Supreme Court of Maryland
In re: Scarlett B. Bowman
June 23, 2026
Summary
The court held that passive trusts were not required to obtain a license under the Maryland Mortgage Lender Law before the 2025 enactment of the Maryland Secondary Market Stability Act. The statute’s plain language regulates persons who make mortgage loans or act as mortgage brokers or servicers, not entities that merely hold assigned mortgage loans, and the prior decision involving passive trusts addressed a different licensing scheme. Because no prior exemption under the Mortgage Lender Law needed restoration, the court declined to answer the remaining certified questions.