Alert

July 6, 2026

Maryland Adopts New Rules Defining "Abusive" Practices Under State's Consumer Protection Act

Effective today, the Maryland Office of the Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division, adopted new rules to further define what constitutes an "abusive" practice under the Maryland Consumer Protection Act.

Section 13-303 of the MCPA states that a person may not engage in any unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practice in:

• the sale, lease, rental, loan, or bailment of any consumer goods, consumer realty, or consumer services;
• the offer for sale, lease, rental, loan, or bailment of consumer goods, consumer realty, or consumer services;
• the offer for sale of course credit or other educational services;
• the extension of consumer credit;
• the collection of consumer debts; or
• the purchase or offer for purchase of consumer goods or consumer realty from a consumer by a merchant whose business includes paying off consumer debt in connection with the purchase of any consumer goods or consumer realty from a consumer.

In addition to the unfair, abusive, or deceptive trade practices outlined in Section 13-301 of the MCPA, the new rules provide that "abusive" practices include a practice that:

• materially interferes with the ability of a consumer to understand a term or condition of a consumer product or service; or
• takes unreasonable advantage of: (a) a lack of understanding on the part of the consumer of the material risks, costs, or conditions of the product or service; (b) the inability of the consumer to protect the interests of the consumer in selecting or using a consumer product or service; or (c) the reasonable reliance by the consumer on a person to act in the interests of the consumer.