Judge imposes $1.8M in penalties for misleading law firm charges in more than 2,000 foreclosures
A Denver judge is imposing $1.8 million in penalties for two law firms’ false and misleading charges on title insurance in 2,291 foreclosures.
Judge Shelley Gilman found that lawyer Robert Hopp, his law firms and title companies violated Colorado debt-collection and consumer protection laws, report the Denver Post, the Denver Business Journal and a press release. The law firms were the Hopp Law Firm and Robert J. Hopp & Associates.
Gilman imposed $3.6 million in penalties, reduced by a statutory cap to $1.8 million, in an enforcement action by Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman. The judge found that Colorado homeowners seeking to avoid foreclosure were told they had to pay for policies that weren’t issued or for costs in excess of the insurance charge.
The judgment is the seventh against foreclosure law firms as a result of an investigation by the state attorney general, according to the press release. Total judgments issued in the cases are about $18 million.
Related article:
ABAJournal.com: “Colorado foreclosure lawyer must turn over documents in bill-padding probe”
