Colorado: Judgment Lien Duration & Renewal Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law

C.R.S. § 13-52-102 does the heavy lifting: it creates the lien once a certified transcript is recorded, sets the lien's 6-year duration, and splits judgment enforceability into 20 years for district court judgments versus 6 years for county court judgments. Colo. R. Civ. P. 54(h) governs how a district court judgment is actually revived; the nearly identical Colo. R. County Ct. Civ. P. 354(h) covers county court judgments.

How long the judgment itself lasts

20 years from entry for a district court judgment, after that, "the judgment shall be considered as satisfied in full, unless so revived." County court judgments entered on or after July 1, 1981 get only 6 years before the same rule kicks in, a genuinely shorter enforceability track, not just a shorter lien.

How long a recorded lien lasts

6 years from the judgment's entry date, not from when the transcript gets recorded. For a district court judgment, that's a real, separately-running clock shorter than the judgment's own 20-year life; for a county court judgment, the lien and the judgment both run out at 6 years. The lien doesn't exist at all until a certified transcript is actually recorded in a given county, but delaying that recording doesn't buy extra time, the 6-year window is still measured from the judgment's entry, not the recording date.

How to renew

Two steps, not one. First, file a Motion for Revival of Judgment stating the judgment's date and the amount still unpaid. The clerk issues a Notice to Show Cause; the debtor has 14 days after being served to respond, and if they do, the court resolves whatever issue they raise. If the debtor doesn't successfully object, the court enters an Order for Revival. Second, and this is easy to miss, reviving the judgment doesn't automatically keep the lien alive: the creditor still has to record a certified transcript of the revived judgment with the county clerk and recorder before the old lien in that county expires, to keep continuous lien coverage there.

Renewal window

No fixed early-filing window exists, a revival motion can be filed at any point while the judgment is still enforceable. Colorado's own court instructions warn creditors to file well ahead of the deadline, since the court has to rule on the revival at least one day before the judgment's expiration date, and the debtor gets a full 14 days to respond first. The rule expressly contemplates revived judgments being revived again in the same manner.

Recent changes or debt-type limits

No 2025-2026 legislative changes were found to the lien-duration statute or the revival rules. Unlike some states, Colorado doesn't carve out a shorter or capped renewal period for any particular debt type (medical debt, small personal debt, etc.), the same 6-year lien/revival framework applies uniformly.

What ends the lien early

Satisfaction of the underlying judgment: the statute says directly that "the lien of any judgment shall expire if the judgment is satisfied or considered as satisfied." Beyond that, simple non-renewal ends the lien on its own at the 6-year mark, even though a district court judgment stays separately enforceable for up to 20 years by other collection means. Judgments for child support, maintenance, or restitution liens are carved out to their own separate statutes rather than this general rule.

Recording in more than one county

Yes. The lien only reaches property in the specific county where a certified transcript is recorded. To cover property in additional Colorado counties, the creditor records a certified transcript separately in each one. On revival, the same county-by-county discipline applies: the transcript of the revived judgment has to be filed with the clerk and recorder in each particular county before that county's existing lien expires, or continuous coverage there is lost even if the creditor timely revived and re-recorded in a different county.

What trips people up

The biggest trap is treating court revival as the whole job. It isn't, getting an Order for Revival only extends the judgment; the lien itself needs its own fresh recorded transcript in every county where the creditor wants continued coverage, filed before that county's existing lien runs out. Miss that recording step in even one county and the lien there is gone, even though the revived judgment is otherwise fully alive. The second trap is assuming the lien's 6-year clock starts when the transcript is recorded, it doesn't. It runs from the judgment's original entry date, so delaying recording just eats into time the creditor already has, rather than buying more.

Common questions

I recorded my Colorado judgment transcript two years after the judgment was entered. When does my lien expire? Six years after the judgment was ENTERED, not six years after you recorded the transcript, so you effectively have only four years of lien coverage left once you record late.

Does reviving my Colorado judgment automatically keep my lien alive? No. You still need to record a certified transcript of the revived judgment with the county clerk and recorder, in each county where you want continued lien coverage, before the old lien there expires.

My debtor owns property in a Colorado county where I didn't sue. What do I need to do? Record a certified transcript of your judgment with that county's clerk and recorder to create a lien there. Each county needs its own separate recording, and later, its own separate re-recording on revival.

Statutes and sources

• C.R.S. § 13-52-102, "The lien of such judgment shall expire six years after the entry of judgment unless, prior to the expiration of such six-year period, such judgment is revived as provided by law.... execution may issue on any judgment... to enforce the same at any time within twenty years from the entry thereof, but not afterwards, unless revived.... With respect to judgments entered in county courts on or after July 1, 1981, the time limitation within which execution may issue is six years...." https://law.justia.com/codes/colorado/title-13/judgments-and-executions/article-52/section-13-52-102/ (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Colo. R. Civ. P. 54(h), "A judgment may be revived against any one or more judgment debtors.... Thereupon the clerk shall issue a notice requiring the judgment debtor to show cause within 14 days after service thereof why the judgment should not be revived.... the filing of the transcript of the entry of revivor in the register of actions with the clerk and recorder of the appropriate county before the expiration of such lien shall continue that lien for the same period...." https://content.leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2023-court-rules.pdf (accessed 2026-07-09)