As of October 22, 2020, four unpaid construction work claims worth $8 million have been filed against Denver-based real estate developer Colorado Homes, LLC at a housing development known as the Indigo Trails in Brighton, Colorado
Ranko Mocevic, a principal of Colorado Homes, told Levelset in December of 2020 that his own brother filed at least one unpaid construction lien — more commonly referred to as a mechanics lien — against the 129-home Indigo Trails development.
A mechanics lien is an unpaid work claim that allows contractors to gain a security interest in the serviced property until they receive payment. Until the contractor is paid, the lien claim is attached to the property tile, which can hinder the owner from selling or refinancing.
Each mechanics lien was processed with the Adams County clerk’s office.
Four liens worth $8M filed against Colorado Homes
The four mechanics lien claims against Colorado Homes total a combined $8,057,379 in unpaid construction work taking place at the Indigo Trails housing development — located at Chambers Rd and E. 144th Ave, Brighton, CO — roughly 20 miles northeast of downtown Denver.
Branko Mocevic, brother of Colorado Homes’ principal, Ranko Mocevic, filed the largest known lien claim against Colorado Homes on October 14. According to Branko Mocevic’s lien affidavit, the contractor is owed $6,100,000 for “labor and materials.”
The second-largest lien was filed by Eric Keiter on October 22, and claims he is owed $1,250,000 for the grading and import/export of soil at Indigo Trails.
According to Ranko Mocevic, Keiter was once a business partner with Colorado Homes, but was no longer affiliated with the company at the time of the lien filing.
Subcontractor Consolidated Divisions, Inc. filed the remaining two lien claims against Colorado Homes on October 20. The subcontractor’s lien claims total a combined $707,379.
Indigo Trails spans 66 acres with homes ranging in size from 1,800 to 3,300 square feet, according to investment banking company Castle Placement’s investor presentation for Colorado Homes.
Colorado’s real estate market experiencing positive increases in 2020
While Colorado Homes continues to build homes amid lien claims — even when filed by their own employees — the state of Colorado as a whole is actually seeing positive trends in real estate development over the course of 2019 to 2020.
According to a report by The Denver Post, the Denver metro area saw a 2.4% increase in homes sold through quarter 3 of 2020 compared to 2019 numbers from the same time period.
The Boulder, Colorado area also experienced a gain of 1.9% in Q3 of 2020 compared to 2019.