Debt Reform
Act Now! Protect Debtors, Homeowners, and Tenants This Legislative Session!
Monday, March 23 is crossover day for Maryland’s General Assembly. This means that legislation needs to pass out of one chamber and cross to the opposite chamber by midnight on that date to have a good chance of passing this legislative session. Almost all of the bill hearings are done, so the next few days are crucial. Advocates are racing to ensure priority legislation makes it onto committee voting lists, moves out of committee, and passes on the House or Senate floor. All the while, monied interests are working hard to ensure bills die in committee, are weakened to the ...
Take Action — Let’s Stop Coerced Debt in Maryland!
One form of control that an abuser exerts over a victim is financial abuse. Many individuals who exert control - whether emotional, psychological, or physical abuse - also control their victims' finances. This financial abuse can take many forms including incurring coerced or fraudulent debt in a survivor’s name. Financial abuse is the main reason why many people are too afraid to leave a domestic abuse situation.HB1198 establishes a process for survivors to state that a debt is coerced and allows debt collectors to consider dropping the court case and to possibly pursue the abuser for the coerced debt instead. ...
Action Alert: Help Put a Stop to Zombie Mortgages in Maryland!
Everyday Marylanders are struggling with the skyrocketing costs of basic goods and services. As many costs soar out of control, it makes everything else harder to afford too. Many Maryland homeowners are having a hard time paying their mortgages. In fact, Maryland has the sixth-highest foreclosure rate in the country. Some Maryland homeowners have also faced a terrifying zombie foreclosure. In the early 2000s, lenders were qualifying some home buyers for mortgages using an 80/20 loan, where the homeowner holds a first and second loan simultaneously. When the mortgage bubble crashed, these second loans became worthless and many homeowners thought ...
Action Needed: Help Protect Maryland Families from Predatory Payday Lenders
Last year, the Maryland General Assembly passed HB1294 which legalized payday lending in Maryland for the first time in more than 50 years. Now, cash-strapped low-wage workers can use apps on their phone to take out a loan until the next payday. App-based short-term lenders charge large fees which means these loans have a 90%-300% APR, three to ten times Maryland’s approved rate of 33% for other consumer loans. And these out-of-state lenders request tips from hardworking Maryland residents for simply borrowing their own money. Take action to protect Marylanders from predatory payday loans today! While these payday loan apps are ...
Statement on MoneyLion Lawsuit
As a statewide economic justice organization based in Baltimore City, we applaud Mayor Scott’s lawsuit against payday advance company MoneyLion for trapping hard-working people across our city in a vicious cycle of debt. As wages remain stagnant, the cost of living soars, and families struggle to make ends meet, some have resorted to using apps that promise help. Instead, many city residents find themselves paying more than 330% to have borrowed against their own hard-earned paycheck. MoneyLion and similar companies have emerged to provide paycheck advances prior to payday. However these products are simply dressed up versions of payday loans, ...
Maryland Medical Debt: Insurance, Maryland’s Wins and National Trends
For Marylanders who receive their health insurance through the state exchange, the increase in costs is sickening. Insurers who offer policies on the state exchange are seeking 17% increases in premiums for individuals to cope with expected cuts in federal funding. These rising costs may make health insurance unaffordable for many working families with some officials estimating that 70,000 may forgo health insurance, increasing their risk of developing high medical debt. Insurance is one of many significant drivers of runaway healthcare costs and medical debt. On Monday, the Lown Institute released Past Due: How Medical Debt is Harming Americans and ...
Convenience Fee Questionnaire
Please answer the following three questions regarding management companies/landlords that charge convenience fees for tenants who pay rent monthly through a portal. Your responses will be anonymous -- in fact, the only personal information required is your ZIP Code. Thank you!
2025 End of Session Report
Yesterday was the last day of the legislative session and although it was a cool, gray, rainy day, there were still moments when the rain stopped, and the sun burst through. This is an apt description of this year's legislative session as well. At a time when economic protections and policies to promote racial equity are being decimated, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is currently on life support, Maryland’s General Assembly passed some great bills, some good bills, and some very bad bills for working families. Below are some of the bills that Economic Action was thrilled to lead ...
Protect Maryland Residents from Foreclosure on Zombie Mortgages!
Maryland, Connecticut, and Alabama are rarely thought of as a trio; they are located in different regions in the U.S. with distinct food, culture, cities, and natural environments. They share one unfortunate trait: Maryland, Alabama, and Connecticut are the only three states in the country that do not have a statute of limitations for foreclosure. Statutes of limitations establishes the time limit for bringing a foreclosure action. Essentially, it means that if a homeowner misses mortgage payments, a foreclosure action must begin before the time runs out. This provides clarity for the homeowner and ensures that mortgage servicers have an ...
Post-Crossover Update: Heading To the Finish Line
Last Monday, March 17 wasn’t just St. Patrick’s Day. It was also ‘crossover day,’ the day by which a bill had to pass out of one chamber of the General Assembly in order to have a good chance of final passage by Sine Die, the last day of the 2025 legislative session on Monday, April 7. It wasn’t the luck of the Irish, it was the hard work of our policy team, our bill sponsors, our partners and supporters that led to 14 bills we’ve led and supported making it across this critical legislative hurdle. A few highlights include: HB268/SB981: ...