{"meta":{"key":"s_md--pass-01","task":"S_MD","title":"SMD Maryland provider market access and consumer fees","parent_title":"Maryland debt and debt relief law","edition":"pass-01","path":"/research/s_md--pass-01/","kind":"split_pass","category":"state","role":"state","area_numbers":[66],"groups":["collections"],"date":"2026-10-24","tables":8,"claims":40,"sources":36,"review_status":"revise","review_complete":true,"sha256":"472890f0d69fb6365eec9cde9d7f2ae8804b3af40ba195ab0a14b172585d55b0","headings":["A. Substantive findings","1. Classification: the services and funds flow control","2. Authorization, exclusions, and prohibited combinations","3. Consumer fee structures, limits, refunds, and credits","4. When fees may be requested or received","5. Public market-entry procedure and verification","B. Source ledger","Statutes, regulations, adoption records, and decisions","Operational materials, historical guidance, and failed retrievals","C. Claim ledger","D. Worked examples and coverage/gaps","6. Bounded plain-text examples","7. Component coverage and exact next investigations","E. Researcher self-check"],"generation_provenance":{"actual_route":"regular_chat_adaptive_models","actual_model":"GPT-6","actual_mode":"Pro","provenance_limit":"Actual documented capture labels only; missing labels remain unknown. No preferred setting is inferred as actual execution."},"public_id":"S_MD/pass-01","facets":{"geography":["us","us-md"],"debt_type":["unknown"],"stage":[],"subject":["definitions-classification","fees-outcomes","provider-licensing"]},"scope":"Provider market access and consumer fee framework only; all other state categories remain required","pending_corrections":0},"markdown":"# S_MD PASS-01 — Maryland provider market access and consumer fees\n\n**Maryland provides two distinct market-entry routes: registration for covered debt-settlement services and licensure for covered debt-management services. The activity, representations, and handling of consumer funds determine the applicable route.** A nonprofit label, an attorney affiliation, or an out-of-state office does not establish an exemption. For licensed debt management, the verified consumer ceilings are **$50 for the initial consultation, including the credit-report cost, and $8 per listed creditor per month, capped at $40 monthly**. The debt-settlement statute specifies allocation methods and performance conditions but **does not state a numeric percentage ceiling**. Separate credit-services and federal telemarketing restrictions can impose additional payment conditions. **[C002–C007, C013–C016, C021–C029]** [Financial Institutions, Section 12-1001+5](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1001.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n**Research baseline:** October 22, 2026, Pacific.\n**Actual access/check date:** **October 23, 2026, Pacific**, also October 23 UTC.\n**Disposition:** This completes the researched provider-access/consumer-fee component subject to the explicit holds below. It does **not** accept Maryland as a completed state investigation or imply A066 acceptance.\n\nThroughout this answer, **S001** means **S_MD-P1-S001**, and **C001** means **S_MD-P1-C001**. The full identifiers appear in the evidence tables.\n\n## A. Substantive findings\n\n### 1. Classification: the services and funds flow control\n\n| Actual conduct | Maryland classification and boundary | Claim IDs |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Offering or representing that a service will renegotiate, settle, reduce, or otherwise alter payment or other debt terms with unsecured creditors or debt collectors | Potential **debt-settlement services**, FI §12-1001(d). Coverage includes changes to balances, interest, and fees; principal reduction is not indispensable. An express or implied representation can trigger the definition. | C002 |\n| Receiving funds periodically from a Maryland-resident individual under an agreement to distribute them among creditors in full **or partial** payment | **Debt-management services**, FI §12-901(h), unless a specific exclusion or the settlement carveout applies. A “credit counseling” label does not remove this activity from the definition. | C003–C004 |\n| Negotiating concessions while the consumer pays creditors directly | Lack of custody does not eliminate settlement coverage. Test the representations and services under §12-1001(d), and separately screen for credit-services activity. | C002, C009 |\n| Periodically receiving settlement funds while reducing principal | The specific §12-1002(b) carveout removes the activity from DMP coverage only if **all** its conditions are met: compliance with the settlement subtitle; principal reduction; no more than **six settlement payments for each debt**; and a dedicated account separate from a DMP trust account and not solely for provider fees. | C004 |\n| A DMP provider compromises principal | DMP law expressly contemplates compromise with **prior written consumer approval and a benefit to the consumer**. Principal reduction therefore does not automatically convert a DMP into settlement services. | C005 |\n| Education or budgeting alone, without receiving distribution funds or representing creditor negotiation | Those facts alone do not establish DMP or DSS coverage. Paid counseling, credit improvement, credit procurement, and related advice still require a separate activity-based screen. | C003, C009, C016 |\n| Paid services concerning credit improvement or obtaining credit, including some arrangements to defer existing debt | Potential **credit services business**, CL §14-1901(e), (f), requiring a separate license unless excluded. This can overlap a debt-relief offering. | C009–C010, C027 |\n\nThese distinctions come from the operative definitions and crossover provision, rather than a regulator’s abbreviated description of a product. A third-party, consumer-owned account also does not, by itself, prove that the provider “receives” funds: actual authority over deposits, transfers, and distributions must be examined. [Financial Institutions, Section 12-1001+4](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1001.