The status letter, built — answer the questions, get the certification
A title company just asked your association for a status letter and a clock is already running. Here’s the part nobody tells a new treasurer: there is no official state form, and in practice the title company usually sends its own one-page questionnaire — dues, paid-through date, fees, special assessments — for the board to fill in and certify. This page builds exactly that certification: answer the questions your ledger already knows, and the statement fills itself in below, ready to copy, print, or use as the organized answer sheet for whatever form the title company sent. The law behind the numbers lives in the status-letter explainer. One real caveat: the certification binds your association once furnished — have a Colorado attorney look over your standard wording once, even though no attorney is involved letter to letter.
What the certification has to answer
The statute’s core demand is one number with a date on it — the unpaid assessments against the unit as of an effective date, due within 14 calendar days of the request, binding once furnished. (The fee is yours to set under your governing documents — the statute caps nothing; see what a letter costs.) Around that core, title companies ask the working questions their closing needs: what the dues cover, transfer fees, working capital due at closing, special assessments, and any right of first refusal.
Build the certification
This mirrors the questionnaire title companies send — use it as your answer sheet for their form, or send it as the certification when they simply ask for "a status letter." It binds the association once furnished: have an attorney look over your standard wording once.
Where the numbers come from
Every figure should be readable straight off the association’s ledger — the assessment schedule, the owner’s account, the fee schedule in your governing documents. If the books can’t answer “what does this unit owe as of Tuesday” in one sitting, that’s the thing to fix before the next request arrives, because neither the title company’s due date nor the statute’s fourteen days pause while a spreadsheet gets reconciled.
And if your association isn’t findable enough for the request to reach you at all — title companies do give up and chase whatever contact a stale directory lists — check your entry in the self-managed directory and the find-my-HOA trails. An unreachable board starts every clock late.
Questions people actually ask
Is there an official Colorado form for an HOA status letter?
No. C.R.S. §38-33.3-316 defines what the association must answer — the unpaid assessments on the unit — plus the 14-day deadline, but prescribes no form. In practice the title company usually sends its own one-page questionnaire for the board to complete and certify; this builder produces that same certification structure.
Who signs a status letter for a self-managed HOA?
An officer or agent the board has authorized — for most self-managed associations, the treasurer or president. The certification is binding on the association once furnished, which is why the board should have an attorney look over its standard template once, even though no attorney is involved letter to letter.
Do we still send a letter if the owner owes nothing?
Yes. A zero-balance certification is still the answer the closing needs — say the account is paid current through the effective date and show zeros. The 14-day clock applies either way, and a clean letter is the fastest kind to produce.
Can we charge for producing the status letter?
Yes, if your governing documents and adopted fee schedule provide for it — the statute itself sets no fee and no cap (a "$150 statutory cap" repeated around the web is not in C.R.S. §38-33.3-316). Adopt a written fee before the next request, state it in the letter, and keep it defensible; what counts as reasonable is a question for your attorney, not the statute.