Emily Ferguson
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The City of Denver has no idea what to do with the extra money collected in the city-ordered auction of Your Mom’s House.
Your Mom’s House had a disastrous last few years, with ownership changes, lawsuits and other controversies culminating with the club at 608 East 13th Avenue closing after the property inside was seized by the city for unpaid sales taxes on December 17. The venue had also been operating for months without a liquor license, and multiple employees told state authorities that they were owed money by Pearl Stop LLC owner/YMH operator Jillian Johnson.
When Johnson failed to pay all the taxes that the city said she owed, the Pearl Stop LLC property went up for auction on February 13. To settle the account, the City of Denver has now sued both Pearl Stop LLC, the business that operated Your Mom’s House, as well as the State of Colorado; both have told Denver that the surplus cash raised by the auction belongs to them.
Jillian Johnson
The City of Denver is now asking Denver District Court for a declaration “regarding the disposition of $30,228.35 currently in its possession and subject to claims of entitlement by both defendants in this action,” the complaint reads.
The suit references Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure 22 — which allows a stakeholder to list potential and conflicting claimants into a single lawsuit — and 57, which authorizes courts to make a declaratory judgment. It states that on December 17, 2025, the city issued a distraint warrant against Pearl Stop LLC/Your Mom’s House for unpaid sales and occupational privilege taxes, and seized the business, which “caused [the assets] to be auctioned to the public to satisfy the tax debt owed to Denver.”
The auction raised $46,002, which was paid to the city. “After all outstanding Denver taxes and auction fees were satisfied, $30,228.35 in net auction proceeds remain to which Denver has no legal claim,” the complaint says. “The Denver Revised Municipal Code, § 53-28(a)(4) provides that, in the event surplus funds are collected from an auction resulting from a warrant of distraint, those excess funds are to be returned to the taxpayer, in this case the Pearl Stop.”
Johnson has told the city “on numerous occasions” that she wants to be refunded the surplus funds, according to the complaint. However, the State of Colorado has also provided the city with two warrants for distraint “indicating that the Pearl Stop owes Colorado $39,758.75 and $1,994.00 in unpaid taxes and has requested that Denver provide the $30,228.35 to Colorado to satisfy these Warrants for Distraint.”
The city says it is seeking clarification on “which of the claims made by the defendants in this matter is superior.”
Johnson declined to provide comment for our January 29 cover story on the chaos at Your Mom’s House; we have been unable to reach her regarding this latest development.Westword also reached out to the Denver City Attorneys’ Office for comment.
The Your Mom’s House location is now empty. The owners of Pearl Divers, a club that had shared space with Your Mom’s House, moved their business to the former home of the Mercury Cafe at 2199 California Street and opened The Pearl there last April. On April 15, that business was seized by the city for back taxes, too.
