2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 7 - CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS (§§ 7-1-101 — 7-137-301) › CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS (§§ 7-90-101 — 7-90-1005) › Article 90 - COLORADO CORPORATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS ACT (§§ 7-90-101 — 7-90-1005) › Part 8 - FOREIGN ENTITIES (§§ 7-90-801 — 7-90-813) › Section 7-90-802 - Consequences of transacting business or conducting activities without authority

(1)
(a)
No foreign entity transacting business or conducting activities in this state without authority, nor anyone on its behalf, shall be permitted to maintain a proceeding in any court in this state for the collection of its debts until a statement of foreign entity authority for the foreign entity is filed in the records of the secretary of state.
(b)
A court may stay a proceeding commenced by a foreign entity until it determines whether the foreign entity should have a statement of foreign entity authority on file with the secretary of state. If the court determines that the foreign entity should have a statement of foreign entity authority on file with the secretary of state, the court may further stay the proceeding until there is a statement of foreign entity authority on file with the secretary of state with respect to the foreign entity. If a foreign entity has a statement of foreign entity authority on file with the secretary of state, no proceeding in any court in this state to which the foreign entity is a party shall, after the effective date of such statement of foreign entity authority, be dismissed by reason of a statement of foreign entity authority not being on file with the secretary of state with respect to the foreign entity.
(2)
A foreign entity that transacts business or conducts activities in this state without being authorized to do so shall be liable to this state in an amount equal to the fee as prescribed by the secretary of state from time to time, not to exceed one hundred dollars for each calendar year or part of a calendar year during which it transacted business or conducted activities in this state without being authorized to do so, plus all penalties imposed by this state pursuant to subsection (3) of this section for failure to pay such fees. No statement of foreign entity authority shall be filed until payment of the amounts due under this subsection (2) and subsection (3) of this section is made.
(3)
A foreign entity that transacts business or conducts activities in this state without having a statement of foreign entity authority on file in the records of the secretary of state shall be subject to a civil penalty, payable to this state, not to exceed five thousand dollars.
(4)
The amounts due to this state under the provisions of subsection (2) of this section and the civil penalties set forth in subsection (3) of this section may be recovered in an action brought by the attorney general in the district court in and for the city and county of Denver. Upon a finding by the court that a foreign entity or any of its managers or agents on its behalf has transacted business or conducted activities in this state in violation of this part 8, the court may issue, in addition to or in lieu of the imposition of a civil penalty, an injunction restraining the further transaction of business or conducting of activities by the foreign entity and the managers and agents, and the further exercise of any rights and privileges of an entity in this state until all amounts plus any interest and court costs that the court may assess have been paid, and until the foreign entity has otherwise complied with this part 8.
(5)
Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, the transaction of business or conducting of activities in this state by a foreign entity without having a statement of foreign entity authority on file in the records of the secretary of state does not impair the validity of the acts of the foreign entity or prevent it from defending any proceeding in this state.
L. 2003: Entire part added, p. 2306, § 217, effective 7/1/2004. L. 2004: (1), (2), and (4) amended, p. 1492, § 237, effective July 1. L. 2005: (1) amended, p. 1211, § 18, effective October 1.