August 17, 2025 • 30 mins
Maryland's new legislative changes taking effect October 1, 2025, aim to significantly improve tenant protections and consumer rights across the state. We explore how these upcoming laws impact landlord-tenant relationships, hospital billing practices, payday lending, and introduce graduated fines for speeding violations.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi, welcome back to another episode of All Politics
is Local with me, your host,tamara Davis-Brown.
I decided that I would discussnext the topic of new laws that
will be taking effect on October1, 2025, as a result of the
(00:28):
2025 Maryland General Assemblylegislative session.
I'm going to focus primarily onhousing and consumer bills,
because my most popular and mostviewed episode on this podcast
has by far been Tenets Know yourRights.
(00:50):
That was the first episodewhere I was actually asked by my
participants and guests toappear on All Politics is Local.
Usually I have to solicitguests to come and be on the
(01:11):
podcast, but they actually askedme to help highlight an issue
that dealt with Heather HillsApartments in Temple Hills,
maryland, and I agreed to do so,and I'm so glad that I did
because, once again, that waslike the most viewed and
(01:32):
listened to podcast that I'vehad here on All Politics is
Local.
So I'm going to follow upbecause if you listen to that
podcast, you may remember one ofmy guests, mr Martin Mitchell,
talked about some laws that willtake effect in October, on
(01:54):
October 1st, and this is just arefresher of that, because
October, believe it or not, isright around the corner.
So October, believe it or not,is right around the corner.
So we're going to discuss a fewof those landlord-tenant bills
that are taking effect October1st, and we will talk about a
(02:23):
few other bills that may dealwith consumer issues.
I used to be a member of theMaryland Consumer Council, which
was just a voluntary positionthat worked out in collaboration
with the Consumer ProtectionDivision of the Office of the
Maryland Attorney General, andso I like to say that I was
(02:46):
instrumental governor's officeto require mandatory mediation
in home foreclosure cases, andthis was during the 2008 housing
(03:13):
crisis.
So I have an affinity for someof the consumer protection laws
that come out of the state aswell.
But let's talk about a few ofthe landlord-tenant laws that
will take effect on October 1st2025.
And they are tenant-friendly.
Maryland has not been known asa particularly tenant-friendly
(03:40):
state like New York or theDistrict of Columbia, and so
we're kind of catching up alittle bit in providing some
tenant rights and tenant abilityto, you know, deal with
landlord issues that they mayhave.
(04:00):
So one of the first ones dealwith the cap on late rent
penalties in residential leases.
So a bill passed HB 273 passedout of the General Assembly and
was signed by Governor Moore,which revises the cap on late
(04:24):
rent penalties in residentialleases, and it prohibits the
penalties that exceed 5% of theunpaid rent as opposed to 5% of
the total amount due.
So if you have 5% of the unpaidrent as opposed to the total
(04:45):
amount due because total amountdue could include not only those
penalties but other penaltiesthat may be in the lease
agreement as well you know,maybe you pay, maybe you have a
residential lease where they payfor your utilities and they pay
for you know some other thingsas well, and it's not just the
(05:06):
rent itself.
So the penalty for the cap onthe penalty for late fees is 5%
of the unpaid rent, not thetotal amount due, because
they'll add they'll add, youknow, other costs to that.
So that is one bill that passedthat will take effect October
(05:30):
1st.
The second one is HB 767, whichrequires landlords to notify
tenants when a court issues awarrant of restitution for
nonpayment of of rent, for abreach of lease or for holding
over.
Holding over basically meansyour lease has expired and you
(05:55):
didn't sign a new lease, butyou're still staying in the
property and it was thelandlord's intention for you to
move out so they could lease itto someone else and you're
basically staying there and theycall that holding over.
So again, a landlord can stillgo to court to actually pursue
(06:21):
any legal matters if you didn'tpay your rent, if you breached a
lease or if you held over.
But they have to notify thetenants now when the court
issues a warrant of restitution.
So the bills, the new law, nowsets the procedures and the
requirements for executing thewarrant for repossession of the
(06:46):
property and once again, thatalso takes effect on October 1st
.
The next landlord-tenant billthat passed and has become law
and will take effect on October1st is SB 32, which requires the
district court to hold ahearing within 40 to 45 days of
(07:09):
the landlord's complaint,intended holdover cases.
I'll just explain what theholdover was, and it says that
if a landlord or their spouse ison active duty in the US
military.