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n**Consumer and business purposes differ across the statutes.**\n\n- **DSS:** The customer must be a Maryland-resident individual with “consumer debts” incorporated from CL §13-101. That definition includes debts primarily for **personal, household, family, or agricultural purposes**. An agricultural obligation is not automatically excluded as business debt.\n- **DMP:** The definition requires a resident individual but does not contain the same express purpose restriction. A corporation is not that individual; an individual’s business-purpose debt should not be automatically excluded.\n- **CSB:** Its own consumer and extension-of-credit definitions use personal, family, or household purposes. Do not import DSS’s agricultural wording into CSB.\n\nDSS expressly reaches interstate and intrastate services through telephone, internet, and face-to-face channels. DMP licensing applies whether or not the provider maintains a Maryland office. CSB has express Maryland-resident and solicitation provisions that operate notwithstanding contractual choice-of-law or situs language. **[C002–C003, C006, C010]** [Commercial Law, Section 13-101+4](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n### 2. Authorization, exclusions, and prohibited combinations\n\n**DSS:** FI §12-1004 requires registration with the **Commissioner of Financial Regulation**, unless the statutory exclusion applies, before offering, providing, or attempting to provide covered services.\n\n**DMP:** FI §12-906 requires a Commissioner-issued license unless exempt. Qualifying for-profit applicants have a statutory pathway. The former nonprofit-only restriction was removed by **2008 Chapter 606, effective June 1, 2008**. Nonprofit evidence is now required in the application only “if applicable.” **[C006, C011, C036]** [Financial Institutions, Section 12-1004+4](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1004.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n#### Exclusion matrix\n\nAn exclusion from one subtitle is not an exemption from every other applicable law.\n\n| Person/activity | DMP: FI §12-902 | DSS: FI §12-1003 | Consequence |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Attorney | Attorney acting in the regular course of the profession | Maryland-Bar-admitted attorney providing professional legal services in an actual attorney–client relationship, in the regular course of the profession | Hiring or associating with a lawyer does not establish the exclusion for the business entity or its nonlegal program. |\n| Nonprofit | No blanket nonprofit exclusion | No blanket nonprofit exclusion; the provider definition expressly includes nonprofit operations | Analyze required license/registration and the actual entity. |\n| Escrow agent; CPA; specified banks, credit unions, and savings-and-loan institutions; title insurer/agency/abstract company; judicial officer or court-order actor | Listed regular-course exclusions | Listed regular-course exclusions | The person and activity must fit the actual clause. |\n| Bill payer | Excluded only if it does not initiate creditor compromise/new-payment-schedule contracts **and** does not provide debt counseling | Same essential limitations | Adding negotiation or counseling can defeat this exclusion. It does not establish exemption from money-transmission law. |\n| Accelerated mortgage payment service | Listed regular-course exclusion | Listed regular-course exclusion | Separate defined activity; not general debt-relief permission. |\n| Business dissolution, winding up, or liquidation | Incidental services excluded | Incidental services excluded | Activity-specific exclusion. |\n| Trade or mercantile association adjusting debts with a business establishment | Excluded in the stated activity | Excluded in the stated activity | Not an exemption for every commercial negotiator. |\n| Maryland-licensed mortgage lender | Requires that it **not receive consumer funds for distribution among creditors** | Licensed lender while engaged in the defined mortgage-lending business; §1003(4)(ii) separately lists an employee of a mortgage lender | The employee clause does not repeat the lender clause’s wording; an affiliate is not automatically an employee. |\n| Licensed collection agency | No parallel collection-agency exclusion; a DMP licensee is prohibited from operating as a collection agency | Excluded while actually engaged in the defined collection-agency business | A collection license is not general authorization for a separate debtor-side settlement program. |\n| Original creditor negotiating its own receivable | No freestanding “self-creditor” exclusion appears | No freestanding “self-creditor” exclusion appears | A bilateral workout may fall outside a definition, but an unusual fee-taking model remains a classification hold. |\n\n**[C005, C007–C008]** The complete operative exclusion lists were read. [Financial Institutions, Section 12-902+2](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-902.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n**DMP eligibility is substantive.** FI §§12-907–908 require fitness and financial responsibility, counselor training, GAAP net worth of at least $50,000 plus $10,000 per service location within the statutory framework permitting a requirement up to $500,000, audited financial information, insurance, a resident agent, a counselor-certification plan, the proposed agreement, and the required bond. Possessing a license does not replace §12-916’s transaction-specific education, analysis, suitability, ability-to-pay, agreement, and disclosure conditions. **[C011–C012]** [Financial Institutions, Section 12-907+2](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-907.