Maryland — MCDCA + MCALA licensing + SOL (3y, no revival on time-barred consumer debt)

Authority

Maryland stacks four layers, and all four bite:

1. MCDCA — Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act, Com. Law §§14-201 to 14-204. Prohibited practices. Its "collector" definition has no third-party limitation, so it reaches original creditors as well as agencies and debt buyers. Since 2018 it also incorporates FDCPA §§804–812 and MCALA licensure as state-law duties.
2. MCALA — Maryland Collection Agency Licensing Act, Bus. Reg. title 7. A real license (not a bond-only gate like Texas), issued by the State Collection Agency Licensing Board inside the Office of Financial Regulation (OFR), Maryland Department of Labor. Debt buyers are expressly in scope. Surety bond floor is $50,000.
3. MCPA — Maryland Consumer Protection Act, Com. Law title 13. An MCDCA violation is per se an unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practice (§13-301(14)(iii)), which unlocks the MCPA private action with attorney's fees (§13-408) and AG/Consumer Protection Division civil penalties (§13-410).
4. CJP title 5 — limitations (§§5-101, 5-102) plus Subtitle 12, Consumer Debt Collection Actions (§§5-1201 to 5-1204, added 2016), which bars filing on time-barred consumer debt, kills revival, and imposes documentary prerequisites on debt-buyer suits. Md. Rule 3-306(d) is the District Court procedural companion.

Verification note: mgaleg.maryland.gov (Maryland General Assembly, Department of Legislative Services) serves current statute text directly and was fetched without a workaround. Enactment dates come from the MGA's own chapter-law PDFs and bill-detail pages. COMAR is now published at regs.maryland.gov (successor to dsd.maryland.gov, which 301-redirects there).

Operative text

Scope — MCDCA covers anyone collecting a consumer debt (Com. Law §14-201)

(b) "Collector" means a person collecting or attempting to collect an alleged debt arising out of a consumer transaction. (c) "Consumer transaction" means any transaction involving a person seeking or acquiring real or personal property, services, money, or credit for personal, family, or household purposes. (d) "Person" includes an individual, corporation, business trust, statutory trust, estate, trust, partnership, association, two or more persons having a joint or common interest, or any other legal or commercial entity. — Md. Code Ann., Com. Law §14-201

There is no "third-party" qualifier and no creditor exemption anywhere in the subtitle.

Prohibited practices — Com. Law §14-202

In collecting or attempting to collect an alleged debt a collector may not: (1) Use or threaten force or violence; (2) Threaten criminal prosecution, unless the transaction involved the violation of a criminal statute; (3) Disclose or threaten to disclose information which affects the debtor's reputation for credit worthiness with knowledge that the information is false; (4) Except as permitted by statute, contact a person's employer with respect to a delinquent indebtedness before obtaining final judgment against the debtor; (5) Except as permitted by statute, disclose or threaten to disclose to a person other than the debtor or his spouse or, if the debtor is a minor, his parent, information which affects the debtor's reputation, whether or not for credit worthiness, with knowledge that the other person does not have a legitimate business need for the information; (6) Communicate with the debtor or a person related to him with the frequency, at the unusual hours, or in any other manner as reasonably can be expected to abuse or harass the debtor; (7) Use obscene or grossly abusive language in communicating with the debtor or a person related to him; (8) Claim, attempt, or threaten to enforce a right with knowledge that the right does not exist; (9) Use a communication which simulates legal or judicial process or gives the appearance of being authorized, issued, or approved by a government, governmental agency, or lawyer when it is not; (10) Engage in unlicensed debt collection activity in violation of the Maryland Collection Agency Licensing Act; or (11) Engage in any conduct that violates §§ 804 through 812 of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. — Md. Code Ann., Com. Law §14-202

Paragraphs (10) and (11) were added by the Financial Consumer Protection Act of 2018:

(10) ENGAGE IN UNLICENSED DEBT COLLECTION ACTIVITY IN VIOLATION OF THE MARYLAND COLLECTION AGENCY LICENSING ACT; OR (11) ENGAGE IN ANY CONDUCT PROHIBITED UNDER THAT VIOLATES §§ 804 THROUGH 812 OF THE FEDERAL FAIR DEBT COLLECTION PRACTICES ACT. — 2018 Md. Laws ch. 731 (H.B. 1634), at 19; "SECTION 7. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect October 1, 2018."

