Trujillo v. Colorado Division of Insurance

2014 CO 17, 320 P.3d 1208, 2014 WL 1096625, 2014 Colo. LEXIS 160
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedMarch 17, 2014
DocketSupreme Court Case No. 12SC672
StatusPublished
Cited by167 cases

This text of 2014 CO 17 (Trujillo v. Colorado Division of Insurance) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Trujillo v. Colorado Division of Insurance, 2014 CO 17, 320 P.3d 1208, 2014 WL 1096625, 2014 Colo. LEXIS 160 (Colo. 2014).

Opinion

JUSTICE HOBBS

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

11 We granted certiorari to review the court of appeals' judgment in Colorado Division of Insurance v. Trujillo, 2012 COA 54, -P.3d -, 2012 WL 1086066.1 The court of appeals upheld an order of the Interim Insurance Commissioner ("Commissioner") revoking Milton Trujillo's ("Trujillo") insurance producer license with bail bond authority and denying Trujillo's application to renew the license.

T 2 In 2008, the Division of Insurance ("Division") initiated an investigation into Trujillo based on a complaint it received in 2005 from Connie Espinoza ("Espinoza"). According to Espinoza, Trujillo accepted $3,500 from her to bail her son, Ted Espinoza, out of jail and wrongfully failed to return the money to her. Trujillo later admitted that he put some of the money toward another defendant's bond and gave the remainder to Ted Espinoza's acquaintance, Connie Cordova ("Cordova"), after it became apparent that the $3,500 was insufficient for Ted Espinoza's bond. Trujillo asserted that he handled the money at Cordova's direction because the money belonged to her and not Espinoza.

T3 The Division charged Trujillo with twelve counts of violating the insurance code, the professions and occupations code, and Division regulations,. Following a hearing, an Administrative Law Judge ("ALJ") found that the Division had established sufficient basis for sanctioning Trujillo on nine counts, including the allegation that Trujillo breached a fiduciary duty under section 10-2-704(1)(a). The ALJ's initial decision revoked Trujillo's license and denied his renewal application. The Commissioner adopted the ALJ's decision.

1 4 The court of appeals affirmed the Commissioner's action, determining that Trujillo had violated a fiduciary duty prescribed by [1210]*1210section 10-2-704(1)(a). We reverse the court of appeals' judgment upholding the Commissioners' action because the ALJ, the Commissioner, and the court of appeals erred in applying section 10-2-704(1)(a) to this case. While there are unappealed findings of fact upon which the Commissioner on remand could uphold the sanction it ordered, it is not clear to us whether, absent the agency's construction of section 10-2-704(1)(a), the Commissioner would have exercised his authority to revoke Trujillo's license and deny his renewal application.2 Thus, we remand this case to the court of appeals and order it returned to the Commissioner for redetermi-nation of the sanction for Trujillo's conduct.

I.

T5 Since 1994, Trujillo had been licensed as an insurance producer and bail bonding agent. Trujillo's license expired on January 1, 2009. In March 2009, the Division sent Trajillo notice of charges relating to Trujillo's transaction with Espinoza, described be-. low. The Division charged Tryjillo with twelve counts of violating the insurance code, the professions and occupations code, and Division regulations. The Division sought revocation of Trujillo's license, a refund of $3,500 to Espinoza, and civil penalties. The Division denied Trujillo's application to renew his license in April 2009 and subsequently amended the charging document to request that the ALJ affirm the Division's denial of the license application. In fall 2010, an ALJ held a two-day hearing in this case.

16 The ALJ found the following facts, among others. In December 2004, Espinoza gave Trujillo $3,500 in cash to bond her son, Ted Espinoza, out of jail. As a receipt, Trujillo gave Espinoza one of his business cards with the following handwritten on the back: "I received $3500 from Connie Espinoza on 12/21/04 for Ted Espinoza's bond. M. Trujillo." However, the $3,500 was insufficient to cover Ted Espinoza's bond and no bond or indemnification agreement was ever executed. Trujillo did not return the $3,500 to Espinoza. Instead, he used a portion of the money to offset an amount owed to him by Cordova for a different defendant's bond and gave the remainder to Cordova.

17 In his defense, Trujillo argued that he properly handled the $3,500 at Cordova's direction because Ted Espinoza's attorney said the money belonged to her. The ALJ did not make any factual findings about who owned the money. Regardless, the ALJ found:

A bail bonding agent must be serupulous in handling the money entrusted to him. Here the Respondent cavalierly decided that he could judge who the money belonged to, and use it accordingly. In the process he managed to reduce exposure on [another] bond. This was not merely poor judgment, but a violation of the legal requirements to be a bail bonding agent.

18 The ALJ found that the Division had established a basis for sanctioning Trujillo on nine counts. First, the ALJ found and concluded that the Division had established a basis for sanctioning Trujillo for the following violations, assuming that Trujillo breached a statutorily prescribed fiduciary duty:

® Violating a fiduciary duty to Espinoza under section 10-2-704(1)(a) and Division of Insurance Regulation 1-2-1, 3 Code of Colorado Regulations 702-1 (2011); 3
[1211]*1211© Misappropriating Espinoza's money, which the Commissioner may sanction under section 10-2-801(1)(e), CRS. (2011); 4
e Committing fraud, which the Commissioner may sanction under section 10-2-801(1)(h); 5 and
e Behaving in a manner that is punishable under section 10-2-801(1)().6

The ALJ also found and concluded that Trujillo violated five documentation and reporting requirements of the then-existing statutes and regulations. Trujillo did not appeal these grounds for sanction:

e Failing to provide Espinoza a prenum-bered receipt meeting the requirements of section 12-7-108(1)7 and Division of Insurance Regulation 1-2-14, 3 Code of Colorado Regulations 702-1 (2011) 8;
® Failing to report the receipt of money from Espinoza in his annual report to the Division, in violation of sections 12-7-106(1)(b) and -105(1) and Division of Insurance Regulation 1-2-14, 3 Code of Colorado Regulations 702-1 (2011); 9
[1212]*1212e Failing to return money within forty-eight hours of receipt, as section 12-/-109(1)(0) required a bail bonding agent to do whenever the agent fails to post a bond within twenty-four hours of entering a signed contract to do so; 10
® Failing to provide Espinoza a prenum-bered receipt meeting the requirements of section 12-7-108(4); 11 and
e Failing to provide Espinoza a disclosure form, as required by section 12-7-108(9) and Division of Insurance Regulation I-2-14, 3 Code of Colorado Regulations 702-1 (2011).12

T9 The court of appeals upheld the Commissioners final order. In doing so, it ruled that the Division permissibly interpreted seetion 10-2-704(1)(a) to establish a fiduciary relationship between Espinoza and Trujillo.

IL.

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Bluebook (online)
2014 CO 17, 320 P.3d 1208, 2014 WL 1096625, 2014 Colo. LEXIS 160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/trujillo-v-colorado-division-of-insurance-colo-2014.