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n**Some conduct remains prohibited despite DMP licensure.** Section 12-920 prohibits a licensee from buying consumer debts, lending or extending credit, taking security interests, operating a collection agency, creating negative amortization, or charging for/providing credit insurance. It also restricts referral compensation and enrollment incentives. Those prohibitions cannot be converted into permission by obtaining an unrelated license. **[C005, C020]** [Financial Institutions, Section 12-920](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-920.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n#### Separate CSB screening matters\n\nCL §14-1901 defines extension of credit to include the right to defer an existing debt. In **Commissioner v. Brown, Brown & Brown**, the Court of Appeals applied that concept to paid mortgage renegotiation and enforced all three CSB attorney-exemption conditions. The court expressly **did not decide** whether employing a Maryland lawyer satisfied the first exemption prong for the firm/managing partner, because the regular-and-continuing-activity prong failed. That historical mortgage holding supports a screening inference for an unsecured installment workout; it does not establish that every DSS engagement is a CSB. **[C009–C010]** [courts.state.md.us+2](https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\nCSB exclusions differ: they include an actual §501(c)(3) organization; authorized, actively engaged lenders; specified financial institutions; Maryland-licensed mortgage lenders; certain other regulated actors; and lawyers/CPAs acting within professional scope **without regular and continuing CSB activity**. The mortgage-lender clause here does not repeat DSS’s activity qualifier. *CashCall* rejects a broad rule that compensation must come directly from the consumer. **[C009–C010]** [Commercial Law, Section 14-1901+2](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n### 3. Consumer fee structures, limits, refunds, and credits\n\nThe following permissions concern businesses subject to the respective statutes. They do not establish a fee schedule for an exempt attorney or institution.\n\n| Structure | Verified rule | Limits, failures, and refunds |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| **DMP initial consultation** | Maximum **$50**; the credit-report cost comes from that amount. OFR describes it as initial and one-time. | Not $50 plus a report fee. General state agreement prerequisite and any additional applicable timing rule remain. |\n| **DMP monthly maintenance** | Maximum **$8 for each creditor listed in the agreement**, with **$40 total per month**. | Creditor count, not enrolled dollars or number of accounts. No separate percentage-of-debt or success-fee pathway appears in §12-918. |\n| **DMP analysis, initial budget, counseling, required education, rescission** | No separate fee under §12-918(e). | Renaming one of these components does not create an additional authorized charge. |\n| **DMP voluntary contribution** | Cannot be required; accepted contributions plus other consumer DMP fees must remain within the authorized consultation/maintenance aggregate. | A donation is not an escape from the caps. |\n| **DMP standalone counseling/education/materials** | Section 12-918(g)(3) permits a charge if the consumer **does not enter a DMP agreement**. The menu must distinguish included/free and separately charged services. | Cannot require the purchase as a condition of DMP enrollment. No numeric cap appears in this narrow paragraph; other applicable laws remain. |\n| **DMP creditor nonparticipation** | If a creditor listed as participating declines, prescribed notice must precede the next scheduled payment by at least **five business days**. Consumer may modify or rescind. | Rescission under this subsection requires return of all unexpended funds paid for debt reduction. It does not itself say every previously earned service fee must be refunded. |\n| **DMP unauthorized charge** | Except for an accidental, bona fide error, unauthorized fees/funds make the agreement void and require return of the unauthorized amount. | This is a specific fee consequence; full remedies remain a later pass. |\n| **DMP dishonored payment** | Section 12-918(i) incorporates CL §15-802, including its **up-to-$35 collection fee**. | The instrument, notice, timing, and defenses matter. This is not an automatic $35 charge for every returned payment. |\n| **DSS proportional allocation** | Individual-debt fee must bear the same proportion to the total fee as the individual debt bears to total debt. | No numeric percentage maximum appears in §12-1010(e)(1)(i). Allocation and earning conditions still apply. |\n| **DSS savings percentage** | Fee is a percentage of enrollment principal minus the amount paid to settle; **the same percentage must apply to every individual debt**. | “Principal” is defined as the debt amount when included in the agreement. No statutory 30% ceiling appears in the operative provision. |\n| **DSS consultation/report/contribution** | Consultation and credit-report fees are prohibited; a voluntary contribution cannot be required. | No independently authorized setup, monthly, or minimum-per-debt add-on was established. |\n| **DSS dedicated-account administration** | A qualifying unaffiliated administrator may charge account-related fees under §12-1010(d)(4). | No numeric state account-fee ceiling was found in that clause. It does not authorize disguised provider compensation or referral exchanges. |\n| **DSS cancellation** | Consumer may withdraw anytime without penalty; provider may collect fees lawfully earned. | Dedicated-account funds plus interest, less compliant earned fees, must be returned within **seven days**. |\n| **CSB overlap** | No charging or receiving consideration before **full and complete performance** of agreed services. | Also subject to the particular extension-of-credit fee-plus-interest limit and the prohibition on certain sole-referral charges. No universal CSB dollar cap was established. |\n\n**[C013–C027]** [Financial Institutions, Section 12-918+4](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n**Additional fee consequences:** DMP agreements must disclose possible creditor compensation; that does not authorize consumer charges above §12-918. A licensee must correct its misdirected payments and reimburse actual creditor fees or charges caused by that misdirection. **[C020]** [Financial Institutions, Section 12-917+2](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-917.