<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<section article="gcl" article_name="Commercial Law" number="14-202" title_number="14" title_name="Miscellaneous Consumer Protection Provisions" subtitle_number="2" subtitle_name="Consumer Debt Collection">
  <text>In collecting or attempting to collect an alleged debt a collector may not:</text>
  <level label="1">
    <text>Use or threaten force or violence;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="2">
    <text>Threaten criminal prosecution, unless the transaction involved the violation of a criminal statute;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="3">
    <text>Disclose or threaten to disclose information which affects the debtor’s reputation for credit worthiness with knowledge that the information is false;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="4">
    <text>Except as permitted by statute, contact a person’s employer with respect to a delinquent indebtedness before obtaining final judgment against the debtor;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="5">
    <text>Except as permitted by statute, disclose or threaten to disclose to a person other than the debtor or his spouse or, if the debtor is a minor, his parent, information which affects the debtor’s reputation, whether or not for credit worthiness, with knowledge that the other person does not have a legitimate business need for the information;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="6">
    <text>Communicate with the debtor or a person related to him with the frequency, at the unusual hours, or in any other manner as reasonably can be expected to abuse or harass the debtor;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="7">
    <text>Use obscene or grossly abusive language in communicating with the debtor or a person related to him;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="8">
    <text>Claim, attempt, or threaten to enforce a right with knowledge that the right does not exist;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="9">
    <text>Use a communication which simulates legal or judicial process or gives the appearance of being authorized, issued, or approved by a government, governmental agency, or lawyer when it is not;</text>
  </level>
  <level label="10">
    <text>Engage in unlicensed debt collection activity in violation of the Maryland Collection Agency Licensing Act; or</text>
  </level>
  <level label="11">
    <text>Engage in any conduct  that violates §§ 804 through 812 of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.</text>
  </level>
</section>
