New Debt Collection Laws

The Maryland Court of Appeals has adopted new rules to make life harder for companies that buy up debt to obtain judgments against consumers. This does not take effect until January 1st, so expect a ton of activity in debt cases to clog up District Court dockets in the foreseeable future.

There is nothing wrong with buying “junk” debt. The problem is that to make money, these companies often have to run their business with a lot of upfront cash. They are not looking through the details of individual cases, they just run them through the assembly line. Imagine all the home foreclosure short cuts on steroids. Do they know that the debtor has not contested the debt? Do they know the debtor’s last known address? My guess? Probably not.

The court is trying to make these companies operate on a more level playing field and play fair in every individual case. Does this make debt collection harder? Absolutely.

Please keep in mind that I’m providing this information because it is interesting. Our lawyers do not handle debtor-creditor cases of any kind.