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n**No CPI calculation was used.** The full fee provisions contain no consumer-fee indexing mechanism. No applicable adjustment notice changing the $50/$8/$40 figures or supplying a DSS numeric ceiling was located in the checked official materials. Annual regulatory assessments are provider obligations, not consumer-fee inflation adjustments. **[C035, C038]**\n\n**Interpretive holds:** The literal DMP monthly provision says “listed” creditors, while the agreement must list both participating and expected-nonparticipating creditors. No controlling interpretation was located resolving expected nonparticipants or paid-off creditors. Examples therefore use active, participating, listed creditors. No general partial-month proration formula, mandatory hardship waiver, or universal ordinary-cancellation refund formula was established. Silence is not treated as permission to retain unearned fees. **[C040]**\n\n### 4. When fees may be requested or received\n\n#### Maryland requirements\n\n**DMP:** Generally, the licensee cannot impose fees/charges or receive consumer or on-behalf funds before executing the DMP agreement, and can receive only amounts authorized by §12-918. The express exceptions concern qualifying standalone services under subsection (g)(3) and dishonored payments under subsection (i). Pre-service requirements in §12-916 also apply. **[C012–C019]**\n\n**DSS:** Section 12-1010(c) prohibits charging the settlement fee until:\n\n1. The provider and consumer have executed the DSS agreement.\n2. At least one specified debt has been renegotiated, settled, reduced, or otherwise altered.\n3. The consumer has made at least one payment in accordance with that agreement.\n\nA compliant dedicated-account deposit is separately permitted under subsection (d). It is not automatically an earned provider fee. **[C024–C026]** [Financial Institutions, Section 12-918+2](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\nThe state wording uses “at least one” and refers to the DSS agreement. I did not locate a controlling state-only interpretation resolving whether a particular account deposit could satisfy subsection (c)(3), or how that wording operates for acceleration of fees on still-unsettled debts. **Those issues remain held; no advance-fee permission is inferred.**\n\n#### Independently applicable federal TSR baseline\n\nFor a transaction covered by the Telemarketing Sales Rule, **16 CFR §310.4(a)(5)** prohibits **requesting or receiving** debt-relief consideration until the required debt alteration, consumer-executed valid agreement, and at least one payment under the **consumer–creditor/debt-collector agreement** occur. Individual settlements must comply with proportional or consistent savings-percentage allocation. FTC staff guidance explains that the required steps apply to the debt for which the fee is collected and that fees cannot be front-loaded.\n\nThe federal dedicated-account return deadline is **seven business days**; Maryland’s provision says **seven days**. The federal rule also covers qualifying DMP/credit-counseling arrangements. Coverage and exemptions require their own analysis; a Maryland fee ceiling does not authorize an advance fee under federal law. **[C028–C029]** [ecfr.gov+3](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n### 5. Public market-entry procedure and verification\n\nThe actual OFR **DMP**, **DSS**, and conditional **CSB** industry pages were read, including their application instructions and links. They direct applicants to **NMLS**. DMP and CSB operational instructions use a principal-office license and disclosure of additional locations; the DMP statute itself requires accurate location/name information in NMLS. **[C032–C033]** [Office of Financial Regulation+3](https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\nThe application evidence establishes a current public route, with an important limit:\n\n- The linked **DMP, DSS, and CSB new-application PDFs** redirected to a generic NMLS resource page with no readable checklist text.\n- OFR’s public lookup instructions were read.\n- The attempted **NMLS Consumer Access** destination failed in this public retrieval tool.\n- **No named provider’s current authorization was verified.** A registration procedure, marketing statement, or historical order is not a current status determination.\n\n**[C033]**\n\n#### Provider payments to the state — separate from consumer fees\n\n| Payment | Current statutory amount/basis |\n| --- | --- |\n| DSS initial registration | **$400**, nonrefundable |\n| DSS renewal | **$400**, nonrefundable |\n| DSS NMLS fee | Whatever NMLS imposes; **current exact amount held** |\n| DMP initial investigation | **$1,000**, nonrefundable |\n| DMP initial/annual renewal license: prior fiscal-year GAAP gross revenue ≤$3 million | **$500** |\n| >$3 million–$6 million | **$1,000** |\n| >$6 million–$15 million | **$2,000** |\n| >$15 million–$30 million | **$3,000** |\n| >$30 million | **$4,000** |\n| DMP annual assessment | Separately determined under FI §§12-905(c), 2-120(h) and COMAR 09.03.02.10; no provider-specific amount established |\n\n**[C030–C031, C035]** [Financial Institutions, Section 12-904+3](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-904.