HB 591 Maryland House of Delegates · 2025 Regular Session

Statute of Limitations - Prosecution or Enforcement of Local Consumer Protection Codes

HB 591 changes Maryland law to set a 3-year deadline for local authorities to take action against violations of local consumer protection codes. Specifically, it requires that prosecutions or enforcement efforts for fines, penalties, or remedies must begin within 3 years after local officials knew or should have known about the violation. This applies directly to local governments and consumer protection agencies enforcing codes related to unfair business practices. The bill does not alter existing laws for other types of cases, focusing solely on consumer protection enforcement timelines. It takes effect October 1, 2025.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2025

Committee Review

Mar 2025

House of Delegates Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 23, 2025 Last action Mar 19, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

First - Statute of Limitations - Prosecution or Enforcement of Local Consumer Protection Codes → Third - Statute of Limitations - Prosecution or Enforcement of Local Consumer Protection Codes · 4 edits

MODERATE

This bill adds procedural status information to the legislative document, including committee approval and adoption dates, while making minor formatting adjustments to the bill header and explanatory notes. The substantive legal text regarding the statute of limitations for consumer protection enforcement remains unchanged.

TECHNICAL

Added committee report status showing favorable approval and house action indicating the bill was adopted on February 26, 2025.

Changed the document header from 'A BILL ENTITLED' to 'CHAPTER ______' to reflect standard legislative formatting for enacted laws.

Adjusted explanatory notes to clarify that underlining indicates amendments to the bill and strike-through indicates deletions from existing law.

Added signature lines for the Governor, Speaker of the House, and President of the Senate at the end of the document.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Feb 28, 2025

How they voted

111–26

Passed · 2 other

Total votes 139

Feb 28, 2025

D Democratic100

98 Yea 2

98% Yea

R Republican39

13 Yea 26 Nay

66% Nay

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 12, 2025

Committee

Referred Judicial Proceedings

upper

Mar 11, 2025

Lower · Passed

Third Reading Passed

lower

Mar 5, 2025

Introduced

Floor Amendment {

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Motion Special Order until 03/05 (Delegate Buckel) Adopted

lower

Mar 4, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable Adopted

lower

Mar 3, 2025

Lower · Passed

Favorable Report by Judiciary

lower

Feb 28, 2025

House Of Delegates · Passed

House of Delegates Vote: pass (111-26-2)

house of delegates

Jan 23, 2025

Committee

First Reading Judiciary

lower

15 primary · 0 co-sponsors