John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... 
A judge rules against Erin Toll and the division of real estate regarding an open records request.
The Colorado Division of Real Estate and the Colorado Board of Real Estate Appraisers unlawfully withheld records and failed to respond to repeated, written requests for public records made by a group of Southeast Colorado property owners in August and September of 2009, a Denver District Court judge recently decided.
The landowners were seeking information concerning the basis of professional discipline administered against southern Colorado appraisers who had valued conservation easements for many of them.
“The ruling by Denver District Court is a significant step forward for our group,” said J.D. Wright, president of the owners group, Land Owners United Inc. “Some of us have been trying to get to the bottom of the charges against our appraisers for the last six years. The only answers we received have been that the appraisal value was too high. To the best of our knowledge, our appraisers tried in every instance to comply with the rules and regulations in effect at that time and in good conscience could not reduce valuation arbitrarily to satisfy the State and the tax credit brokers. Hopefully, as a result of yesterdays Court decision, the information made available will shed light on the reasons for the charges against our appraisers.”
Toll violated Open Records Act
Denver District Court Judge Sheila A. Rappaport entered her ruling on April 7 that Erin Toll, Director of the Colorado Division of Real Estate, and the Board of Appraisers, violated the Colorado Open Records Act by denying repeated requests from Land Owners United, LLC for records related to the investigation of appraisers who had provided appraisals to individual land owners in Southeast Colorado for the purpose of entering into conservation easements. Toll currently is on a paid leave of absence, following a highly publicized case unrelated to this court decision. So far, neither the division, not the Department of Regulatory Agencies, has responded to phone calls or e-mails from InsideRealEstateNews.com on Denver District Court decision.
In the Feb. 26, hearing that was the subject of the April 7 Order, the Division of Real Estate sought exemption under the Colorado Open Records Act based on the records being part of an “investigative file” and being part of “deliberative process.” The Court denied the Division of Real Estate the requested exemptions, stating that the State Defendants, “failed to ‘show cause’ why these public records should not be released to the Land Owners.”
Rappaport also ruled that the Real Estate Division’s acts were “inconsistent with the Open Records Act requirement that written grounds for denial be promptly given . . . and inconsistent with the Board of Real Estate Appraisers’ own adopted policy stressing ‘prompt and accurate’ responses to Open Records requests.”
The court ordered that numerous documents be released in ”whole or with redactions” to the Land Owners. Rappaport ruled that the the “investigative file” exemption not applicable as a matter of law or discretion because the Board of Real Estate Appraisers is not a criminal law enforcement agency. The judge also wrote that “all records are available to public inspection with limited exception when investigations occur, none of which are applicable here.” Rappaport also ruled that the “the benefits of additional public scrutiny and accountability of Board actions, where many Southern Colorado landowners have been seriously affected, outweigh the benefits of private internal agency discussion.”
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com
Why would this have needed to go to court?? Everything taxpayers pay for needs to be open record. Glad this got settled. Gold star for Rappaport.
If the “light of day” reveals the appraisals were properly conducted and reported; how do you unravel the consequences? And, how do the appraisers get back their careers and reputations? This issue should be closely followed by Inside Real Estate News.com., or by Paula Woodward with “Nine Wants to Know”. People’s lives have been permanently impacted.
This is a good example of an intemperate heavy-hand, and, possibly, a lack of legal expertise.