Note §14-202(4): Maryland bans employer contact about a delinquent debt before final judgment, which is stricter than FDCPA §1692c(b)/§1692b (which permits limited location-information calls to third parties).

Entry gate — MCALA license (Bus. Reg. §§7-101, 7-301)

Who is a collection agency, and the jurisdictional hook that reaches out-of-state collectors:

(c) "Collection agency" means a person who engages directly or indirectly in the business of: (1) (i) collecting for, or soliciting from another, a consumer claim; or (ii) collecting a consumer claim the person owns, if the claim was in default when the person acquired it; (2) collecting a consumer claim the person owns, using a name or other artifice that indicates that another party is attempting to collect the consumer claim; (3) giving, selling, attempting to give or sell to another, or using, for collection of a consumer claim, a series or system of forms or letters that indicates directly or indirectly that a person other than the owner is asserting the consumer claim; or (4) employing the services of an individual or business to solicit or sell a collection system to be used for collection of a consumer claim. (d) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Financial Regulation. (e) "Consumer claim" means a claim that: (1) is for money owed or said to be owed by a resident of the State; and (2) arises from a transaction in which, for a family, household, or personal purpose, the resident sought or got credit, money, personal property, real property, or services. … (h) "Licensed collection agency" means a person who is required to be licensed under this title, regardless of whether the person is actually licensed. — Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §7-101 (emphasis added)

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, a person must have a license whenever the person does business as a collection agency in the State. (b) This section does not apply to: (1) a regular employee of a creditor while the employee is acting under the general direction and control of the creditor to collect a consumer claim that the creditor owns; or (2) a regular employee of a licensed collection agency while the employee is acting within the scope of employment. (c) A licensee may do business as a collection agency only at a licensed location or as otherwise authorized by regulation. — Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §7-301

Bond — the number is set per licensee within a statutory band:

(j) (1) The amount of the surety bond required under subsection (c) of this section shall be in an amount of not less than $50,000 and not more than $1,000,000, as determined by the Board for each licensee. — Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §7-304(j)(1)

(c) The bond shall be: … (3) conditioned that the licensee shall comply with the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act and any other laws applicable to consumer debt collection. (d) The liability of the surety: (1) shall be continuous; … (7) shall continue for 3 years after the later of the date on which: (i) the bond is canceled; or (ii) the licensee, for any reason, ceases to be licensed. — Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §7-304

Term, renewal, and fee:

(a) An initial license term shall: (1) begin on the date the license is issued; and (2) expire on December 31 of the year: (i) in which the license is issued, if the license is issued before November 1; or (ii) immediately following the year in which the license is issued, if the license is issued on or after November 1. (b) On or after November 1 of the year in which a license expires, the license may be renewed for an additional 1–year term, if the licensee: … (2) pays to the Board a nonrefundable renewal fee set by the Board; … and (4) files as part of the application a surety bond as required under § 7–304 of this subtitle. — Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §7-306

A. Initial License Fee. The initial license fee required by Business Regulation Article, §§ 7-302(a) and 7-302.1, Annotated Code of Maryland, is $350 for a 1-year license term. B. Renewal Fee. The renewal fee required by Business Regulation Article, §7-306(b)(2), Annotated Code of Maryland, is $350 for a 1-year renewal term. — COMAR 09.03.13.02 (effective Oct. 3, 2011; .02 amended effective July 2, 2018, 45:13 Md. R. 664)

Penalty for operating without a license:

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this title, a person may not knowingly and willfully do business as a collection agency in the State unless the person has a license. (b) A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction, is subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or both. — Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §7-401

Call frequency and call times — no Maryland numeric limit

Maryland sets a standard, not a count. The only frequency/hours language in Maryland collection law is §14-202(6), quoted above: communications "with the frequency, at the unusual hours, or in any other manner as reasonably can be expected to abuse or harass the debtor." Neither MCDCA, MCALA, nor COMAR contains a numeric call cap or a clock-time window. COMAR Title 09, Subtitle 03 contains exactly one collection-agency chapter — 09.03.13, "State Collection Agency Licensing Board — Fees" — with two regulations (.01 Purpose, .02 Fees). There are no Maryland conduct regulations for collection agencies.