So basically this is a couplethat may be renting their house
(07:31):
while they are away in activeduty and they now, you know,
about to come back or gettingready to come back, and so they,
you know, give the tenant no tosay, hey, we're coming back
from overseas, we're coming back.
The lease is now going to end.
(07:51):
However, the tenant iscontinuing to stay in the
property and holding over.
So they are requiring that thedistrict court hold a hearing
within 45 days of that complaintand I guess that's to really
(08:11):
that one's maybe not, as quoteunquote friendly as to tenants
more so than to the landlord.
But under those circumstancesit makes sense because, like I
said, if you had a home and youwere stationed and sent abroad
and you may have been there two,three, four years and you're
still renting your house in thestate side in the United States,
(08:35):
in Maryland obviously, and thenyou get orders to return home,
then you're going to need to beable to come home fairly quickly
once you get those orders andso the tenant, you know, may not
get as much notice under othercircumstances.
So they are saying that thedistrict court can hold a
(08:59):
hearing within 45 days in thosecases, within 45 days in those
cases, and the case has to bethat the landlord or their
spouse is on active duty withthe US military.
So that is it for kind oflandlord-tenants.
(09:23):
But there's another bill undertax sales, and this has to do
with A homeowner who has passedaway and they have heirs that
are living in the property, andthis bill, hb 59, does authorize
tax collectors to withhold fromthe tax cell certain properties
(09:48):
occupied by heirs of deceasedowners.
Deceased owners, in other words, they won't go immediately to a
tax sale if they know that theyare heirs to the property
living in the property, and thatthey are indeed heirs to the
deceased owner.
It does require specificowner-occupied properties or
(10:13):
properties occupied by heirs tobe excluded from tax sales.
So that's a good thing because,you know, if a parent dies and
they have an older adult childliving in the home and the house
, they may or may not know thatthere's some outstanding taxes
(10:36):
that need to be paid.
So it gives them thatopportunity to, instead of the
house being sold from out, fromunder them, to catch up and pay
the outstanding property taxesafter their deceased loved one
(10:56):
has passed on.
So that's a good thing.
And so each county is going tohave to establish a registry for
interested parties and the taxsales bondsman may designate the
properties to be withheld underthe applicable law.
And then, finally, the StateDepartment of Assessment and
(11:21):
Taxation is required to assistcounties in creating and
maintaining this registry uponrequest.
And then the bill does you knowa number of other provisions,
(11:43):
does a number of otherprovisions, but the main thing
is it excludes occupied homesthat have outstanding
indebtedness and property taxesfrom being put up for a tax sale
.
So that's a good thing.
Let's see.
I think that's all that reallykind of deals with housing and
(12:10):
landlord-tenant.
There are some consumer-relatedbills that take effect.
Actually, a few of them tookeffect.
Well, actually a few of themwill not take effect until June
1st 2026, but a few will takeeffect October 1st 2025.
(12:31):
And one, once again, as aresult of being a caretaker for
my mom, I fully understand thisabout hospital bills.
So HB 268 changes the lawrelated to hospital financial
(12:51):
assistance and debt collectionpolicies.
It specifies the percentage bywhich hospitals must reduce a
patient's out-of-pocket expensesand it adds a notice
requirement regarding financialassistance, and it prohibits a
hospital from filing a civilaction to collect the debt if
(13:15):
the amount owed is $500 or less.
Now, I doubt that there's anyhospital bill that's less than
$500, unless the patient hasbeen actively paying on it and
they've gotten it down to $500.
If it's a buy, based onexperience I know that it's a
lot more.
So this actually helps ourpatients with out-of-pocket
(13:37):
expenses for financial debt asit relates to hospital stays,
and so this bill does takeeffect October 1st 2025 as well.
Then the next bill has to dowith contract law, but it can
(14:03):
apply to a number of differentcontracts.
But it prohibits a consumercontract from imposing a shorter
time limit for bringing anaction than what is allowed
under the law.
In other words and as anattorney, I get frustrated with
this myself because so manythings are done electronically.
(14:24):
You buy a new phone, you haveto sign the electronic version
of the contract or that's thebig thing that I get.
I go to the Verizon store andI'm like, nope, I'm not signing
that because I don't agree towaive my rights and to go to
court.
(14:45):
I don't want to go througharbitration, I don't want to do
a lot of things that thesecontracts say and you know we
just signed for consent.
You know you can go online andthey ask you for your consent to
do X, y, z and you're justtrying to get to the app and you
want to.
