Andrews & Lawrence Professional Services Among Defendants in Class Action Over Alleged Confessed Judgment Clause Scheme

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Andrews & Lawrence Professional Services, the Goshen Run Homeowners Association and the Council of Unit Owners of Stonehedge Condominium Inc. have put financially vulnerable Maryland residents in “an impossible position” by requiring them to enter into promissory notes that contain a confessed judgment clause. 

The lawsuit states that confessed judgment promissory notes not only force consumers, particularly those who owe loan repayments, to waive their rights to defend against the entry of a judgment against them, but allow the defendants, in particular Andrews & Lawrence, to “inflate costs, pre-assessed interest and other charges, and assess unreasonable attorneys’ fees” that inflate the principal amount owed. As a result, consumers must remit “impossibly high” monthly payments that, the complaint claims, inevitably lead to default, creating an inescapable cycle of ruinous debt.

Maryland law, the suit argues, unambiguously prohibits confessed judgment promissory notes in consumer transactions.

“Indeed, Confessed Judgments are not favored in Maryland,” the lawsuit reads, “because the Maryland General Assembly and the Maryland Courts have long recognized that the practice of including in a promissory note a provision authorizing confession of judgment lends itself far too readily to fraud and abuse.”