CO Bar Law Specifics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under Colorado's dog bite statute, a person seriously injured by a dog bite while lawfully on property may recover economic damages:
- Regardless of the dog's prior viciousness or the owner's knowledge of it (Correct answer)
- Only if the owner knew the dog had bitten someone before
- Only if the victim proves negligence per se
- Only when the bite occurs on public property
Correct answer: Regardless of the dog's prior viciousness or the owner's knowledge of it
C.R.S. § 13-21-124 imposes strict liability for economic damages from serious bodily injury caused by a dog bite, without requiring proof of the dog's known viciousness.
Question 2: In Colorado, a landlord's implied warranty of habitability is breached when a residential premises is:
- Uninhabitable or otherwise unfit for human habitation and the landlord has received notice and failed to cure (Correct answer)
- Merely in violation of any aesthetic standard in the lease
- Older than fifty years without renovation
- Rented without a written lease agreement
Correct answer: Uninhabitable or otherwise unfit for human habitation and the landlord has received notice and failed to cure
Colorado's statutory warranty of habitability requires the condition to render the premises uninhabitable or unfit, plus landlord notice and failure to remedy.
Question 3: Colorado's homestead exemption protects a portion of a debtor's equity in a home. Which statement is accurate?
- The exemption applies automatically to occupied homesteads without requiring a recorded declaration (Correct answer)
- The debtor must record a homestead declaration before any protection attaches
- The exemption applies only to homes purchased with cash
- The exemption is unlimited in dollar amount
Correct answer: The exemption applies automatically to occupied homesteads without requiring a recorded declaration
In Colorado the homestead exemption arises automatically for owner-occupied property, with no recorded declaration required.
Question 4: Under the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act, a plaintiff suing a public entity in tort must file a written notice of claim within:
- 182 days after discovery of the injury (Correct answer)
- One year after the injury occurs
- 30 days after retaining counsel
- Three years after the injury occurs
Correct answer: 182 days after discovery of the injury
The CGIA requires written notice within 182 days of discovering the injury, and compliance is a jurisdictional prerequisite to suit.
Question 5: In Colorado criminal law, the deadly force 'make-my-day' statute protects an occupant who uses force against an intruder who:
- Has made an unlawful entry into a dwelling and the occupant reasonably believes the intruder has or intends to commit a crime and might use physical force (Correct answer)
- Is anywhere on the occupant's land, including open fields
- Refuses to leave a business open to the public
- Trespasses on a neighbor's property
Correct answer: Has made an unlawful entry into a dwelling and the occupant reasonably believes the intruder has or intends to commit a crime and might use physical force
C.R.S. § 18-1-704.5 grants immunity for force used against a person who unlawfully enters a dwelling when the occupant reasonably believes a crime plus a risk of physical force is present.
Question 6: Colorado's marital property regime at divorce requires courts to divide marital property:
- Equitably, without regard to marital misconduct (Correct answer)
- Equally, as Colorado is a community property state
- According to which spouse holds legal title
- Based primarily on which spouse was at fault for the divorce
Correct answer: Equitably, without regard to marital misconduct
Colorado is an equitable distribution state and expressly excludes marital misconduct from the property division analysis.
Question 7: Under Colorado Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1, simplified procedure presumptively applies to district court actions seeking monetary judgments of:
- $100,000 or less against any single party, exclusive of interest and costs (Correct answer)
- $25,000 or less total
- $250,000 or less against all parties combined
- Any amount if all parties are individuals
Correct answer: $100,000 or less against any single party, exclusive of interest and costs
Rule 16.1's simplified procedure governs claims of $100,000 or less per party unless a party properly opts out or the case is excluded.
CO Bar Law Specifics 3
Under Colorado's dog bite statute, a person seriously injured by a dog bite while lawfully on property may recover economic damages: