The moratorium could be extended until next year.
7/27/2020 15:00
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh is seeking an extension of the state’s moratorium on eviction actions and debt collection cases from the Court of Appeals and the District Court of Maryland until Jan. 31, 2021.
The extension would allow time for the Maryland General Assembly to “enact, and the governor to sign, emergency legislation to assist Marylanders with the housing and debt crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current moratorium restricts Maryland’s District Court system from hearing eviction proceedings until July 25, when the current stay on residential evictions is scheduled to be lifted,” according to a letter from Frosh, on behalf of Attorney General’s COVID 19 Access to Justice Task Force, to the courts.
The Mid-Atlantic Collectors Association is working with the attorney general’s office on the effects of the moratorium.
Maryland’s order from Gov. Larry Hogan exempting Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act payments from garnishment also remains in effect.
It states:
- CARES Act Recovery Rebates are exempt from, and shall not be subject to, garnishment.
- All financial institutions are hereby ordered not to hold a CARES Act Recovery Rebate of the judgment debtor under a writ of garnishment and to treat CARES Act Recovery Rebates as protected amounts under Maryland Rules 2-645.1 and 3-645.1.
- No banking institution or credit union incorporated under the laws of this state shall have any lien upon, or right of setoff against funds in any customer or member’s account, to the extent such funds are traceable to a CARES Act Recovery Rebate.
In response to the governor’s order exempting CARES Act payments, the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation issued an advisory for Non-Depository Financial Services Providers, ACA International previously reported.
The advisory states:
"In light of the governor’s order, all business entities licensed by the Commissioner of Financial Regulation ("Commissioner") shall conform to the dictates therein and cease any and all garnishment and/or set-off activity on said Relief Payments, whether directly or through an authorized agent. To the extent a licensed business entity inadvertently receives the proceeds of the Relief Payments, they should endeavor to rectify this mistake in order to permit those funds to be used by Maryland taxpayers for the intended purposes. Should it be determined that a licensed entity willfully or negligently violates the dictates of the governor’s order, such entity may be subject to regulatory action to the fullest extent of the law."
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