Statute of limitations — the general rule is 3 years (CJP §5-101)

A civil action at law shall be filed within three years from the date it accrues unless another provision of the Code provides a different period of time within which an action shall be commenced. — Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-101

Maryland has no separate oral-contract, open-account, or stated-account statute. §5-101 is a catch-all, so written contracts, oral contracts, and open-end credit-card accounts all sit at 3 years unless a specific provision displaces it. The two provisions that displace it for debt work are §5-102 (specialties) and Com. Law §3-118 (negotiable instruments).

Specialties — 12 years (CJP §5-102)

(a) An action on one of the following specialties shall be filed within 12 years after the cause of action accrues, or within 12 years from the date of the death of the last to die of the principal debtor or creditor, whichever is sooner: (1) Promissory note or other instrument under seal; (2) Bond except a public officer's bond; (3) Judgment; (4) Recognizance; (5) Contract under seal; or (6) Any other specialty. (b) A payment of principal or interest on a specialty suspends the operation of this section as to the specialty for three years after the date of payment. (c) This section does not apply to: (1) A specialty taken for the use of the State; (2) A deed of trust, mortgage, or promissory note that has been signed under seal and secures or is secured by owner–occupied residential property, as defined in § 7–105.1 of the Real Property Article; or (3) A contract, including a contract under seal, or a promissory note or other instrument under seal that is: (i) Related to an obligation of a consumer to pay consumer debt, as defined in § 5–1201 of this title, that arises from hospital services, as defined in § 19–201 of the Health – General Article; and (ii) Between a consumer and a hospital, as defined in § 19–301 of the Health – General Article. — Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-102

Subsection (c)(3) is new — added by the 2025 hospital-debt act:

(3) A CONTRACT, INCLUDING A CONTRACT UNDER SEAL, OR A PROMISSORY NOTE OR OTHER INSTRUMENT UNDER SEAL THAT IS: (I) RELATED TO AN OBLIGATION OF A CONSUMER TO PAY CONSUMER DEBT, AS DEFINED IN § 5–1201 OF THIS TITLE, THAT ARISES FROM HOSPITAL SERVICES … — 2025 Md. Laws ch. 694 (S.B. 981), amending CJP §5-102; "SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect October 1, 2025." Approved by the Governor, May 20, 2025.

Judgments are specialties (§5-102(a)(3)): a Maryland money judgment is enforceable on a 12-year clock, and §5-102(b) suspends that clock for three years from any payment of principal or interest.

Negotiable instruments — 6 years (Com. Law §3-118)

(a) Except as provided in subsection (e), an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay a note payable at a definite time must be commenced within 6 years after the due date or dates stated in the note or, if a due date is accelerated, within 6 years after the accelerated due date. (b) Except as provided in subsection (d) or (e), if demand for payment is made to the maker of a note payable on demand, an action to enforce the obligation of a party to pay the note must be commenced within 6 years after the demand. If no demand for payment is made to the maker, an action to enforce the note is barred if neither principal nor interest on the note has been paid for a continuous period of 10 years. (c) Except as provided in subsection (d), an action to enforce the obligation of a party to an unaccepted draft to pay the draft must be commenced within 3 years after dishonor of the draft or 10 years after the date of the draft, whichever period expires first. (d) An action to enforce the obligation of the acceptor of a certified check or the issuer of a teller's check, cashier's check, or traveler's check must be commenced within 3 years after demand for payment is made to the acceptor or issuer, as the case may be. … (g) Unless governed by other law regarding claims for indemnity or contribution, an action (i) for conversion of an instrument, for money had and received, or like action based on conversion, (ii) for breach of warranty, or (iii) to enforce an obligation, duty, or right arising under this article and not governed by this section must be commenced within 3 years after the cause of action accrues. — Md. Code Ann., Com. Law §3-118

Tolling — narrow, and no absence-from-state tolling

(a) When a cause of action subject to a limitation under Subtitle 1 of this title or Title 3, Subtitle 9 of this article accrues in favor of a minor or mental incompetent, that person shall file his action within the lesser of three years or the applicable period of limitations after the date the disability is removed. (b) This section does not apply if the statute of limitations has more than three years to run when the disability is removed. (c) Imprisonment, absence from the State, or marriage are not disabilities which extend the statute of limitations. — Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-201 (emphasis added)

If the knowledge of a cause of action is kept from a party by the fraud of an adverse party, the cause of action shall be deemed to accrue at the time when the party discovered, or by the exercise of ordinary diligence should have discovered the fraud. — Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-203

§5-201(c) is the direct opposite of Texas CJP §16.063: a Maryland debtor who moves out of state does not stop the clock.