You know, get an app and you'rebasically not reading the fine
(15:06):
print and you're signing awayyour rights.
That.
So I kind of appreciate HB 431,because it does protect the
consumer from when they couldactually bring an action against
(15:28):
whoever is selling themsomething and saying that
because you can sign away andsay well, you have to bring your
action within three months.
You have to bring your actionwithin what have you?
And it says this law prohibitscontracts from making it shorter
than what the law allows.
(15:48):
Now you might ask well, whatdoes the law allow for contracts
?
It depends on the type ofcontract.
So certain contracts may have alonger period after the breach
that you can bring an action.
And usually under mostcontracts I'm trying to think
(16:31):
you have a statute of limitationof about seven years or
something like that.
That's generally what it's been.
There may be some contractsthat are a little.
This law actually was passed.
It was signed into law byGovernor Moore in April of this
year, but it doesn't take effect.
(16:52):
It's one of the ones thatdoesn't take effect on October
1st.
It doesn't take effect untilJune 1st, 2026.
And they probably extended thatto allow for some contracts to
be modified for the rest of theyear, for them to go back and
modify the contracts with thisnew language under the law and
(17:14):
so to help them to bring theircontracts in compliance with
this new law.
Let's see.
Oh, another one dealing withhospitals and medical debt is HB
1020.
It prohibits outpatient medicaldebt from being adversely
(17:36):
reported to credit agencies.
This law does take effectOctober 1st.
Again, hb1020 prohibitsoutpatient medical debt from
being adversely reported tocredit agencies.
So you know a lot of us now.
(18:04):
I even had an outpatientprocedure just recently, you
know, in early in the morning,not that early, actually 10, 11
o'clock.
My procedure started around 11.
I was done probably about 2 andhome probably about 3 pm, 3 pm.
But if you have medical debtrelated to any outpatient
procedure and whether that mightbe a hospital or a medical
building, you cannot beadversely reported to credit
(18:26):
agencies for failure to pay.
Now that doesn't mean that youjust get away with not paying.
It just means that it won't beon your credit history and let's
see In records Okay, so earnwages access.
(18:52):
This bill has to do with paydayloans and I dislike payday loans
.
All that's within me.
I really dislike payday loans.
So this is HB 1294.
And I actually again, when Iwas on the Consumer Council I
(19:13):
was trying to find, I was likeis there something that we could
do to outlaw payday loans?
Parts of Prince George's County, you know, you have a plethora
of payday loan stores, alongwith liquor stores and all these
(19:35):
other things that we don't needin our county.
That just basically victimizesthose that don't have resources
the poor, basically.
So you're getting a payday loanand you're paying you know, a
thousand percent I'mexaggerating, but it's pretty
(19:56):
high.
So this bill legalizes costlyfintech payday loans where
consumers pay fees and optimaloptional tips to access their
earned wages before payday.
It says these fees and tips arelikely to exceed Maryland
(20:17):
longstanding 33% rate cap.
So if you are trying to accessyour wages and you know you're
getting ready to get paid andyou get a quote unquote payday
loan, none of the fees, none ofthe tips and all these other
charges that they add to,including interest, says that
(20:41):
those fees can no longer exceed33% rate cap.
Now what's interesting aboutthis is it says it's fees and
tips to Maryland's quotelongstanding 33% rate cap, which
means the payday lenders werejust coming up with fees and
(21:02):
expenses and coming up with allkinds of other charges that they
can add to the payday loan thatexceeded that 33% cap.
They knew it was a 33% capbefore they started adding these
additional fees and, in quote,unquote tips, because it's a
Maryland long standing 33% breakcap.
(21:26):
So they were trying to getaround that by calling these
additional fees as fees andoptional tips and so forth and
so on and just adding to theamount of interest that a
employee would have to repay ontheir payday loan.
So again, this is just, youknow, to stop these predatory
(21:53):
lenders from continuing tocharge exorbitant fees for a
person who is working, doesreceive a paycheck, but maybe
need to access their funds alittle bit sooner or earlier in
(22:13):
order to pay their rent, to payfor food, pay for whatever
transportation costs to get towork.
Perhaps what have you and thesepredatory lenders are, you know
, just racking up the fees.
I still think 33% rate cap ishigh.
Nevertheless, it's saying thatthese additional fees cannot be
(22:39):
charged or if they are charged,they can't exceed.
Once you add up the percentage,it can't exceed 33%.
So good for the ConsumerProtection Division.
I'm sure they introduced thatpiece of legislation.
