Maryland Debt Collection Laws: Maryland of Opportunity

Today, March 4, 2013, The National List of Attorneys published the white paper on debt collection law in Maryland, submitted by attorney Thomas A. Mauro, Esq., and his law firm Mauro Law Offices, P.C. Thomas is the senior member of the firm, which he established in 1979. They have been National List members since 2004.

Thomas is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center and is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia and all of the federal and state courts in both jurisdictions. He is also admitted to the United States Supreme Court. Mauro Law Offices is affiliated with Virginia counsel and covers the Virginia courts in the Washington, D.C., Metro area.

Thomas told us one thing that makes debt collection unique in Maryland is “the streamlined way most collection cases are prosecuted in the court designated to handle collection matters. The great majority of routine collection and subrogation cases in Maryland are brought in the District Court. As long as there is no problem with service, a plaintiff can expect to have judgment in the District Court, either by default or trial, in an average of nine months to a year.” This would seem to make Maryland a “Land of Opportunity” for collection attorneys.

Maryland’s District Courts made industry headlines twice in 2011. In July of 2011, insideARM reported, “District courts in Maryland are freezing some 900 debt collection lawsuits due to the inability of the debt buyer that filed them to get properly licensed in the state.” A related insideARM report in September 2011, gave added information on the July case and new rules for debt buyers in in MD: “On September 8, the Maryland court of Appeals issued new rules for lawsuits filed in district court. The new rules now require debt buyers to present a bill, document signed by the debtor, or copy of an account statement from the original creditor showing purchases before the debt buyer can sue a consumer. Debt buyers also must present a complete chain of title as evidence of their ownership of the debt.”  The new rule took effect January 1, 2012.

Thomas Mauro

Thomas lives in Washington, D.C. He and his wife have two grown children – a son who is a television journalist, lives in Chicago and is starting a family there; and a daughter who is an attorney in Washington, D.C. and raising her own family.

He says debt collection work has taught him that patience and perseverance are the most important aspects of the work. He enjoys obtaining good and fair results in court. He is a member of the Commercial Law League of America (CLLA) and is active in its Complex Litigation Group. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, particularly to Italy.

Mauro Law Offices, P.C., has been engaged in creditors’ rights litigation since 1986, and now dedicates 75 percent of the practice to the debt collection industry. They also maintain a corporate consulting practice. Along with their work, they support local pro bono organizations and Wounded Veterans groups through a civic organization in Washington called the Lido Club, of which Thomas is a former president.

The National List thanks Thomas for submitting this paper and for giving us the chance to get to know him a little better. You can access the paper at http://www.nationallist.com/white_papers/maryland.