Debt collectors in Maryland

Credit cards: Credit card debt is a simple contract governed by the general 3-year period of Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-101. Card agreements are not specialties under seal, so the 12-year §5-102 period does not apply.

Payments and acknowledgments: (a) While running: under Maryland common law a part payment or acknowledgment restarts the 3-year period for simple contracts. This was not confirmed from a primary source this session; Maryland has no general written-acknowledgment statute for simple contracts. For specialties, §5-102(b) expressly provides that a payment suspends the period for 3 years. (b) After expiry: CJP §5-1202(b)(1) provides that for consumer debt any payment, written or oral affirmation, or other activity after the limitations period expires 'does not revive or extend the limitations period'. This applies to all creditors and collectors. Exception (§5-1202(b)(2)): it does not affect the limitations period on a separate written agreement or payment plan made before expiry.

Judgments: CJP §5-102(a)(3): an action on a judgment must be brought within 12 years. Under Md. Rules 2-625 (circuit court) and 3-625 (District Court), a money judgment expires 12 years from entry or the most recent renewal. The holder may renew it for another 12 years by filing a notice of renewal before it expires, and renewal can be repeated. The rule text was not re-read this session (mdcourts.gov returned 403); the 12 years is confirmed by statute.

Other rules: §5-1202 binds every 'creditor' (a person to whom consumer debt is owed, which includes original creditors) and every 'collector' (§5-1201). It bars filing a consumer debt collection action, judicial or arbitration, after the SOL. Contracts or notes under seal ('specialties') get 12 years. A rare consumer note under seal could be sued on for 12 years, but sealed notes securing owner-occupied residential property and hospital consumer-debt contracts are excluded from the 12-year rule (§5-102(c)). Negotiable promissory notes get 6 years under the Maryland UCC (Com. Law §3-118), longer than the 3-year general rule. Not checked: whether any 2023-2026 Maryland law limits renewal of consumer-debt judgments. The statute sections read show no such change, but Md. Rule 2-625/3-625 was not re-read.

• open account: Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §5-101
• written contract: CJP §5-101 (3 yrs); CJP §5-102(a) (12 yrs for contracts/notes under seal and other specialties)
• oral contract: CJP §5-101
• promissory note: Md. Code, Com. Law §3-118(a) (6 yrs, note payable at definite time); CJP §5-102(a)(1) (12 yrs if under seal)
• judgment: CJP §5-102(a)(3); Md. Rules 2-625, 3-625
• payment restarts: CJP §5-1202(b); CJP §5-102(b) (specialties)
• other: CJP §5-1202(a) (creditor or collector may not initiate a consumer debt collection action after the SOL expires); CJP §5-1201 (definitions); CJP §5-1203 (debt-buyer documentation required to sue or obtain judgment); CJP §5-102(c)(3) (hospital consumer debt excluded from 12-yr specialty period)

Sources: mgaleg.maryland.gov · mgaleg.maryland.gov · mgaleg.maryland.gov