Colorado Senate Bill 34
Session 2022A
Business Filing Address And Name Fraud
Became Law
Signed by Governor on Jun 2, 2022
Sponsors
4 Sponsors
Chris Kolker
Kevin Priola
Shannon Bird
Shane Sandridge
First Action
Jan 12, 2022
Latest Action
Jun 2, 2022
Origin Chamber
Senate
Type
Bill
Bill Number
34
State
Colorado
Session
2022A
Motion Text
REPASS
Senate Roll Call Votes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Jaquez Lewis
Yes
Yes
Yes
Excused
Excused
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Excused
Yes
Yes
Summary
Under the law, a business entity submits filing documents that concern the creation, organization, and operations of an entity to the secretary of state through an online filing system. By submitting a document, an individual affirms under penalty of perjury that the individual is authorized to file the document, the facts in the document are true, and the document otherwise complies with the secretary of state's filing requirements. The secretary of state saves the document in an online database as a ministerial act and does not independently verify whether the document is accurate.
The act creates a complaint process for a person whose business identity or personal identifying information has been used in the filing of these documents with the secretary of state without authority or for fraudulent activity. If a complaint is submitted with the secretary of state, the secretary must forward the complaint to the attorney general for further investigation. The attorney general may investigate the complaint and refer the complaint to an administrative law judge.
If an administrative law judge determines that an entity has been created fraudulently or without authorization, the secretary of state is required to:
Mark the business record with a notice that the entity is fraudulent or unauthorized;
Redact each address that was used without authorization from the entity's filing and from any other relevant filings; and
Disable additional filing functionality on the entity's records.
If an administrative law judge determines that an unauthorized filing was made for a legitimate entity, the secretary of state is required to:
Mark each unauthorized filing for the entity to notify the public that the filing is unauthorized;
Redact from the entity's filing and from the relevant filings each address and name that was used without authorization; and
Mark the business record on the entity's filing to notify the public that the entity has been the victim of fraudulent or unauthorized acts.
If a person alleged to have committed fraud or unauthorized acts fails to respond to the complaint, the allegations are deemed conceded, and the secretary of state is directed to take the appropriate steps listed above in the same manner as if the finding had been made by an administrative law judge.
The act creates a working group to study measures to counteract and prevent fraudulent filings in the online business filing system. The working group has 11 persons who represent the affected state agencies, businesses, and the Colorado bar association. The working group is directed to submit a report to the general assembly by January 31, 2023, containing potential legislative provisions to counteract and prevent fraudulent filings, as well as the costs and benefits associated with each potential legislative provision. The report may include specific recommendations to the general assembly.
Fraudulent filings are made an unfair or deceptive trade practice under the "Colorado Consumer Protection Act" and as such are subject to enforcement by the attorney general's office.
(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Signed Act (06/02/2022)
Final Act (05/06/2022)
Rerevised (04/08/2022)
Revised (2) (04/07/2022)
Revised (03/25/2022)
Reengrossed (02/17/2022)
Engrossed (02/16/2022)
Introduced (01/12/2022)
PA1 (02/08/2022)
Committee Amendment
Fiscal Note FN3 (08/24/2022)
Fiscal Note FN2 (02/21/2022)
Fiscal Note FN1 (01/27/2022)
Fiscal Note SA2 (03/11/2022)
Fiscal Note SA1 (02/14/2022)
Sort by most recent
06/02/2022
Office of the Governor
Governor Signed
05/09/2022
Office of the Governor
Sent to the Governor
05/06/2022
House
Signed by the Speaker of the House
05/06/2022
Senate
Signed by the President of the Senate
04/25/2022
Senate
Senate Consideration of First Conference Committee Report result was to Adopt Committee Report - Repass
04/22/2022
House
House Consideration of First Conference Committee Report result was to Adopt Committee Report - Repass
04/21/2022
Colorado General Assembly
First Conference Committee Result was to Adopt Rerevised w/ Amendments
04/12/2022
Senate
Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Not Concur - Request Conference Committee
04/11/2022
Senate
Senate Considered House Amendments - Result was to Laid Over Daily
04/08/2022
House
House Third Reading Passed - No Amendments
04/07/2022
House
House Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Floor
04/06/2022
House
House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
03/31/2022
House
House Second Reading Laid Over to 04/06/2022 - No Amendments
03/30/2022
House
House Second Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
03/29/2022
House
House Third Reading Re-referred to House Committee of the Whole - No Amendments
03/28/2022
House
House Third Reading Laid Over Daily - No Amendments
03/25/2022
House
House Second Reading Passed with Amendments - Floor
03/21/2022
House
House Second Reading Laid Over to 03/25/2022 - No Amendments
03/16/2022
House
House Second Reading Special Order - Laid Over to 03/21/2022 - No Amendments
03/15/2022
House
House Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended to House Committee of the Whole
02/24/2022
House
House Committee on Business Affairs & Labor Refer Unamended to Appropriations
02/17/2022
House
Introduced In House - Assigned to Business Affairs & Labor
02/17/2022
Senate
Senate Third Reading Passed - No Amendments
02/16/2022
Senate
Senate Second Reading Special Order - Passed with Amendments - Committee
02/15/2022
Senate
Senate Committee on Appropriations Refer Unamended - Consent Calendar to Senate Committee of the Whole
02/07/2022
Senate
Senate Committee on Business, Labor, & Technology Refer Amended to Appropriations
01/12/2022
Senate
Introduced In Senate - Assigned to Business, Labor, & Technology
Sources
CO Legislature
Record Created
Jan 13, 2022 12:05:28 PM
Record Updated
Aug 26, 2022 8:49:54 AM