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Inside District Court


New Debt Buyer Rules Following a report by the Standing Committee on


Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Maryland Court of Appeals amended Maryland Rules 3-306, 3-308 and 3-509 to make it more difficult for debt buyers to obtain affidavit and default judgments against Maryland Consumers. Under the revised rules, if a plaintiff is not an original creditor, then such a plaintiff (also known as a “debt buyer”) must provide sufficient evidence of the debt or the account pursuant to the new detailed rules when filing a demand for judgment on affidavit at the time of filing the complaint.15


Further, the


District Court of Maryland now requires debt buyers to use a specific Complaint for Assigned Consumer Debt (Form DC/ CV 106) when demanding judgment by affidavit. Collections attorneys who represent debt buyers should be conversant with these new rules and be exceedingly cautious to ensure that each new case filed with the court contains all required documentation including proof of the debt, evidence that the debt is owned by the debt buyer, and a statement setting forth the amount owed by the debtor. Te new debt buyer rules apply to all District Court actions filed in Maryland after January 1, 2012.16


Exemptions under Maryland Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings, §11-504


Collections garnishing attorneys bank accounts or wages frequently


involved in the practice of face


objections from debtors who claim that their property is exempt from garnishment under federal or state exemption statutes.


Most commonly, debtors will assert their


rights to exempt Social Security benefits, Civil Service benefits, or Veterans Benefits. Also, debtors often claim that a garnishment is improper because the garnishee is withholding too high a percentage of the debtor’s income. It is important to know the Maryland exemption rules and be aware that not all of the federal exemptions set forth in §522(d) of the Bankruptcy Code may be available to debtors in Maryland because Maryland limits a judgment debtor’s ability to claim exemptions which are not expressly listed in Maryland Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings, §11-504.


Always Remember the FDCPA! An entire article could be written on the subject of the


Fair Debt Collections Practice Act (FDCPA) but rather, we will highlight a few of the most important provisions


Chillum-Adelphi Volunteer Fire Dept., Inc., 275 Md. 374, 340 A.2d 265 (1975).


15 Maryland Rule 3-306(d). 16 www.courts.state.md.us/rules/reports/171stReport.pdf.


44 Trial Reporter / Summer 2012


of this Act which is a strict liability statute. First and foremost, the FDCPA applies to anyone who regularly collects debts owed to others including lawyers and the word “regularly” has been liberally construed throughout the country. Another important tip is that collections attorneys must adhere to rules concerning communications with debtors. For example, each communication, verbal as well as written, with a debtor must contain a disclosure, known as the “Miranda”


or “Mini-Miranda” for its


similarity to warnings given to criminal suspects, that “Tis communication is from a debt collector and that any information obtained may be used to collect the debt.”17


With respect to these rules, this is not the time


to be creative but rather you should follow the specific requirements of the FDCPA. In conclusion, as we advise when lecturing on the


practice of Collections Law, “Be careful out there.” Tere are many attorneys whose livelihoods are based on the mistakes of Collections Attorneys and their staff in carrying out the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Practice Act or the Maryland Rules as to garnishments and liens. At first glance, the practice of collections law may appear deceptively simple, but in reality, as reflected above, it is complex and has many potential pitfalls. 


Biography Mary Ellen Flynn is managing partner of Andalman


& Flynn, P.C., located in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. She has represented many attorneys and law firms in her 20+ years of collections work, which includes pursuing outstanding fees and costs owed to her attorney/law firm-clients by their clients, enforcing judgments that her attorney/law-firm clients have won, and assisting her attorney/law-firm clients with dissolution of the business relationship when law partners separate. Ms. Flynn also practices in the areas of family law, criminal and traffic defense, and personal injury, as a trial attorney, a mediator and a collaborative law attorney. Kate McDonough is a principal of Andalman & Her collections law practice includes pre-


Flynn, P.C.


suit settlements, litigation, and judgment enforcement for a wide-range of professionals and other individuals and small and large businesses in the banking, construction, health care, legal, real estate, retail, property management, and other commercial areas.


Ms. McDonough also


practices in the areas of family law, probate and contested estate matters.


17 15 USC 1692e(11).


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