid interest or similar charges, exceeded one hundred dollars.
(3) In any prosecution under section 18-15-102, evidence of similar offenses tending to establish the existence of a plan, scheme, or design on the part of the defendant to produce a result of which the act charged is a part shall be admissible in evidence against the defendant. Such evidence of similar offenses, if known to the debtor, shall also be admissible in evidence for the purpose of establishing the reasonable belief of the debtor referred to in paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of this section.
(4) Whether evidence introduced under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section giving rise to the presumption that the extension of credit was extortionate is sufficient to establish the guilt of the defendant beyond a reasonable doubt, if such evidence is not disputed, is a question to be determined by the jury under proper instructions or by the court if no jury trial is had. Where there is evidence tending to show the innocence of the transaction, the issue of whether the extension of credit was extortionate shall be submitted to the jury, if trial is to a jury, unless the court is satisfied that the evidence as a whole clearly negates the presumed offense.

(1) Any person who knowingly charges, takes, or receives any money or other property as a loan finance charge where the charge exceeds an annual percentage rate of forty-five percent or the equivalent for a longer or shorter period commits the crime of criminal usury, which is a class 6 felony.
(2) It is an affirmative defense to criminal usury for a person, or his agent or assignee, who charges, takes, or receives money or property as a loan finance charge in excess of an annual percentage rate of forty-five percent in either of the following circumstances:
(a) That at the time of making the loan finance charge it could not have been determined by a mathematical computation that the annual percentage rate would exceed an annual percentage rate of forty-five percent;
(b) That the loan finance charge was not in excess of an annual percentage rate of forty-five percent when the rate of the finance charge was calculated on the unpaid balance of the debt on the assumption that the debt is to be paid according to its terms and is not paid before the end of the agreed term.
(3) The affirmative defenses referred to in subsection (2) of this section shall only apply when the provisions relating to the loan finance charge are set forth in a written agreement signed by all the parties and such written agreement is submitted to the court and the district attorney at least ten days prior to trial.
(4) This section shall not apply to:
(a) Charges and fees permitted by articles 1 to 6 of title 5, C.R.S., or charges and fees that are similar to such charges and fees and are specifically authorized by law;
(b) Credit card charges and fees not exceeding those permitted for consumer transactions under articles 1 to 6 of title 5, C.R.S., when imposed upon or collected from a person or in a transaction not subject to said provisions;
(c) A reverse mortgage as defined in section 11-38-102, C.R.S.; and
(d) Additional interest charges permitted by section 5-12-107 (3), C.R.S.

Any person who knowingly advances money or property, whether as a gift, a loan, or an investment, pursuant to a partnership or profit-sharing agreement, or otherwise, to any person, with reasonable grounds to believe that it is the intention of the person to whom the advance is made to use the money or property, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of making an extortionate extension of credit, commits financing extortionate extensions of credit, which is a class 5 felony.

Any person who knowingly advances money or property, whether as a gift, a loan, or an investment, pursuant to a partnership or profit-sharing agreement, or otherwise, to any person, with reasonable grounds to believe that it is the intention of the person to whom the advance is made to use the money or property, directly or indirectly, for the purpose of engaging in criminal usury, commits financing criminal usury, which is a class 6 felony.

(1) It is unlawful for any person knowingly to participate in any way, or to conspire to do so, in the use of any extortionate means to collect or to attempt to collect any extension of credit or to punish any person for the nonrepayment of any extension of credit.
(2) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (1) of this section commits collection of extensions of credit by extortionate means, which is a class 4 felony.
(3) In any prosecution under this section for the purpose of showing an implicit threat as a means of collection, evidence may be introduced tending to show that one or more extensions of credit by the creditor were, to the knowledge of the person against whom the implicit threat was alleged to have been made, collected or attempted to be collected by extortionate means or that the nonrepayment of an extension of credit was punished by extortionate means.

(1) Any person who possesses or conceals any writing, paper, instrument, or article used to record criminally usurious transactions, and who knows or has reasonable grounds to know that the contents have been used, are being used, or are intended to be used to conduct a criminally usurious transaction, or who possesses or conceals such instruments with intent to aid, assist, or facilitate criminal usury commits possession or concealment of records of criminal usury, which is a class 6 felony.
(2) This section is not applicable to any person who may take possession of any such documents while acting on behalf of another as attorney or in a related capacity with respect to judicial proceedings already commenced.

(1) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) “Borrower” means any person seeking to obtain a loan through the services of a loan finder.
(b) “Loan” has the same meaning as set forth in section 5-1-301 (25), C.R.S.
(c) “Loan finder” means any person who, directly or indirectly, serves or offers to serve as a lender or as an agent to obtain a loan or who holds himself or herself out as capable of obtaining a loan for any person; except that the following persons shall be exempt from the provisions of this section:
(I) A supervised financial organization, as defined in section 5-1-301 (45), C.R.S., and its employees, when acting within the scope of their employment;
(II) A person duly licensed to make supervised loans pursuant to part 3 of article 2 of title 5, C.R.S.;
(III) A business development corporation, created pursuant to article 48 of title 7, C.R.S.;
(IV) A pawnbroker licensed pursuant to article 11.9 of title 29, acting as such;
(V) Any governmental entity or employee thereof, acting in his official capacity;
(VI) A mortgage broker, as defined in paragraph (d) of this subsection (1), acting as such.
(d) “Mortgage broker” means any person who, directly or indirectly, serves or offers to serve as an agent for any person to obtain a loan secured by a mortgage, deed of trust, or lien on real property.
(2) A loan finder shall not charge or collect any fee from a borrower until a borrower actually receives the agreed-upon loan; except that nothing in this section shall preclude a borrower from paying for a credit check or for an appraisal of security for the loan where such payment is by check or money order made payable to a party independent of the loan finder.
(3) In any proceeding brought pursuant to this section, the burden of production with respect to an exemption from its provisions shall be upon the person claiming the exemption, and said claim of exemption shall constitute an affirmative defense.
(4) [This version of subsection (2) is effective until March 1, 2022.] Any person who violates this section commits a class 1 misdemeanor. A violation of this section shall also constitute a class 1 public nuisance subject to the provisions of part 3 of article 13 of title 16, C.R.S.
(4) [This version of subsection (2) is effective March 1, 2022.] Any person who violates this section commits a petty offense. A violation of this section shall also constitute a class 1 public nuisance subject to the provisions of part 3 of article 13 of title 16.