Grombone v. Krekel, 754 P.2d 777 (Colo. App. 1988)
Legal information, not legal advice. Verify against the cited opinion.
- Citation: 754 P.2d 777 (Colo. App. 1988) (Metzger, J.; Kelly and Smith, JJ., concurring). Docket No. 85CA0913, decided March 10, 1988.
- Court / Year: Colorado Court of Appeals, 1988.
- Topic tags: forfeiture, foreclosure, equitable_interest, remedies
- Facts: Dispute between installment-land-contract vendors (Grombone) and the defaulting vendees (Krekel / Buckles) over the vendor’s effort to recover possession on the buyers’ default rather than foreclose the contract.
- Holding: A Colorado installment-land-contract vendor may, depending on the equities, recover possession on the vendee’s default through a forcible entry and detainer / possession action — i.e., enforce the forfeiture — rather than being required to foreclose. Whether forfeiture is permitted or the contract must instead be treated as an equitable mortgage (entitling the vendee to foreclosure and redemption) turns on an equitable balancing of fact-specific factors.
- Reasoning: Colorado does not categorically bar forfeiture of land contracts, nor does it categorically require foreclosure. Courts weigh whether enforcing the forfeiture would be unconscionable in light of the amount and length of the default, the vendee’s accumulated equity in the property, whether the vendee made improvements, and whether the property has been adequately maintained (and, in later applications, the willfulness of the default). Where the vendee has little equity and the default is substantial, forfeiture/possession may stand; where the vendee has built substantial equity, equity may require foreclosure so the vendee receives mortgage-style redemption protections.
- Practical impact for CFD operators/buyers: Grombone supplies the factor test that Colorado courts still apply (adopted and applied in paraguay-place-view-trust-v-gray-1999) to decide forfeiture-vs-foreclosure on a defaulted contract for deed. It is the doctrinal anchor of Colorado’s hybrid remedy regime.
- Good-law status: Good law; the leading Colorado Court of Appeals statement of the equitable-factors test, repeatedly cited (including by Paraguay).
- Source (retrieved): https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1172101/grombone-v-krekel/ · Verified: 2026-06-08
Jurisdictions that follow / cite: colorado
Disclaimer. Legal information, not legal advice. Confirm the opinion is still good law before relying on it.