Time-barred consumer debt — hard suit bar and no revival (CJP §5-1202)

(a) A creditor or a collector may not initiate a consumer debt collection action after the expiration of the statute of limitations applicable to the consumer debt collection action. (b) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any payment toward, written or oral affirmation of, or any other activity on the debt that occurs after the expiration of the statute of limitations applicable to the consumer debt collection action does not revive or extend the limitations period. (2) This subsection may not be interpreted to affect the statute of limitations applicable to a cause of action arising from a separate written agreement or written payment plan entered into by the debtor and the creditor or collector before the expiration of the statute of limitations applicable to the consumer debt collection action. — Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-1202

Subtitle 12 was created by 2016 Md. Laws ch. 579 (S.B. 771) — "SECTION 3. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect October 1, 2016." Approved by the Governor, May 19, 2016. As originally enacted, §5-1202(b) read:

(B) NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW, ON THE EXPIRATION OF THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS APPLICABLE TO THE CONSUMER DEBT COLLECTION ACTION, ANY SUBSEQUENT PAYMENT TOWARD, WRITTEN OR ORAL AFFIRMATION OF, OR ANY OTHER ACTIVITY ON THE DEBT MAY NOT REVIVE OR EXTEND THE LIMITATIONS PERIOD. — 2016 Md. Laws ch. 579 (S.B. 771)

The current two-paragraph form — including the written-agreement carve-out in (b)(2) — comes from 2018 Md. Laws ch. 549 (S.B. 42, "Courts – Consumer Debt Collection Actions – Statute of Limitations"), effective October 1, 2018 (MGA bill-detail page: "Status: Approved by the Governor - Chapter 549"; "Effective Date(s): October 1, 2018").

The subtitle's scope terms:

(e) "Consumer debt" means a secured or an unsecured debt that: (1) Is for money owed or alleged to be owed; and (2) Arises from a consumer transaction. (f) (1) "Consumer debt collection action" means any judicial action or arbitration proceeding in which a claim is asserted to collect a consumer debt. (2) "Consumer debt collection action" does not include an action brought under § 8–401 of the Real Property Article by a landlord or an attorney, a property manager, or an agent on behalf of a landlord. … (i) (1) "Debt buyer" means a person that purchases or otherwise acquires consumer debt from an original creditor or from a subsequent owner of the debt. — Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-1201 (emphasis added)

§5-1201(i)(2) then carves seven categories out of "debt buyer" — check-services companies; entities that acquired the debt only via merger with or purchase of the original creditor; banks/credit unions/S&Ls acquiring by merger; licensed mortgage servicers (unless collecting a foreclosure/short-sale deficiency); sales finance companies that took a retail installment contract before the first payment came due where the contract named them; banks/credit unions/S&Ls buying a whole class of non-charged-off debt in the ordinary course; and landlord-side collectors in §8-401 rent actions.

Debt-buyer documentary prerequisites (CJP §5-1203)