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\nDSS registrants establishing a qualifying dedicated account must file the **$50,000 bond** required by §12-1014. DMP applications require the §12-914 bond. Detailed bond mechanics remain for the later bond/funds pass. **[C011]** [Financial Institutions, Section 12-1014+1](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1014.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\nOFR’s **October 20, 2026** advisory confirms the upcoming November 1–December 31 renewal period, use of NMLS status, and the need to submit a renewal request and clear outstanding items even where an automatic-renewal feature exists. This supports current operation of the system, not authorization of a particular business. **[C034]** [Office of Financial Regulation](https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n#### Historical reconciliation\n\n- **2008 Chapter 606:** removed DMP’s nonprofit-only restriction, effective June 1, 2008.\n- **2016 Chapter 392:** removed the DSS sunset before it would have operated; the relevant repeal took effect June 1, 2016.\n- **2016 SB1132:** proposed a 30% savings-fee ceiling and a changed attorney exclusion, but remained at first reading. Its proposed June 1 date is not an enacted effective date.\n- **2010 Maryland study:** the inspected 15%-of-savings discussion is under **Illinois**, not a current Maryland ceiling.\n- **OFR fee table updated October 24, 2016:** shows superseded provider registration/license amounts. Current statute controls.\n- **July 2019 DSS transition FAQ:** explains the move from the old $1,000/two-year system to $400 annual registration. Its then-stated NMLS fee is historical, not verified as the October 2026 amount.\n\n**[C036–C038]** [Chapter 606 (House Bill 947)+6](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com)\n\n## B. Source ledger\n\n**Access convention:** Every entry below was checked on **October 23, 2026, Pacific**. “Read” means actual relevant body text or identified PDF pages were inspected, not merely a title or search snippet. Code sections are grouped under their article’s document ID. Maryland sources establish Maryland law or procedure; federal sources supply only the identified federal context.\n\n### Statutes, regulations, adoption records, and decisions\n\n| Source ID | Title / issuer and direct literal URL | Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| **S_MD-P1-S001** | **Maryland Code, Financial Institutions Article — MGA.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) Key fee texts: [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ; [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Read relevant definitions, exclusions, authorization, application, fee, timing, and cancellation provisions: §§12-901–902, 904–912, 914, 916–920; §§12-1001–1016; §2-120. DMP compilation pp.585–622; §918 individual PDF pp.1–3; §1010 pp.1–2. **2026RS snapshot, not assumed to incorporate all later enactments.** Currentness bridge: S003–S006/S036. Not all 700 pages read. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S002** | **Maryland Code, Commercial Law Article — MGA.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ; [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ; [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ; [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ; [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Full listed sections read. §13-101(d)(1), p.1; §14-1901(c),(e),(f), pp.1–2; §1902(1),(2),(6),(7), p.1; §1903(a)–(d), p.1; §15-802(a)–(e), pp.1–2. Snapshot plus S003 currentness check. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S003** | **2026 Statutes Affected — MGA, article-filtered views.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+%28gfi%29&statuteValue=gfi](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+(gfi)&statuteValue=gfi&utm_source=chatgpt.com) ; [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+%28gcl%29&statuteValue=gcl](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+(gcl)&statuteValue=gcl&utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Tables read; displayed update September 1, 2026. No listed change to FI12-9/12-10 or the CL provisions relied upon here. Contains bill information as well as chapter fields; an introduced bill is not treated as enacted. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S004** | **Bills Enacted / Chapters — MGA.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters&utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Opening and relevant ending entries read, including Chapters 881/882; displayed update August 5, 2026. Used to check August-session coverage, not as substantive fee law. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S005** | **2026 Chapter 881 / HB2100 — MGA.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Full 3 pages read. Constitutional districting proposal, approved August 5 subject to referendum. No target debt-services amendment; not treated as an already-ratified constitutional amendment. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S006** | **2026 Chapter 882 / HB2101 — MGA.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Full page read; §§1–4. Emergency enactment August 5, 2026 concerning a duplicate proposed constitutional amendment. No target debt-services amendment. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S007** | **COMAR 09.03.02, General Regulations — Maryland DSD.** [https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html](https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Administrative history and operative relevant text, especially .01; **.08 A–I** remote work; **.09 A–B** locations/names; **.10 A–D** assessments; .13 locations information. Current text; original final actions checked in S011–S012. Scope of other chapter provisions inspected. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S008** | **COMAR 09.03.08, Debt Management Services [Repealed] — DSD.