So happy to see that.
So those are just some of thefew laws that are going to take
(23:01):
effect October 1st.
But because I sit on theMaryland 210 Traffic Safety
Committee that deals with tryingto change driver behavior and
modify driver behavior on thatstretch of roadway so we can not
(23:22):
have as many crashes andfatalities and it just seems
like it's never ending.
The more we try it seems likethe worse it gets.
I think the last crash we hadon that road resulted in three
fatalities this year and it'sjust unbearable really.
(23:46):
My son travels that roadwayevery day.
Occasionally it depends onwhich way my husband drives, he
may be on that roadway as well.
I travel on that roadway andyou really have to be paying
(24:11):
attention.
Spokes do crazy things.
They drive on the shoulder togo around, they run the red
lights, they do just a lot ofthings.
But anyway, one of the billsthat the Maryland 210 Traffic
Safety Committee finally gotpassed, after I think three
attempts, was to have agraduated increase in the fines.
(24:34):
So right now, before October1st, if you go 11 miles and
beyond over the speed limit,your traffic ticket is only $40.
And that's pretty much it.
So it's not really a deterrentto people.
(24:55):
You know $40, they can, youknow, pay that and keep rolling
or not pay it and try to getaround.
You know, have to make thestate go through enforcement and
all kinds of other things whichwe're working on that as well.
But you have a grace in terms ofthe speeding.
(25:15):
The speed limit is currently 55miles an hour.
Right, if you travel 66 milesan hour, you get an 11 mile
buffer.
You will not get a ticket.
So between anything 56 and 66,you will not get a ticket on
(25:36):
Maryland 210.
If you go over 66 miles an hour, so 67 is when the fines start
to rack up if you're caught by.
Oh and, by the way, this is forspeed cameras.
Sorry, I meant to say that thisis just for the speed camera.
(25:57):
So if you go over 66 miles anhour right now you can go 66,
you can go 100, 190, somebodyhas been clocked going at 190,
170, something really ridiculousand the fine was just $40.
(26:18):
So, again, not much of adeterrent.
But with the new law that'sgoing to take effect October 1st
, there's a graduated fee.
So between 67 and 70 miles anhour, the ticket is now $60
instead of 40.
From 71 to 74 miles per hour,the ticket is now $80.
(26:41):
From 75 to 84, the ticket wouldbe $140.
From 85 to 94 miles per hour,the ticket is $270.
And anything over 95 miles perhour, the ticket is $500.
So the hope is that it's a painin the pocketbook and you'll
(27:06):
think twice about exceeding thespeed limit beyond the 11 mile
buffer that you already getbefore the camera flashes and
takes your license tags and allthat stuff and sends you the
ticket in the mail.
(27:27):
So this is only for the speedcameras.
Obviously, if you get stoppedby a police officer, they have
the discretion to give you awarning, they can give you a
ticket.
They can do a whole lot morethan just what a speed camera
can do, because it's not a liveperson.
Just you know just a lot more.
A police officer can, you know,can impose a lot of other
(27:52):
things, charge you with recklessdriving and make you come to
court and all kinds of otherthings.
But this is just for the speedcameras.
So again, you get that.
You still get the 11 miles anhour buffer with no ticket.
You get caught.
You go on 66.
(28:12):
You know you're not going toget a ticket.
Once you hit 67 is when thetickets will be issued.
So 67 miles per hour to 70 is a$60 ticket, still not too much.
71 to 74 miles per hour is an$80 ticket.
75 to 84 miles per hour is a$140 ticket.
(28:34):
85 to 94 miles per hour is a$270 ticket and anything over 95
miles per hour over the speedlimit is a $500 ticket.
The speed limit is a $500 ticket.
So driver beware on 210,especially coming out of down
(28:55):
Ackakeek, through Ackakeek,where it's that flat road
everybody likes to speed andthat's where we have a bulk of
our traffic accidents andfatalities and crashes.
We also have had some furtherup, headed north, but both
headed north and south.
When you get closer to thatAkaquik line people seem to just
(29:17):
push it and unfortunately we'vehad a lot of fatalities which
we are trying to stop thefatalities, stop the crashes and
save a life.
So be safe out there on theroads, not just 210 because
(29:37):
they're traffic cameras, butjust because it's the right
thing to do.
So.
Thanks for listening.
Look forward to another episodeand feel free to share
(30:00):
information about all.
Politics is local with me.