(a) A debt buyer or a collector acting on behalf of a debt buyer may not initiate a consumer debt collection action unless the debt buyer or collector possesses all of the documents listed in subsection (b)(3) of this section. (b) (1) This subsection applies to a consumer debt collection action, including a small claim action under § 4–405 of this article, that is maintained by a debt buyer or a collector acting on behalf of a debt buyer. (2) In addition to any other requirement of law or rule, unless the action is resolved by judgment on affidavit, a court may not enter a judgment in favor of a debt buyer or a collector unless the debt buyer or collector introduces into evidence the documents specified in paragraph (3) of this subsection … (3) A debt buyer or a collector on behalf of a debt buyer shall introduce the following evidence in a consumer debt collection action: (i) Proof of the existence of the debt or account made by a certified or otherwise properly authenticated photocopy or original of at least one of the following: 1. A document signed by the debtor evidencing the debt or the opening of the account; 2. A bill or other record reflecting purchases, payments, or other actual use of a credit card or an account by the debtor; or 3. An electronic printout or other documentation from the original creditor establishing the existence of the account and showing purchases, payments, or other actual use … (ii) If there was a document evidencing the terms and conditions to which the consumer debt was subject, a certified or otherwise properly authenticated photocopy of the original document applicable to the consumer debt unless: 1. The consumer debt is an unpaid balance due on a credit card; 2. The original creditor is or was a financial institution subject to regulation by the federal Financial Institutions Examination Council …; and 3. The claim does not include a demand or request for attorney's fees or interest on the charge–off balance; (iii) Documentation indicating that the debt buyer or collector … owns the consumer debt, including: 1. A chronological listing of the names of all prior owners of the debt and the date of each transfer of ownership …; and 2. A certified or other properly authenticated copy of the bill of sale or other document that transferred ownership of the debt to each successive owner … with each bill of sale or other document that transferred ownership containing specific reference to the debt; (iv) Documentation of the identification and nature of the debt or account, including: 1. The name of the original creditor; 2. The full name of the debtor as it appears on the original account; 3. The last four digits of the Social Security number of the debtor …; 4. The last four digits of the original account number; and 5. The nature of the consumer transaction … (vi) If there has been a charge–off of the debt or account, documentation of: 1. The date of the charge–off; 2. The charge–off balance; 3. An itemization of any fees or charges claimed … 4. An itemization of all payments received after the charge–off …; and 5. The date of the last payment on the consumer debt or the last transaction giving rise to the consumer debt; … (viii) A list of all Maryland collection agency licenses that the debt buyer or collector currently holds and, as to each license: 1. The license number; 2. The name appearing on the license; and 3. The date of issue of the license. — Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-1203

And the subtitle does not displace licensing:

This subtitle may not be construed to alter any licensing requirement under federal or Maryland law applicable to debt buyers or collectors. — Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-1204

Md. Rule 3-306(d) — the District Court companion

Rule 3-306 ("Judgment on Affidavit") section (d) imposes the same eight-item checklist on claims arising from assigned consumer debt. The Maryland Judiciary's official current form implements it item-for-item:

The following information is provided as required by Rule 3-306(d): ☐ 1. PROOF OF THE EXISTENCE OF THE DEBT OR ACCOUNT - RULE 3-306(d)(1) … ☐ 2. PROOF OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS - Rule 3-306(d)(2) … ☐ Does not apply because the consumer debt is an unpaid balance due on a credit card, the original creditor is or was a financial institution subject to regulation by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council … and the claim does not include a demand or request for attorney's fees or interest on the charge-off balance in excess of the Maryland Constitutional rate of six percent per annum. ☐ 3. PROOF OF THE PLAINTIFF'S OWNERSHIP - Rule 3-306(d)(3) … ☐ 8. LICENSING INFORMATION - Rule 3-306(d)(8) List all Maryland collection agency licenses the plaintiff currently holds … I CERTIFY: that … (4) the claim is filed within the statute of limitations. — District Court of Maryland form DC-CV-106, "Complaint – Assigned Consumer Debt / Application and Affidavit in Support of Judgment and Assigned Consumer Checklist" (Rev. 05/2025) (emphasis added)

Md. Rules 3-421 and 3-325 — the 228th Rules Order (adopted 2026-06-04, eff. 2026-10-01)

⚠ ADOPTED, NOT YET IN FORCE. These amendments take effect 2026-10-01. Until then the pre-amendment text of both rules governs. Registered in _meta/review-calendar.md under rule 9b.

Adopting instrument: Rules Order, 228th Report of the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, Supreme Court of Maryland, signed June 4, 2026 ("it is this 4th day of June, 2026") by /s/ Matthew J. Fader and /s/ Shirley M. Watts.

The effective date is in the order's own text, not a separate notice — the trap that caught NYC's SHIELD Rule does not bite here. The order sets two buckets, and Title 3 falls in the second:

ORDERED that new Title 15, Chapter 1700 and the amendments to Rules 1-101, 10-203, 10-302, and 16-914 hereby adopted by this Court shall govern the courts of this State and all parties and their attorneys in all actions and proceedings, and shall take effect and apply to all actions commenced on or after July 1, 2026 and, in so far as practicable, to all actions then pending; and it is further

ORDERED that all other Rules changes hereby adopted by this Court shall govern the courts of this State and all parties and their attorneys in all actions and proceedings, and shall take effect and apply to all actions commenced on or after October 1, 2026 and, insofar as practicable, to all actions then pending — 228th Rules Order, at 2

Rules 3-325 and 3-421 appear in the order's adopting list but not in the July 1 bucket, so they fall under "all other" → 2026-10-01, applying to actions commenced on or after that date and, insofar as practicable, to pending ones.

