ght charges against the appellants, alleging that they had made unlicensed and usurious "loans" in violation of Maryland's Consumer Loan Law, Md.Code (2000 Repl. Vol., 2003 Supp.), §§ 12-301 to-317 of the Commercial Law Article ("CL"), and had, by misrepresenting these "loans" as "sale-leasebacks", engaged in "unfair or deceptive trade practices" in violation of the Maryland Consumer Protection Act, CL §§ 13-101 to 501. This matter was then referred to an administrative law judge for a hearing ("ALJ").
At the conclusion of that hearing, the ALJ found that the "sale-leaseback" was not a "loan," that appellants, individual and corporate, had in any event engaged in unfair and deceptive sales practices in violation of the Consumer Protection Act, and that Seo and Brown were personally liable for those practices. She therefore recommended that all charges pertaining to the Consumer Loan Law be dismissed but that appellants be ordered to cease and desist from violating the Consumer Protection Act and to pay restitution to "consumers for renewal and repurchase transactions, during the period of February 1994 through February 1996." Her recommendation stopped short, however, of requesting the imposition of civil penalties.
Although it adopted most of the ALJ's recommendations and all of her factual findings that were based upon her determination of witness credibility,[2] the Division reached a different conclusion as to whether the "sale-leaseback" was a loan and as to whether civil penalties should be imposed. In its Final Decision, the Division declared that appellant had "enter[ed] into loans in the form of a pretended sale-leaseback... without complying with the Consumer Loan Law." The Division's ensuing Final Order required that appellants make certain disclosures, "cease and desist from violation of the Consumer Protection *220 Act, take affirmative action in the form of restitution, and pay civil monetary penalties."
Challenging the conclusions reached by the Division, appellants filed a petition for judicia