Your host, tamara Davis Brownthem beyond just a ballot box
but to be actively engaged inour county, to know what's going
on in their county and stateand be active members of society
.
Thanks for listening and we'llbe back with another episode.
Hi, welcome back to another episode of All Politics
is Local with me, your host,tamara Davis-Brown.
I decided that I would discussnext the topic of new laws that
will be taking effect on October1, 2025, as a result of the
(00:28):
2025 Maryland General Assemblylegislative session.
I'm going to focus primarily onhousing and consumer bills,
because my most popular and mostviewed episode on this podcast
has by far been Tenets Know yourRights.
(00:50):
That was the first episodewhere I was actually asked by my
participants and guests toappear on All Politics is Local.
Usually I have to solicitguests to come and be on the
(01:11):
podcast, but they actually askedme to help highlight an issue
that dealt with Heather HillsApartments in Temple Hills,
maryland, and I agreed to do so,and I'm so glad that I did
because, once again, that waslike the most viewed and
(01:32):
listened to podcast that I'vehad here on All Politics is
Local.
So I'm going to follow upbecause if you listen to that
podcast, you may remember one ofmy guests, mr Martin Mitchell,
talked about some laws that willtake effect in October, on
(01:54):
October 1st, and this is just arefresher of that, because
October, believe it or not, isright around the corner.
So October, believe it or not,is right around the corner.
So we're going to discuss a fewof those landlord-tenant bills
that are taking effect October1st, and we will talk about a
(02:23):
few other bills that may dealwith consumer issues.
I used to be a member of theMaryland Consumer Council, which
was just a voluntary positionthat worked out in collaboration
with the Consumer ProtectionDivision of the Office of the
Maryland Attorney General, andso I like to say that I was
(02:46):
instrumental governor's officeto require mandatory mediation
in home foreclosure cases, andthis was during the 2008 housing
(03:13):
crisis.
So I have an affinity for someof the consumer protection laws
that come out of the state aswell.
But let's talk about a few ofthe landlord-tenant laws that
will take effect on October 1st2025.
And they are tenant-friendly.
Maryland has not been known asa particularly tenant-friendly
(03:40):
state like New York or theDistrict of Columbia, and so
we're kind of catching up alittle bit in providing some
tenant rights and tenant abilityto, you know, deal with
landlord issues that they mayhave.
(04:00):
So one of the first ones dealwith the cap on late rent
penalties in residential leases.
So a bill passed HB 273 passedout of the General Assembly and
was signed by Governor Moore,which revises the cap on late
(04:24):
rent penalties in residentialleases, and it prohibits the
penalties that exceed 5% of theunpaid rent as opposed to 5% of
the total amount due.
So if you have 5% of the unpaidrent as opposed to the total
(04:45):
amount due because total amountdue could include not only those
penalties but other penaltiesthat may be in the lease
agreement as well you know,maybe you pay, maybe you have a
residential lease where they payfor your utilities and they pay
for you know some other thingsas well, and it's not just the
(05:06):
rent itself.
So the penalty for the cap onthe penalty for late fees is 5%
of the unpaid rent, not thetotal amount due, because
they'll add they'll add, youknow, other costs to that.
So that is one bill that passedthat will take effect October
(05:30):
1st.
The second one is HB 767, whichrequires landlords to notify
tenants when a court issues awarrant of restitution for
nonpayment of of rent, for abreach of lease or for holding
over.
Holding over basically meansyour lease has expired and you
(05:55):
didn't sign a new lease, butyou're still staying in the
property and it was thelandlord's intention for you to
move out so they could lease itto someone else and you're
basically staying there and theycall that holding over.
So again, a landlord can stillgo to court to actually pursue
(06:21):
any legal matters if you didn'tpay your rent, if you breached a
lease or if you held over.
But they have to notify thetenants now when the court
issues a warrant of restitution.
So the bills, the new law, nowsets the procedures and the
requirements for executing thewarrant for repossession of the
(06:46):
property and once again, thatalso takes effect on October 1st
.
The next landlord-tenant billthat passed and has become law
and will take effect on October1st is SB 32, which requires the
district court to hold ahearing within 40 to 45 days of
(07:09):
the landlord's complaint,intended holdover cases.
I'll just explain what theholdover was, and it says that
if a landlord or their spouse ison active duty in the US
military.
So basically this is a couplethat may be renting their house
(07:31):
while they are away in activeduty and they now, you know,
about to come back or gettingready to come back, and so they,
you know, give the tenant no tosay, hey, we're coming back
from overseas, we're coming back.