Rule 3-421(b) — ⚠ the ten-day interrogatory window is NOT new

Read this before encoding anything. The ten-day windows already exist in the current rule. The 228th Report changes only the court's ability to alter them. The order's own caption:

AMEND Rule 3-421 by adding a provision to section (b) related to the ability of the court to alter the time to serve interrogatories and by making stylistic changes, as follows: — 228th Rules Order, at 9

Post-amendment text of the operative passage, inserted language marked (the order publishes in legislative markup; this was read from the rendered page because pdftotext merges struck and inserted text into one unusable run):

… Each form interrogatory contained in the Appendix to these Rules shall count as a single interrogatory. [inserted: Unless otherwise ordered by the court, (1) the] plaintiff may serve interrogatories no later than ten days after the date on which the clerk mails the notice required by Rule 3-307 (d) [inserted: and (2) the] defendant may serve interrogatories no later than ten days after the time for filing a notice of intention to defend. — Md. Rule 3-421(b) as amended by the 228th Rules Order, at 9

Deleted: the word "The" before "plaintiff", and ". The" after "Rule 3-307 (d)" — stylistic, to fold two sentences into the new "(1) … and (2) …" structure.

Net effect on a collector-plaintiff: if anything, a loosening. The deadline is unchanged; what is new is that a court may order otherwise. Do not write this up as a new deadline.

• Trigger: the plaintiff's ten days run from the date the clerk mails the notice required by Rule 3-307(d). The clerk mails it; the plaintiff does not control the start.
• ⚠ UNVERIFIED — Rule 3-307(d) itself was not pulled. What that notice contains is not established here. Pull 3-307(d) before describing it.
• Sanction: NONE STATED. The rule attaches no consequence to a late service. Do not infer one — a filing duty with no stated consequence is a finding, not a gap in the research.

Rule 3-325(a)(2) — jury-trial election, no consumer-debt relevance

One insertion, at the end of (a)(2):

A defendant, counter-defendant, cross-defendant, or third-party defendant may elect a trial by jury of any action triable of right by a jury by filing a separate written demand therefor within ten days after the time for filing a notice of intention to defend [inserted: or, if applicable, within the time provided in Code, Real Property Article, § 8-601 et seq.] — Md. Rule 3-325(a)(2) as amended by the 228th Rules Order

Real Property Title 8 is landlord-tenant. Recorded only so the Title 3 amendments are fully accounted for; nothing here bears on consumer-debt collection.

Currency of the 228th

Re-checked 2026-08-22: mdcourts.gov/rules/ruleschanges shows the 228th as the most recent Rules Order — no 229th — and carries no notice of change of effective date. The 228th's separate Erratum was read in full (it is exactly where a silent date move would hide): it replaces pages 11–12 only, restoring omitted existing language in Rule 4-211 (criminal — charging documents), and contains no effective-date language and no reference to any Title 3 rule.

Penalties, private right of action, AG enforcement

MCDCA damages — note the express emotional-distress head, with no cap and no statutory minimum:

A collector who violates any provision of this subtitle is liable for any damages proximately caused by the violation, including damages for emotional distress or mental anguish suffered with or without accompanying physical injury. — Md. Code Ann., Com. Law §14-203

MCDCA violations are automatically MCPA violations:

(14) Violation of a provision of: … (iii) Title 14, Subtitle 2 of this article, the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act; — Md. Code Ann., Com. Law §13-301(14)(iii)

(a) In addition to any action by the Division or Attorney General authorized by this title and any other action otherwise authorized by law, any person may bring an action to recover for injury or loss sustained by him as the result of a practice prohibited by this title. (b) Any person who brings an action to recover for injury or loss under this section and who is awarded damages may also seek, and the court may award, reasonable attorney's fees. — Md. Code Ann., Com. Law §13-408