** [https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08](https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | History read: .01 repealed effective **October 1, 2005**, 32:18 Md. R.1518. Historical, not operative fee authority. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S009** | **COMAR 09.03.10, Credit and Other Regulation — DSD.** [https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html](https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Current chapter text/history read, particularly .01 definitions and .02 reporting; July 2026 .01/.06 changes concern earned wage access. No DSS/DMP numeric fee adjustment established here. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S010** | **Cumulative Table of COMAR Regulations Adopted, Amended, or Repealed — DSD.** [https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf](https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Relevant 09.03 entries, PDF p.3, and coverage through October 16, 2026 checked. Currentness discovery/index support; individual operative text and final actions read separately. Initial failed access was later recovered. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S011** | **Maryland Register 48:8, final action [21-009-F] — DSD/State Archives.** [https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf](https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Printed **p.308**, PDF index19, read. Adopted March 22, 2021, as proposed; permanent .08 effective **April 19, 2021**. Not merely the earlier emergency rule. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S012** | **Maryland Register 52:2, final action [24-069-F] — DSD/State Archives.** [https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf](https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Printed **p.67**, PDF index22, read. Adopted January 6, 2025; .01/.04 amendments and new .09–.13 effective **February 3, 2025**, as proposed. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S013** | **Maryland Register 53:14, final action [25-323-F] — DSD.** [https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx](https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | **p.638**, notice read: .01 amendments/new .06 adopted June 22, effective **July 20, 2026**, as proposed. Earned-wage-access subject matter; not a debt-relief fee revision. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S024** | **2008 Chapter 606 / HB947 — MGA.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Nonprofit-restriction changes, pp.1,3–5; effective clause §2, p.9. Enacted, effective **June 1, 2008**. Relevant historical change read. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S025** | **2016 Chapter 392 / SB471 — MGA.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | **§2 and §4** read: DSS termination-date repeal effective **June 1, 2016**. Separate fund provisions have their own effective treatment; not conflated. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S026** | **2016 SB1132 first reader and status — MGA.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ; [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS&utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Full 3-page bill and actual status/history read. Proposed attorney change p.2 and 30% cap p.3; status first reading Senate Rules. **Unenacted proposal**, not current law. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S031** | **Commissioner v. Brown, Brown & Brown, P.C., 449 Md.345 (2016) — Maryland Court of Appeals.** [https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf](https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Relevant analysis/holding read: slip **pp.15–16,22–27**, especially **p.22 n.20**. Filed August 19, 2016. Historical mortgage facts; CSB definition/attorney construction used narrowly. No full citator certification. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S032** | **CashCall, Inc. v. Commissioner, 448 Md.412 (2016) — Maryland Court of Appeals.** [https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf](https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Holding and relevant compensation analysis read, slip **pp.1,20–28**. Filed June 23, 2016. Rejects broad direct-payment prerequisite in the business model litigated; not a DSS fee decision. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S033** | **16 CFR Part310 — eCFR.** [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ; [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4?utm_source=chatgpt.com) ; [https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Exact provisions read: **§310.2(o); §310.4(a)(5)(i)(A)–(C), (ii)(A)–(E); §310.6(b)(5)–(6)**. Displayed current through **October 21, 2026**. Federal common context only; eCFR is authoritative but unofficial. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S036** | **Statutes presentation/version explanation — MGA.** [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | January/October text and session-enactment explanation read. Establishes why the 2026RS snapshot alone is insufficient evidence of October currentness. |\n\n### Operational materials, historical guidance, and failed retrievals\n\n| Source ID | Title / issuer and direct literal URL | Pinpoint, status, and actual check result |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| **S_MD-P1-S014** | **Debt Management Services industry page — OFR.** [https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml](https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Body, license/application links, locations instructions read. Updated May 11, 2026. Operational guidance; update date is not a legal effective date. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S015** | **Debt Settlement Services Providers — OFR.** [https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml](https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Body, registration requirements and application links read. Updated August 5, 2024. Supports procedure, not exemption or provider-specific status. