Hopp v. State (In re Hopp)
Citation | 606 B.R. 889 |
Decision Date | 27 September 2019 |
Docket Number | Adv. Pro. No. 18-01303-JGR,Case No. 13-20838-JGR |
Parties | IN RE: Robert John HOPP, Jr., SSN: xxx-xx-xxxx, Debtor. Robert John Hopp, Jr., Plaintiff, v. State of Colorado ex rel. Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General for the State of Colorado, Defendant. |
Court | United States Bankruptcy Courts. Tenth Circuit. U.S. Bankruptcy Court — District of Colorado |
Christopher P. Carrington, Denver, CO, for Robert John Hopp, Jr., for Plaintiff
Attorney General for the State of Colorado, pro se
James B. Holden, Erik R. Neusch, Denver, CO, for Defendant
Joseph G. Rosania, Jr., United States Bankruptcy Judge This matter comes before the Court on the Motion to Dismiss (Doc. 5; the "Motion") filed by the State of Colorado, ex rel . Cynthia H. Coffman, Attorney General for the State of Colorado (the "State"). The threshold issue is whether the Rooker - Feldman Doctrine prohibits this Court from determining the dischargeability of a certain judgment for attorney's fees and costs, and mandates dismissal of the within adversary proceeding. The Court has jurisdiction to adjudicate the Motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 157(b)(1), 157(b)(2)(I), and 1334.
The pertinent facts are undisputed. Robert John Hopp, Jr. ("Debtor") is an attorney. At all times relevant to this proceeding, the Debtor owned and operated two law firms, Robert J. Hopp & Associates, LLC and The Hopp Law Firm, LLC (collectively, the "Law Firms"), and had an indirect ownership interest in a title agency, National Title, LLC.
The Debtor filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code on June 25, 2013. The Debtor's Schedule F listed the "Colorado Attorney General" (i.e., the State) as a general unsecured creditor of "Hopp Law Firm" for notice purposes (Case No. 13-20838-JGR; Doc. 1 at 37). The State was also listed in the Debtor's Creditor Matrix to receive notice (Id. at 90). The deadline to object to discharge and dischargeability was September 30, 2013. The State did not object to discharge or dischargeability in the Debtor's bankruptcy case. An Order Discharging Debtor was entered on February 10, 2014, and the Debtor's bankruptcy case was subsequently closed.
Thereafter, on December 19, 2014, the State filed suit against, inter alia , the Debtor, the Law Firms, and National Title, LLC, on behalf of the State of Colorado and the Administrator of the Uniform Consumer Credit Code in the District Court for the City and County of Denver, Case No. 2014-CV-34780 (the "State Court Case"). By the State Court Case, the State alleged that the Debtor and other defendants violated the Colorado Consumer Protection Act ("CCPA") and the Colorado Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("CFDCPA") by overcharging for foreclosure commitments. After a bench trial, the District Court found in favor of the State, imposed civil penalties on the defendants, and awarded the State attorney's fees and costs (Doc. 13, Ex. 1).
In a post-trial motion, the Debtor moved to amend the findings and conclusions and accompanying judgment to bar the State's recovery of attorney's fees and costs against him personally, based upon his bankruptcy discharge (Doc. 13, Ex. 2). However, the District Court declined to address his argument and ultimately awarded the State $711,015.47 in attorney's fees and costs in connection with the State Court Case (the "Fees Judgment").
The Debtor appealed the Fees Judgment to the Colorado Court of Appeals, Case No. 2017-CA-0303 (the "Fees Judgment Appeal"), arguing that although the bankruptcy discharge did not preclude the award of civil penalties issued in the underlying judgment, it did preclude the Fees Judgment against the Debtor personally. Specifically, the Debtor argued that 11 U.S.C. § 524 "voids any judgment at any time obtained, to the extent such judgment is a determination of the debtor's personal liability with respect to a debt discharged under 11 U.S.C. § 727" (Doc. 13, Ex. 7). The State argued that the Fees Judgment was non-dischargeable as to the Debtor under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(7), as a debt for a fine, penalty, or forfeiture payable to and for the benefit of a governmental unit, that is not compensation for actual pecuniary loss (Doc. 13, Ex. 8).
On May 17, 2018, the Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court in a 19-page opinion, reported at State ex rel. Coffman v. Robert J. Hopp & Assocs., LLC , 422 P.3d 617 (Colo. App. 2018), and explicitly found that the Fees Judgment was nondischargeable as to the Debtor under 11 U.S.C. § 523(a)(7) (Doc. 13, Ex. 9). The Court of Appeals reasoned as follows:
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In re Pearson
... ... Cascade's judgment was declared excepted from the ... Debtor's discharge during state court supplemental ... proceedings. Then, when the Debtor tried to reopen her prior ... Massa v. Addona (In re ... Massa) , 187 F.3d 292 (2d Cir. 1999); see also Hopp ... v. Colorado ex rel. Coffman (In re Hopp) , 606 B.R. 889, ... 896 (Bankr. D. Colo ... ...