(a) A merchant who engages in a violation of this title is subject to a fine not exceeding $10,000 for each violation. (b) A merchant who has been found to have engaged in a violation of this title and who subsequently repeats the same violation is subject to a fine not exceeding $25,000 for each subsequent violation. — Md. Code Ann., Com. Law §13-410

Licensing Board enforcement:

(a) To carry out this title, the Board may … (1) receive a written complaint and hold a hearing on an alleged violation by a collection agency of the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act or this title; (2) mediate a dispute …; and (3) issue orders: (i) to cease and desist from the violation and any further similar violations; or (ii) requiring the violator to take affirmative action to correct the violation. (b) If a violator fails to comply with a lawful order issued by the Board, the Board may impose a penalty not exceeding $10,000 for each violation cited in the order, not to exceed $25,000 … — Md. Code Ann., Bus. Reg. §7-205

Plain English

Interpretation — the quotes above win on any conflict.

• Maryland's SOL is 3 years for essentially all ordinary consumer debt — written contracts, oral contracts, and credit-card/open-end accounts alike. There is no separate open-account or oral-contract statute; §5-101 sweeps everything not specifically displaced.
• A promissory note is not 3 years. A negotiable note payable at a definite time is 6 years from the due date (Com. Law §3-118(a)); a note under seal is a specialty at 12 years (§5-102(a)(1)). Getting this wrong in either direction is the most common Maryland SOL error.
• Judgments run 12 years as specialties, and any payment of principal or interest resets a 3-year suspension of that clock (§5-102(b)).
• Hospital debt lost the seal loophole on 2025-10-01. A consumer-hospital contract or note under seal is no longer a 12-year specialty; it falls back to §5-101's 3 years (2025 Md. Laws ch. 694).
• Once a consumer debt is out of stat, nothing brings it back. No payment, no oral or written affirmation, no "other activity." The only survivor is a separate written agreement or written payment plan signed before expiry — and even then, what survives is a cause of action on that new agreement, not the revived old debt.
• Filing a time-barred consumer suit is itself unlawful (§5-1202(a)), independent of whether the debtor pleads limitations. It is also plausibly a §14-202(8) violation (enforcing a right known not to exist) and therefore an MCPA violation — interpretation, not statute text.
• Maryland is a license state, and the license reaches you from out of state. "Consumer claim" is defined by the debtor's residency: money owed by a Maryland resident. A collector anywhere in the country working Maryland-resident accounts is doing business as a collection agency in Maryland. Debt buyers are expressly covered when the claim was in default at acquisition (§7-101(c)(1)(ii)). First-party creditors collecting their own paper through their own employees are exempt (§7-301(b)(1)).
• Unlicensed collection is not just a licensing problem — since 2018 it is a stand-alone MCDCA violation (§14-202(10)), which is a per-se MCPA violation, which carries a private right of action with attorney's fees and uncapped actual damages including emotional distress.
• No Maryland call cap and no Maryland call window. §14-202(6) is a reasonableness/harassment standard. Reg F's 7-in-7 presumption and the 8am–9pm window remain the operative numbers.
• No Maryland time-barred-debt disclosure. Unlike Texas §392.307(e), Maryland imposes no statutory notice language on out-of-stat debt. Maryland's approach is to forbid the lawsuit outright rather than script a disclosure.

Traps / edge cases

• The specialty/seal question is the whole ballgame for long-tail Maryland paper. 3 years vs. 12 years turns on whether the instrument is under seal. Do not assume; surface the 12-year branch rather than silently pick 3.
• §5-102(b) is a suspension, not a revival, and it only touches specialties. For a consumer specialty, layer §5-1202(b)(1) on top: a payment made before expiry buys three more years; a payment made after expiry does nothing at all.
• The §5-1202(b)(2) carve-out is narrow and easy to over-read. It requires a separate written agreement or written payment plan, entered before expiry. An oral promise-to-pay, a phone payment arrangement, or an unsigned settlement letter does not qualify.
• "Consumer debt collection action" includes arbitration (§5-1201(f)(1)). An arbitration demand on out-of-stat Maryland consumer debt violates §5-1202(a) exactly as a court filing would.
• Maryland does not toll for absence. §5-201(c) forecloses the out-of-state-debtor tolling argument that works in Texas. Skip-traced interstate moves do not extend Maryland limitations.
• §14-202(4) beats FDCPA on employer contact. No contacting a debtor's employer about a delinquent debt before final judgment — broader than the FDCPA's third-party rules, and it applies to first-party creditors too.
• §14-202(11) imports FDCPA §§804–812 as Maryland law, which means a federal-conduct violation is also a state-law violation with the MCPA damages/fee stack behind it — including against original creditors who are not "debt collectors" under the FDCPA itself. Whether Reg F's implementing regulations (7-in-7, 8am–9pm, limited-content messages) ride along with the incorporated statutory sections is unsettled and is labeled interpretation here, not authority.
• §7-101(h) is a trap for the unlicensed. "Licensed collection agency" is defined to include anyone required to be licensed whether or not they actually are — so statutory duties attach the moment you touch Maryland-resident paper, not the moment you obtain the license.
• The bond is per-licensee and can reach $1,000,000. Do not budget the floor; the Board sets the amount by volume, financial condition, and control-person quality (§7-304(j)(2)).

