A candidate for the Colorado Springs City Council is attempting to settle a million-dollar judgment against him in a breach of contract case before having to appear in Douglas County court in April.

Local business owner Rick Gillit had a $1.5 million default judgment issued against him in Douglas County in July for not paying back a $240,000 promissory note taken out for a 2018 deal. Gillit is scheduled to appear virtually in court for the case April 7, less than a week after the City Council election April 1.

Gillit is one of five candidates running for the highly competitive council seat representing District 3, which covers the downtown and southwest sections of the city.

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Gillit and his attorney Adam Aldrich told The Gazette Tuesday that the two sides are finalizing a settlement to end the case before the April court date. Gillit did not disclose the terms, but said they were “much more favorable” than the original judgment.

The scale of the judgment against Gillit became the subject of election attack ads in recent weeks, paid for by a new and largely anonymous committee called Protect Colorado Springs. The committee paid for mailers and set up a website saying the court ruling should disqualify Gillit from a council position where he would be managing the city budget.

“I don’t appreciate certain people making it sound like something it never was. It’s wrong of the person who did that and knows what it really was,” Gillit said.

Gillit said the $240,000 loan was a portion of a larger payment he provided to Scott Robbins when he purchased his Parker-based insurance company in 2018. He paid off around $180,000 of the loan before the deadline arrived in 2023, at which point Robbins filed the suit to collect the outstanding balance.

“Mr. Robbins has repeatedly asked Mr. Gillit to make the payment but has received no response. The Plaintiff is accruing continuing attorney fees and costs as well waiting on repayment,” Robbins’ attorney wrote in the original complaint.

According to court records, Robbins had originally asked in December 2023 for a default judgment of $63,286 to cover the amount that had not been paid back from the loan plus his attorneys fees. Gillit filed answers and motions with the court before his attorney left the case in March 2024. 

Two months later, Robbins and his attorney filed for a new default judgment that escalated the claim to $1.5 million. According to the second claim, Gillit had almost immediately defaulted on the loan by missing an early payment and he owed six years of interest on the original $240,000 amount at the maximum 45% rate allowed in Colorado law.

District Court Judge Andrew Baum issued the higher judgment against Gillit in July after he failed to respond to the court. Gillit said the notices from that point in the lawsuit were sent to an outdated address and he was surprised to see how much the claim had jumped.

“It is unfathomable that a loan for $240,000 that should have accrued interest at the rate of 6.75% ballooned to over $1.5 million through an absurd and unsupported application of the terms of the promissory note,” Gillit’s new attorney wrote in a December court filing.

Robbins and his attorneys could not be reached for comment on the case or the potential settlement. Douglas County court staff said they had not received notice of a settlement agreement or stipulation as of Tuesday night.

Monday was the deadline for voters in Colorado Springs to mail in their ballots for the April 1 municipal election, which includes six City Council seats up for grabs. After Monday, ballots must be dropped off at the City Clerk’s Office or one of the 24/7 drop-off boxes around town.

More voting information can be found at: coloradosprings.gov/election.