Colo. Rev. Stat. » Title 38
Colorado Revised Statutes

Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-41-108 (2026)

Rights in possession seven years - color of title and payment of taxes

✓ current as of July 2026
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Every person in the actual possession of lands or tenements, under claim and color of title, made in good faith, who for seven successive years continues in such possession and also during said time pays all taxes legally assessed on such lands or tenements shall be held and adjudged to be the legal owner of said lands or tenements to the extent and according to the purport of his paper title. All persons holding under such possession by purchase, devise, or descent, before said seven years have expired, who continue such possession and continue to pay the taxes as provided in this section, so as to complete the possession and payment of taxes for the term, provided in this section, shall be entitled to the benefit of this section.

Source: L. 27: p. 602, § 37. CSA: C. 40, § 143. CRS 53: § 118-7-8. C.R.S. 1963: § 118- 7-8.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 22 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1975–2025 · leading case: Peters v. Smuggler-Durant Mining Corp., 930 P.2d 575 (Colo. 1997).
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Peters v. Smuggler-Durant Mining Corp., 930 P.2d 575 (Colo. 1997). · cites it 28× “Peters alternatively argues that the filing of the first amended complaint on September 30, 1991, “asserted a separate and additional claim under § 38-41-108, C.R.S., inasmuch as seven years had elapsed since the first payment of taxes (September 27, 1983).”
Peters v. Smuggler-Durant Mining Corp., 910 P.2d 34 (Colo. Ct. App. 1996). · cites it 24× “We next reject Peters' argument that the seven-year period required under § 38-41-108, C.R.S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 16A), the color of title statute, should be calculated from the date of the amended complaint, rather than Peters' initial complaint.”
B.B. & C. P'ship v. Edelweiss Condo. Ass'n, 218 P.3d 310 (Colo. 2009). · cites it 18× “Whether the court of appeals erred in holding that, as a matter of law, petitioner could not adversely possess a parking space on condominium property pursuant to section 38-41-108, C.R.S. (2009) (adverse possession under color of title) where petitioner had parked a car in the…”
McIntyre v. Bd. of Cnty. Commissioners, 86 P.3d 402 (Colo. 2004). · cites it 4× “Section 38-41-108 recognizes the title of persons in actual possession of the lands under claim and color of title who have possessed the lands and paid taxes on the property for seven years.”
Archuleta v. Gomez, 200 P.3d 333 (Colo. 2009). · cites it 6× “In doing so, Gomez does not assert color of title under the seven year statute, section 38-41-108, C.R.S. (2008). Instead, Gomez relies on the following evidence to establish adverse possession: 18-years of Lupe Archuleta's non-use of the water rights commencing in 1968; Gomez's…”
Barnes v. Winford, 833 P.2d 756 (Colo. Ct. App. 1992). · cites it 11× “Second, they claimed title based upon their compliance with § 38-41-108, C.R.S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 16A), which generally provides legal title to persons who have maintained actual possession of land under color of title for seven years and who have paid all taxes on such land over…”
First Nat'l Bank of Wray v. McGinnis, 819 P.2d 1080 (Colo. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 8× “The trial court based its decree upon § 38-41-108, C.R.S. (1982 Repl.Vol. 16A), the seven-year possession with “color of title” statute.”
Lensky v. DiDomenico, 2016 COA 89 (Colo. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 5× “2015, and by adverse possession *459 under color of title, pursuant to section 38-41-108, C.R.S. 2015. ¶ 5 When Lensky filed the complaint, defendants or their predecessors in interest were the record owners of certain parcels of land located within the quiet title property.”
United States v. Novotny, 184 F. Supp. 2d 1071 (D. Colo. 2001). · cites it 9× “C.R.S. § 38-41-108 provides that a party who is in actual possession of property for seven years under color of title and who pays the legally assessed taxes shall be deemed the legal owner of the real property to the extent of his title.”
Brown v. Faatz, 197 P.3d 245 (Colo. Ct. App. 2008). · cites it 3× “Further, section 38-41-108, C.R.S. 2008, expressly contemplates that documents other than those purporting to convey an interest in real property may be evidence of adverse possession which may be found in the records of a county clerk and recorder.”
Bd. of Com'rs of Pitkin Cnty. v. Timroth, 87 P.3d 102 (Colo. 2004). · cites it 2× “(2003), and possession and payment of takes pursuant to section 38-41-108, 10 C.R.S. (2008). Timroth's complaint also alleged that the County's title claim failed because the treasurer's deed upon which it relied was void.”
Rael v. Taylor, 876 P.2d 1210 (Colo. 1994). · cites it 2× “(1982); and/or § 38-41-108, 16A C.R.S. (1982). [4] Because Taylor was a North Carolina resident, the federal court had diversity jurisdiction over this state-law-based action pursuant to Title 28 U.”
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