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S016** | **Debt Management Services consumer guidance — OFR.** [https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml](https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | “Your Protection” and cancellation/restriction passages read. Confirms initial one-time $50 and $8/$40 monthly figures. No legal effective date inferred. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S017** | **License/registration search instructions — OFR.** [https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml](https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Actual body and DMP/DSS lookup routing read. Instructions verified; no named-provider result obtained. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S018** | **DMP new-application checklist — NMLS, linked by OFR.** [https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf](https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | **Not read:** redirected to generic knowledge-center home, zero readable checklist lines. Current detailed checklist held. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S019** | **DSS new-application checklist — NMLS, linked by OFR.** [https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf](https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | **Not read:** same redirect/blank result. Exact current NMLS processing charge not verified. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S020** | **NMLS Consumer Access.** [https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/](https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/) | **Failed retrieval / 404 in this tool.** Does not establish the service itself is unavailable to everyone. No status record read. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S021** | **Prepare for Renewal of Your Maryland License or Registration — OFR.** [https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml](https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | October 20, 2026; opening, “General Reminders,” NMLS approved-status and automatic-renewal paragraphs read. Later direct retry failed, but previously retrieved body was successfully reopened. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S022** | **Application and Licensing Fees — OFR.** [https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml](https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | DMP/DSS tables and footer read. **Updated October 24, 2016; historical/superseded amounts**, not current controlling fee evidence. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S023** | **Debt Settlement NMLS Transition FAQs — OFR.** [https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf](https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | July 2019, pp.1–2 registration term/fee transition read. Historical NMLS fee not carried forward as current. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S027** | **Maryland Debt Settlement Services Study — state study.** [https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf](https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | December 2010 cover and printed **p.11**, PDF index13, visually read. The inspected 15% passage concerns **Illinois**. Entire 96-page report not read; historical comparative material only. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S028** | **Credit Services Businesses industry page — OFR.** [https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml](https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Full body read; September 16, 2026 update, application/location instructions, and citations to *Brown*/*CashCall*. Guidance does not replace statute. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S029** | **Credit Services Businesses FAQ — OFR.** [https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml](https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | Particularly **Q7–11**, remote activity, indirect compensation, exclusions, and other-license overlap. Read; September 16, 2026 guidance, not an individual licensing determination. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S030** | **CSB new-application checklist — NMLS, linked by OFR.** [https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf](https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | **Not read:** generic-home redirect with zero readable checklist text. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S034** | **Debt Relief Services & the TSR: Guide for Business — FTC staff.** [https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | “Collecting Fees,” examples12–13, “Requiring a Dedicated Account,” and scope passages read. **July 2010, nonbinding staff guidance**. Used only where consistent with current S033; old recordkeeping duration not adopted. |\n| **S_MD-P1-S035** | **2026 Licensee Assessment advisory — OFR.** [https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml](https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com) | May 11, 2026; assessment basis, notices, and year-specific determination paragraphs read. Provider assessment, not a consumer-fee adjustment. |\n\n## C. Claim ledger\n\n“High—text” means the stated rule appears in the primary text, subject to the stated conditions and currentness check. “Conditional” identifies application requiring actual business-model facts. “Held” identifies an unresolved conclusion, not permission.\n\n| Claim ID | Precise assertion | Sources and exact pinpoints | Conditions/currentness/confidence |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| **S_MD-P1-C001** | The target statutory text is supported through the access date by the snapshot plus the checked 2026 amendment records; a 2026RS path alone is insufficient. | S001–S006; S036; S010 relevant09.03 entries | High for inspected text and amendment check; not certification of every Maryland law or order. