Judge rules in favor of Highland County in cognovit action against hotel developers

A Summit County judge has ruled in favor of the Highland County Board of Commissioners in their cognovit action against Leo Capital Investments LLC, the prospective developers of the Marriott Hotel project in Hillsboro, according to court records.

According to Summit County Common Pleas Court records, attorney Susan Argo of Bricker Graydon Wyatt LLP filed the complaint on cognovit promissory note on the county’s behalf Aug. 11. (A cognovit is “a document that acknowledges a civil debt or liability,” according to the Court News Ohio legal glossary.)

The hotel project has been in the planning stages since 2019. Since June, the county has been seeking “payment in full,” initially estimated at $815,759.32 or more, from developers for defaulting on their $1 million promissory note. Upon the agreement of both parties, Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Kelly McLaughlin issued an order Aug. 18 granting judgment “against Defendant LEO Capital Investments, LLC on the Cognovit Note” in the amount of nearly $850,000, plus “interest  … and expenses that continue to accrue under the Cognovit Note.”

As previously reported, commissioners voted in October 2023 to approve an open-end mortgage, Cognovit promissory note and loan agreement contract with LEO Capital Investment LLC in the amount of $1 million for the planned Marriott Hotel project in Hillsboro. At the time, Highland County Economic Development Director Julie Bolender had said that the plan was to “take the $500,000 that we were awarded from Department of Development, add that to our revolving loan fund, and then we would have an agreement with the Leo Capital Investments organization for the loan for the entire year.”

Commissioners voted 3-0 to sign a notice of default on April 8 of this year, at the recommendation of Bolender. At that time, Bolender said it would be “the 30-day notice.” The second notice by the county, dated June 3, made the demand “for payment in full.” 

On Aug. 5, commissioners approved the execution of an affidavit in support of judgment against Leo Capital Investments, LLC. The notarized affidavit by Britton on behalf of commissioners, as part of the court filing in Summit County Common Pleas Court, alleged that Leo Capital “defaulted under the loan documents by failing to cure previously noticed defaults and by transferring the project or project property to Salem-Hillsboro Land Co., LLC on or about May 15, 2026.

“To date, [Leo Capital] has failed and/or refused to pay the sums due and owing to [Highland County Commissioners] under the Cognovit Note,” the affidavit alleged. “To date, the Cognovit Note remains unpaid, due and owing to [commissioners].”

Ankur Patel of Leo Capital Investments, the developers of the project, attended the April 29 county commission meeting to discuss the first notice. Patel questioned the county’s timing of their vote on issuing the letter, given city council’s action just over a week prior to extend an unrelated promissory note deadline for related to the issuance and sale of tax increment financing (TIF) bonds. Patel also said there was “zero communication” from the county prior to the notice and asked the county to “help modify that loan to be compliant.”

According to court documents, attorney Neil Fairweather of Murphy Landen Jones PLLC filed “an answer and confession of judgment” on behalf of Leo Capital, in which they “admit all of the allegations contained in [the county’s] complaint and confess judgment in favor of [the county] and against … Leo Capital Investments, LLC.” The matter was filed in Summit County because that is where “the note was executed,” court documents said.

Judge McLaughlin wrote that the cognovit note “was duly executed” and had the “appropriate” warning required by Ohio Revised Code. That warning, which is written in all-caps, bold print just above the space for the borrower’s signature, says that “by signing this paper, you give up your right to notice and court trial. If you do not pay on time, a court judgment may be taken against you without your prior knowledge, and the powers of a court can be used to collect from you regardless of any claims you have against the creditor, whether for returned goods, faulty goods, failure on his part to comply with the agreement or any other case.”

“It is therefore ordered, adjudged and decreed that Plaintiff Highland County Board of Commissioners is granted judgment in its favor and against Defendant LEO Capital Investments, LLC on the Cognovit Note in the amount of $815,759.32 as of June 2, 2026, plus interest at the rate of 2%, late fees, attorneys’ fees of $31,209.75 and costs of $334.75 as of August 12, 2026, and expenses that continue to accrue under the Cognovit Note,” McLaughlin wrote, with the order also “submitted and agreed to” by counsel for both parties. 

As of Aug. 13, Hillsboro safety and service director Shawn Adkins reported that developers have “resubmitted plans to the Hillsboro Planning Commission,” which includes an additional floor with another 22 rooms. At that Aug 13 city council meeting, Adkins said that developers have indicated they were “wanting to submit plans in September and hopefully breaking ground by the end of October.” The city has executed its $200,000 promissory note with developers, following the sale of the aforementioned TIF bonds.