Published October 21, 2026
Colorado Title Commitment Guide: How to Read It and Hit Your Title Deadlines
A few days after your Colorado contract is signed, a document arrives that most buyers skim: the title commitment. Whether you are buying in Westminster, Arvada, or Thornton, that file tells you who legally owns the home, what liens and easements travel with it, and what has to be cleared before the title company will insure your ownership. Your contract also gives you three separate title deadlines to act on what you find. Here is how to read the commitment and use those dates well.
What a title commitment is
A title commitment is the title company's written promise to issue a title insurance policy after closing, as long as the requirements in the commitment are met. It is based on a search of the public records — deeds, mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, plats, and covenants recorded against the home and its owners.
It is not yet a policy. It is a snapshot with conditions: these are the owners we found, these items we will insure over, these we will not, and these steps are required before closing. Reading it early turns it from paperwork into protection.
The three title deadlines
The Colorado Contract to Buy and Sell sets three title dates, and in a well-built contract each one falls on a different day:
Record Title Deadline: The date by which the record title documents — the commitment and the documents it references — are to be delivered for your review. Your reading clock starts here, not at closing.
Title Objection Deadline: The date by which you must deliver written notice if title is not satisfactory — a lien that should not be there, a legal description that does not match, or an easement that interferes with how you plan to use the property. If the seller does not receive your written objection by this deadline, the contract treats record title as satisfactory to you.
Title Resolution Deadline: The date by which the seller must respond to and resolve your objections, or state what will be cured at or before closing. If a material title matter cannot be resolved and you have not withdrawn your objection in writing, the contract can terminate under its title provisions.
There is a parallel set of dates for off-record title matters — items a records search cannot show, such as an unrecorded lease or a recent survey issue — so check both rows in your dates table. This is the same calendar discipline that protects your deposit, which our earnest money guide explains.
How to read the commitment
Start with the ownership section, often called Schedule A. Confirm the seller's name matches your contract, the legal description matches the property you toured, and the proposed insured amount matches your purchase price. A misspelled name or wrong lot number is far easier to fix in week one than at the closing table.
Next, read the requirements section — the title company's closing checklist: payoff of the seller's loan, recording of the new deed, payment of taxes, and any releases or affidavits needed to clear old items. Most are routine, handled by the seller, lender, and title company, but scanning them shows what has to happen before closing.
Finally, read the exceptions carefully. Exceptions are items the policy will not cover. Standard ones include recorded utility easements, subdivision covenants, mineral reservations common in parts of Colorado, current-year taxes, and homeowners association rights. The ones to discuss with your agent and the title company are property-specific: a shared driveway agreement, a structure inside an easement, or an old lien that should have been released years ago. If you are still comparing areas while you learn the process, Browse homes for sale in Westminster shows how different neighborhoods and subdivisions are structured.
If something looks wrong
Object in writing, be specific, and do it before the Title Objection Deadline. A useful objection names the commitment item by number, states the problem in plain language, and says what resolution you are asking for — a lien release, a corrective document, a survey, or removal of an exception. Attach the page or document that supports your concern.
Many objections are curable. Old mortgages sometimes need a recorded release the seller can obtain, a name variation can be handled with an affidavit, and a payoff at closing clears the seller's loan as a matter of course. The goal of the resolution period is a written agreement on what will be cured, how, and by when. The same approach works on the inspection side, and our Colorado home inspection deadlines guide walks through those three dates.
Tips for buyers and sellers
For buyers: put all three title deadlines on your calendar the day the contract is signed, ask the title company to explain any exception you do not understand, and check whether an easement or covenant limits a project you are counting on, such as a fence or patio. If the home is in a homeowners association, remember association documents have their own separate contract deadline — title and HOA review run on parallel tracks.
For sellers: order title early, tell the title company about known items up front — a prior refinance, a divorce or estate document, a paid-off loan that may still show in the records — and respond to objections in writing within the resolution window.
Bottom line
A title commitment is your early warning system for ownership problems, and the three title deadlines are how you act on it. Read the commitment when it arrives, object in writing if something is unsatisfactory, and get the resolution in writing before the deadline passes.
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The Hudson Stonegate Team helps buyers and sellers across the Denver metro read the full contract file — title, inspection, appraisal, and loan deadlines together — so closing day holds no surprises.
Sources: Colorado Real Estate Commission, Contract to Buy and Sell Real Estate (Residential) — title provisions, record and off-record title deadlines, objection and resolution mechanics, accessed October 2026. Title commitment structure (ownership, requirements, and exceptions sections) reflects standard title industry commitment format used by Colorado title companies. No market statistics are cited in this post; every transaction varies — your signed contract's dates and your specific title commitment control.