The lease is now going to end.
(07:51):
However, the tenant iscontinuing to stay in the
property and holding over.
So they are requiring that thedistrict court hold a hearing
within 45 days of that complaintand I guess that's to really
(08:11):
that one's maybe not, as quoteunquote friendly as to tenants
more so than to the landlord.
But under those circumstancesit makes sense because, like I
said, if you had a home and youwere stationed and sent abroad
and you may have been there two,three, four years and you're
still renting your house in thestate side in the United States,
(08:35):
in Maryland obviously, and thenyou get orders to return home,
then you're going to need to beable to come home fairly quickly
once you get those orders andso the tenant, you know, may not
get as much notice under othercircumstances.
So they are saying that thedistrict court can hold a
(08:59):
hearing within 45 days in thosecases, within 45 days in those
cases, and the case has to bethat the landlord or their
spouse is on active duty withthe US military.
So that is it for kind oflandlord-tenants.
(09:23):
But there's another bill undertax sales, and this has to do
with A homeowner who has passedaway and they have heirs that
are living in the property, andthis bill, hb 59, does authorize
tax collectors to withhold fromthe tax cell certain properties
(09:48):
occupied by heirs of deceasedowners.
Deceased owners, in other words, they won't go immediately to a
tax sale if they know that theyare heirs to the property
living in the property, and thatthey are indeed heirs to the
deceased owner.
It does require specificowner-occupied properties or
(10:13):
properties occupied by heirs tobe excluded from tax sales.
So that's a good thing because,you know, if a parent dies and
they have an older adult childliving in the home and the house
, they may or may not know thatthere's some outstanding taxes
(10:36):
that need to be paid.
So it gives them thatopportunity to, instead of the
house being sold from out, fromunder them, to catch up and pay
the outstanding property taxesafter their deceased loved one
(10:56):
has passed on.
So that's a good thing.
And so each county is going tohave to establish a registry for
interested parties and the taxsales bondsman may designate the
properties to be withheld underthe applicable law.
And then, finally, the StateDepartment of Assessment and
(11:21):
Taxation is required to assistcounties in creating and
maintaining this registry uponrequest.
And then the bill does you knowa number of other provisions,
(11:43):
does a number of otherprovisions, but the main thing
is it excludes occupied homesthat have outstanding
indebtedness and property taxesfrom being put up for a tax sale
.
So that's a good thing.
Let's see.
I think that's all that reallykind of deals with housing and
(12:10):
landlord-tenant.
There are some consumer-relatedbills that take effect.
Actually, a few of them tookeffect.
Well, actually a few of themwill not take effect until June
1st 2026, but a few will takeeffect October 1st 2025.
(12:31):
And one, once again, as aresult of being a caretaker for
my mom, I fully understand thisabout hospital bills.
So HB 268 changes the lawrelated to hospital financial
(12:51):
assistance and debt collectionpolicies.
It specifies the percentage bywhich hospitals must reduce a
patient's out-of-pocket expensesand it adds a notice
requirement regarding financialassistance, and it prohibits a
hospital from filing a civilaction to collect the debt if
(13:15):
the amount owed is $500 or less.
Now, I doubt that there's anyhospital bill that's less than
$500, unless the patient hasbeen actively paying on it and
they've gotten it down to $500.
If it's a buy, based onexperience I know that it's a
lot more.
So this actually helps ourpatients with out-of-pocket
(13:37):
expenses for financial debt asit relates to hospital stays,
and so this bill does takeeffect October 1st 2025 as well.
Then the next bill has to dowith contract law, but it can
(14:03):
apply to a number of differentcontracts.
But it prohibits a consumercontract from imposing a shorter
time limit for bringing anaction than what is allowed
under the law.
In other words and as anattorney, I get frustrated with
this myself because so manythings are done electronically.
(14:24):
You buy a new phone, you haveto sign the electronic version
of the contract or that's thebig thing that I get.
I go to the Verizon store andI'm like, nope, I'm not signing
that because I don't agree towaive my rights and to go to
court.
(14:45):
I don't want to go througharbitration, I don't want to do
a lot of things that thesecontracts say and you know we
just signed for consent.
You know you can go online andthey ask you for your consent to
do X, y, z and you're justtrying to get to the app and you
want to.
You know, get an app and you'rebasically not reading the fine
(15:06):
print and you're signing awayyour rights.
That.
