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Maryland Court of Appeals says law firm collecting HOA debt is not engaged in the business of making loans

On August 11, a split Maryland Court of Appeals held that “a law firm that engages in debt collection activities on behalf of a client, including the preparation of a promissory note containing a confessed judgment clause and the filing of a confessed judgment complaint to collect a consumer debt, is not subject to the Maryland Consumer Loan Law [(MCLL)].” A putative class action challenging the law firm’s debt collection practices was filed in Maryland state court in 2018. According to the opinion, several homeowners associations and condominium regimes (collectively, “HOAs”) retained the law firm to help them draft and negotiate promissory notes memorializing repayment terms of delinquent assessments. These promissory notes, the opinion said, included confessed judgment clauses that were later used against homeowners who defaulted on their obligations. The suit was removed to federal court and was later stayed while the Maryland Court of Appeals weighed in on whether the law firm was subject to the MCLL. Loans made under the MCLL by an unlicensed entity render the loans void and unenforceable, the opinion said.

Class members claimed that the law firm is in the business of making loans and that the promissory notes are subject to the MCLL and “constitute ‘loans’ because they are an extension of credit enabling the homeowners to pay delinquent debt to the HOAs.” Because neither the law firm nor the HOAs are licensed to make loans the promissory notes are void and unenforceable, class members argued. The law firm countered that it (and the HOAs) are not obligated to be licensed because they are not lenders that “engage in the business of making loans” as provided in the MCLL.

On appeal, the majority concluded that there is no evidence that the state legislature intended to require HOAs to be licensed “in order to exercise their statutory right to collect delinquent assessments or charges, including entering into payment plans for the repayment of past-due assessments.” Moreover, in order to qualify for a license, an applicant “must demonstrate, among other things, that its ‘business will promote the convenience and advantage of the community in which the place of business will be located[]’”—criteria that does not apply to an HOA or a law firm, the opinion stated. Additionally, applying class members’ interpretation would lead to “illogical and unreasonable results that are inconsistent with common sense,” the opinion read, adding that “[t]o hold that the MCLL covers all transactions involving any small loan or extension of credit—without regard to whether the lender is ‘in the business of making loans’—would cast a broad net over businesses that are not currently licensed under the MCLL.”

The dissenting judge countered that the law firm should be subject to the MCC because to determine otherwise would allow law firms to engage in the business of making loans in the form of new extensions of credit with confessed judgment clauses and would “create a gap in the Maryland Consumer Loan Law that the General Assembly did not intend.”

Courts State Issues Licensing Maryland Appellate Consumer Finance Consumer Lending Debt Collection Confessions of Judgement

House passes comprehensive debt collection measures

On May 13, the U.S. House passed, by a vote of 215-207, H.R. 2547, which would provide additional financial protections for consumers and place several restrictions on debt collection activities. Known as the “Comprehensive Debt Collection Improvement Act,” H.R. 2547 consolidates 10 separate proposed consumer protection bills into one comprehensive package.

Provisions under the package would cover:

• Confessions of Judgment (COJs). The bill would amend TILA and expand the ban on COJs to cover small business owners and merchant cash advance companies.
• Servicemembers. The bill would amend the FDCPA to prohibit debt collectors from threatening servicemembers, including by representing to servicemembers that failure to cooperate will result in a reduction of rank, revocation of their security clearance, or prosecution. Covered debtors would include active-duty service members, those released from duty in the past year, and certain dependents.
• Student Loans. The bill would amend TILA to require the discharge of private student loans in the case of a borrower’s death or total and permanent disability.
• Medical Debt. The bill would amend the FDCPA by making it an unfair practice to “engag[e] in activities to collect or attempt[] to collect a medical debt before the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date that the first payment with respect to such medical debt is due.” The bill would also amend the FCRA to, among other things, bar entities from collecting medical debt or reporting it to a consumer reporting agency without providing a consumer notice about their rights.
• Electronic Communication. The bill would amend the FDCPA to limit a debt collector from contacting a consumer by email, text message, or direct message on social media without receiving the debtor’s permission to be contacted electronically. It would also prevent debt collectors from sending unlimited electronic communications to consumers.
• Other Debt Provisions. The bill would (i) expand the definition of debt covered under the FDCPA to include money owed to a federal agency, states, or local government; certain personal, family, or household transactions; and court debts; (ii) restrict federal agencies from transferring debt to a collector until at least 90 days after the obligation becomes delinquent or defaults; (iii) require agencies to notify consumers at least three times—with notifications spaced at least 30 days apart—before transferring their debt; and (iv) limit the fees debt collectors can charge.
• Penalties. The bill would require the CFPB to update monetary penalties under the FDCPA for inflation. It would also (i) clarify that courts can award injunctive relief; (ii) cap damages in class actions; and (iii) add protections for consumers affected by national disasters.
• Non-Judicial Foreclosures. The bill would amend the FDCPA to clarify that companies engaged in non-judicial foreclosure proceedings are covered by the statute.

• Legal Actions. The bill would amend the FDCPA to outline requirements for debt collectors taking legal action to collect or attempt to collect a debt, including providing a consumer with written notice, as well as documents showing the consumer agreed to the contract creating the debt, and a sworn affidavit stating the applicable statute of limitations has not expired.

Federal Issues Federal Legislation U.S. House Debt Collection Confessions of Judgement Servicemembers Student Lending FDCPA TILA FCRA Consumer Finance