Opinion ID: 2827973
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Accrual of Claims under Colorado Law

Text: “A cause of action accrues on the date when ‘the injury, loss, damage, or conduct giving rise to the cause of action is discovered or should have been discovered by the exercise of reasonable diligence.’” Murry v. GuideOne Specialty Mut. Ins. Co., 194 P.3d 489, 491 (Colo. App. 2008) (quoting Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-80-108(8)). The point of accrual requires knowledge of the facts essential to the cause of action, not knowledge of the legal theory supporting the cause of action. ‘Actual knowledge’ is knowledge of such information as would lead a reasonable person to inquire further. Plaintiffs are required to exercise reasonable diligence in discovering the relevant circumstances of their claims. They are judged on an objective standard that does not reward denial or self-induced ignorance. Id. at 492 (citations and internal quotation marks omitted). Thus, “[a] cause of action has commonly been understood to ‘accrue’ when a suit may be maintained thereon.” Jones v. - 13 - Cox, 828 P.2d 218, 224 (Colo. 1992); see also Miller v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 817 P.2d 111, 113 (Colo. 1991) (“A claim for relief does not accrue until the plaintiff knows, or should know, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, all material facts essential to show the elements of that cause of action.” (internal quotation marks omitted)). Each of a defendant’s acts can constitute “a separate and distinct tortious act for which the limitations period began to run when the plaintiff became aware of the injury and its cause.” Harmon, 899 P.2d at 262. “The point of accrual is usually a question of fact, but if the undisputed facts clearly show when a plaintiff discovered or should have discovered the damage or conduct, the issue may be decided as a matter of law.” Murry, 194 P.3d at 491.