Related

• ../federal/fdcpa/overview.md
• ../federal/reg-f/call-frequency.md
• ../federal/reg-f/time-barred-debt.md
• ./tx.md — contrast: bond-not-license gate, 4-year SOL, absence tolling (opposite of MD §5-201(c))
• ./ma.md · ./ny.md · ./_matrix.md

UNVERIFIED / FLAGGED

• UNVERIFIED — accrual date for open-end and contract debt. No Maryland statute defines when a credit-card or contract cause of action accrues. The common "date of default / last payment" rule is Maryland case law that has not been compiled to official sources here. Do not present an accrual rule as verified.
• UNVERIFIED — pre-expiry revival for non-consumer debt. §5-1202 abolishes revival only for consumer debt collection actions and only after expiry. Whether part payment or written acknowledgment restarts the clock on non-consumer debt, or on consumer debt before expiry, is governed by Maryland common law and is not addressed by statute. Not compiled.
• UNVERIFIED — no borrowing statute located. CJP title 5, subtitle 1 contains no borrowing/conflict-of-laws limitations provision. Maryland's treatment of foreign-accrued claims rests on case law (limitations as procedural / lex fori) and is not compiled here. Do not model a Maryland borrowing statute.
• UNVERIFIED — currency of the Md. Rule 3-306 full text. The mdcourts.gov file district/forms/MDRule3-306.pdf is an undated rules-order-style document ("AMEND Rule 3-306 to …"), not a dated codified rule text. Rule 3-306(d)'s current existence and eight-item structure are confirmed by the official, dated District Court form DC-CV-106 (Rev. 05/2025). The rule's non-(d) subsection lettering is therefore not relied on in this page; CJP §5-1203 is used as the operative source for the documentary requirements.
  • No-change check, re-run 2026-08-22 — and note the scope carefully. The 228th Rules Order (the most recent; mdcourts.gov/rules/ruleschanges shows no 229th as of 2026-08-22) does not touch Rule 3-306: the full order text was searched end to end and returns zero occurrences of "3-306". The only Title 3 rules it amends are 3-325 and 3-421, plus a passing cross-reference to 3-307(d). The 228th's Erratum was searched the same way — also zero.
  • ⚠ The 220th–227th span is NOT independently re-proved. The earlier form of this note asserted that no order from the 220th through the 228th touches Rule 3-306; only the 228th has been verified by reading the instrument. The 220th–227th portion rests on the original author's check and was not re-run. The defensible statement is therefore: no Rules Order through the 228th touches Rule 3-306, with the 228th verified directly on 2026-08-22 and the earlier span inherited. Re-proving the full span is a separate pass.
• FLAGGED — stale official regulator page contradicts the statute. https://dllr.state.md.us/finance/industry/collagreq.shtml (legacy DLLR host) still states the collection-agency surety bond is "in the amount of $5,000.00." Bus. Reg. §7-304(j)(1) sets a band of not less than $50,000 and not more than $1,000,000. The statute controls; the legacy page is out of date. Do not source the bond amount from that page, and re-check whether Maryland OFR has retired it.
• Note on §5-102(c) scope. There is no general amendment capping consumer-debt specialties at 3 years. The only consumer carve-out from the 12-year specialty period is the 2025 hospital-services provision in §5-102(c)(3). Any secondary source describing a broad 2016 consumer-specialty cap is wrong.