So I kind of appreciate HB 431,because it does protect the
consumer from when they couldactually bring an action against
(15:28):
whoever is selling themsomething and saying that
because you can sign away andsay well, you have to bring your
action within three months.
You have to bring your actionwithin what have you?
And it says this law prohibitscontracts from making it shorter
than what the law allows.
(15:48):
Now you might ask well, whatdoes the law allow for contracts
?
It depends on the type ofcontract.
So certain contracts may have alonger period after the breach
that you can bring an action.
And usually under mostcontracts I'm trying to think
(16:31):
you have a statute of limitationof about seven years or
something like that.
That's generally what it's been.
There may be some contractsthat are a little.
This law actually was passed.
It was signed into law byGovernor Moore in April of this
year, but it doesn't take effect.
(16:52):
It's one of the ones thatdoesn't take effect on October
1st.
It doesn't take effect untilJune 1st, 2026.
And they probably extended thatto allow for some contracts to
be modified for the rest of theyear, for them to go back and
modify the contracts with thisnew language under the law and
(17:14):
so to help them to bring theircontracts in compliance with
this new law.
Let's see.
Oh, another one dealing withhospitals and medical debt is HB
1020.
It prohibits outpatient medicaldebt from being adversely
(17:36):
reported to credit agencies.
This law does take effectOctober 1st.
Again, hb1020 prohibitsoutpatient medical debt from
being adversely reported tocredit agencies.
So you know a lot of us now.
(18:04):
I even had an outpatientprocedure just recently, you
know, in early in the morning,not that early, actually 10, 11
o'clock.
My procedure started around 11.
I was done probably about 2 andhome probably about 3 pm, 3 pm.
But if you have medical debtrelated to any outpatient
procedure and whether that mightbe a hospital or a medical
building, you cannot beadversely reported to credit
(18:26):
agencies for failure to pay.
Now that doesn't mean that youjust get away with not paying.
It just means that it won't beon your credit history and let's
see In records Okay, so earnwages access.
(18:52):
This bill has to do with paydayloans and I dislike payday loans
.
All that's within me.
I really dislike payday loans.
So this is HB 1294.
And I actually again, when Iwas on the Consumer Council I
(19:13):
was trying to find, I was likeis there something that we could
do to outlaw payday loans?
Parts of Prince George's County, you know, you have a plethora
of payday loan stores, alongwith liquor stores and all these
(19:35):
other things that we don't needin our county.
That just basically victimizesthose that don't have resources
the poor, basically.
So you're getting a payday loanand you're paying you know, a
thousand percent I'mexaggerating, but it's pretty
(19:56):
high.
So this bill legalizes costlyfintech payday loans where
consumers pay fees and optimaloptional tips to access their
earned wages before payday.
It says these fees and tips arelikely to exceed Maryland
(20:17):
longstanding 33% rate cap.
So if you are trying to accessyour wages and you know you're
getting ready to get paid andyou get a quote unquote payday
loan, none of the fees, none ofthe tips and all these other
charges that they add to,including interest, says that
(20:41):
those fees can no longer exceed33% rate cap.
Now what's interesting aboutthis is it says it's fees and
tips to Maryland's quotelongstanding 33% rate cap, which
means the payday lenders werejust coming up with fees and
(21:02):
expenses and coming up with allkinds of other charges that they
can add to the payday loan thatexceeded that 33% cap.
They knew it was a 33% capbefore they started adding these
additional fees and, in quote,unquote tips, because it's a
Maryland long standing 33% breakcap.
(21:26):
So they were trying to getaround that by calling these
additional fees as fees andoptional tips and so forth and
so on and just adding to theamount of interest that a
employee would have to repay ontheir payday loan.
So again, this is just, youknow, to stop these predatory
(21:53):
lenders from continuing tocharge exorbitant fees for a
person who is working, doesreceive a paycheck, but maybe
need to access their funds alittle bit sooner or earlier in
(22:13):
order to pay their rent, to payfor food, pay for whatever
transportation costs to get towork.
Perhaps what have you and thesepredatory lenders are, you know
, just racking up the fees.
I still think 33% rate cap ishigh.
Nevertheless, it's saying thatthese additional fees cannot be
(22:39):
charged or if they are charged,they can't exceed.
Once you add up the percentage,it can't exceed 33%.
So good for the ConsumerProtection Division.
I'm sure they introduced thatpiece of legislation.
So happy to see that.
So those are just some of thefew laws that are going to take
(23:01):
effect October 1st.
But because I sit on theMaryland 210 Traffic Safety
Committee that deals with tryingto change driver behavior and
modify driver behavior on thatstretch of roadway so we can not
(23:22):
have as many crashes andfatalities and it just seems
like it's never ending.
The more we try it seems likethe worse it gets.
I think the last crash we hadon that road resulted in three
fatalities this year and it'sjust unbearable really.
(23:46):
My son travels that roadwayevery day.
Occasionally it depends onwhich way my husband drives, he
may be on that roadway as well.
I travel on that roadway andyou really have to be paying
(24:11):
attention.
Spokes do crazy things.
They drive on the shoulder togo around, they run the red
lights, they do just a lot ofthings.
But anyway, one of the billsthat the Maryland 210 Traffic
Safety Committee finally gotpassed, after I think three
attempts, was to have agraduated increase in the fines.
(24:34):
So right now, before October1st, if you go 11 miles and
beyond over the speed limit,your traffic ticket is only $40.
And that's pretty much it.
So it's not really a deterrentto people.
(24:55):
You know $40, they can, youknow, pay that and keep rolling
or not pay it and try to getaround.
You know, have to make thestate go through enforcement and
all kinds of other things whichwe're working on that as well.
But you have a grace in terms ofthe speeding.
(25:15):
The speed limit is currently 55miles an hour.
Right, if you travel 66 milesan hour, you get an 11 mile
buffer.
You will not get a ticket.
So between anything 56 and 66,you will not get a ticket on
(25:36):
Maryland 210.
If you go over 66 miles an hour, so 67 is when the fines start
to rack up if you're caught by.
Oh and, by the way, this is forspeed cameras.
Sorry, I meant to say that thisis just for the speed camera.
(25:57):
So if you go over 66 miles anhour right now you can go 66,
you can go 100, 190, somebodyhas been clocked going at 190,
170, something really ridiculousand the fine was just $40.
(26:18):
So, again, not much of adeterrent.
But with the new law that'sgoing to take effect October 1st
, there's a graduated fee.
So between 67 and 70 miles anhour, the ticket is now $60
instead of 40.
From 71 to 74 miles per hour,the ticket is now $80.
(26:41):
From 75 to 84, the ticket wouldbe $140.
From 85 to 94 miles per hour,the ticket is $270.
And anything over 95 miles perhour, the ticket is $500.
So the hope is that it's a painin the pocketbook and you'll
(27:06):
think twice about exceeding thespeed limit beyond the 11 mile
buffer that you already getbefore the camera flashes and
takes your license tags and allthat stuff and sends you the
ticket in the mail.
(27:27):
So this is only for the speedcameras.
Obviously, if you get stoppedby a police officer, they have
the discretion to give you awarning, they can give you a
ticket.
They can do a whole lot morethan just what a speed camera
can do, because it's not a liveperson.
Just you know just a lot more.
A police officer can, you know,can impose a lot of other
(27:52):
things, charge you with recklessdriving and make you come to
court and all kinds of otherthings.
But this is just for the speedcameras.
So again, you get that.
You still get the 11 miles anhour buffer with no ticket.
You get caught.
You go on 66.
(28:12):
You know you're not going toget a ticket.
Once you hit 67 is when thetickets will be issued.
So 67 miles per hour to 70 is a$60 ticket, still not too much.
71 to 74 miles per hour is an$80 ticket.
75 to 84 miles per hour is a$140 ticket.
(28:34):
85 to 94 miles per hour is a$270 ticket and anything over 95
miles per hour over the speedlimit is a $500 ticket.
The speed limit is a $500 ticket.
So driver beware on 210,especially coming out of down
(28:55):
Ackakeek, through Ackakeek,where it's that flat road
everybody likes to speed andthat's where we have a bulk of
our traffic accidents andfatalities and crashes.
We also have had some furtherup, headed north, but both
headed north and south.
When you get closer to thatAkaquik line people seem to just
(29:17):
push it and unfortunately we'vehad a lot of fatalities which
we are trying to stop thefatalities, stop the crashes and
save a life.
So be safe out there on theroads, not just 210 because
(29:37):
they're traffic cameras, butjust because it's the right
thing to do.
So.
Thanks for listening.
Look forward to another episodeand feel free to share
(30:00):
information about all.
Politics is local with me.
Your host, tamara Davis Brownthem beyond just a ballot box
but to be actively engaged inour county, to know what's going
on in their county and stateand be active members of society
.
Thanks for listening and we'llbe back with another episode.
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