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C002** | DSS includes represented changes to unsecured debt terms without a custody prerequisite; resident individual/consumer-debt and interstate-channel elements apply; nonprofits included. | S001 §12-1001(b),(d),(g),(i); S002 §13-101(d)(1) | High—text. Agricultural purpose included; DMP expressly excluded. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C003** | DMP is periodic receipt for creditor distribution, full or partial payment, for a resident individual; no equivalent express debt-purpose restriction appears. | S001 §12-901(d),(h),(j),(o) | High—text; actual funds flow and exclusions required. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C004** | The settlement/DMP carveout requires all §1002(b) conditions, including principal reduction and ≤6 payments per debt. | S001 §12-1002(a),(b)(1)–(3) | High—text. Losing carveout is not a universal prohibition on every seven-payment, noncustodial settlement. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C005** | DMP compromise requires prior written approval and consumer benefit; debt buying, lending, security taking, collection-agency operation and listed ancillary conduct are prohibited. | S001 §12-920(a)(1)–(5),(9)–(10) | High—text. A different license does not erase these prohibitions. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C006** | Nonexempt DSS requires Commissioner registration; nonexempt DMP requires Commissioner licensure even without a Maryland office; nonprofit status does not generally excuse either. | S001 §§12-1004,12-906(a),12-908(b)(11); S024 | High—text; eligibility is not automatic issuance. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C007** | The exclusion matrix in A2 states the actual distinct DMP/DSS categories and activity conditions. | S001 **entire §§12-902,12-1003** | High—text. No blanket attorney-affiliate or nonprofit exclusion inferred. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C008** | Neither exclusion list contains a freestanding self-creditor exclusion; an unusual original-creditor fee model needs definition/other-law analysis. | S001 §§12-901(h),12-902,12-1001(d),12-1003; S002 §14-1901(e) | High for absence in those lists; model-specific outcome **held**. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C009** | Paid credit-improvement/credit-obtaining activity can trigger CSB; deferring existing debt is included in “extension of credit”; direct consumer payment is not universally necessary. | S002 §14-1901(e),(f); S031 slippp.15–16; S032 slippp.1,20–28 | High statutory/holding support; application to a particular unsecured workout is conditional. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C010** | CSB requires its own license absent §1901(e)(3) exclusion and has resident/remote nexus; attorney exclusion has three cumulative conditions. | S002 §§14-1901(e)(3),14-1903(a)–(d); S031 pp.22–27,n.20; S029 Q11 | High—text/holding. *Brown* reserved the employment-based first-prong issue. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C011** | DMP entry requires statutory fitness, financial, staffing, application and bond conditions; DSS dedicated-account establishment triggers a $50,000 bond. | S001 §§12-907,12-908,12-914; §12-1014(a),(b)(2) | High—text. Full bond mechanics deferred. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C012** | DMP generally cannot impose fees or receive consumer/on-behalf funds before an executed agreement; §916 pre-service conditions also apply. | S001 §12-918(a); §12-916(a),(b)(2)(iii),(vii) | High—text; express(g)(3)/(i) exceptions and additional federal/CSB timing preserved. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C013** | DMP consultation ≤$50; credit-report cost included; OFR calls it initial one-time. | S001 §12-918(b); §12-901(c); S016 “Your Protection” | High—text plus agency characterization. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C014** | DMP monthly maintenance ≤$8 per listed creditor and≤$40 total; no debt-balance percentage formula. | S001 §12-918(c); §12-901(o) | High—text; edge creditor counts held in C040. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C015** | No separate DMP analysis/budget/counseling/required-education/rescission fee; no required contribution; accepted contributions stay within aggregate authorized fees. | S001 §12-918(e),(f),(g)(2) | High—text; not a donation workaround. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C016** | Narrow standalone counseling/education/materials charges are allowed when the consumer does not enter DMP, with disclosed service distinctions. | S001 §12-918(g)(1)–(3) | High—text. No numeric cap there; other-law clearance and later-enrollment treatment not established. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C017** | Agreement must permit written rescission anytime; creditor refusal triggers ≥5-business-day notice and refund of unexpended debt-reduction funds upon qualifying rescission. | S001 §12-916(b)(2)(vi); §12-918(h),(e)(4) | High—text. Not an automatic refund of all earned service fees. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C018** | Unauthorized DMP amounts generally void agreement/require return; required-license persons operating unlicensed face §916(c)’s fee recovery consequence. | S001 §12-918(j); §12-916(c) | High—text. Bona fide-error qualification; do not apply mechanically to a statutorily excluded person. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C019** | Dishonor fee pathway cross-references CL15-802, including up-to-$35 collection fee and procedural conditions. | S001 §12-918(i); S002 §15-802(a)–(e) | High—text: ten-day unpaid threshold for notice, thirty-day provisions and defenses; damages are not routine service fees. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C020** | Creditor compensation is disclosed; misdirected-payment creditor charges are reimbursed; specified related-party referral fees/incentives prohibited. | S001 §12-916(b)(2)(ix); §12-917(b)(3); §12-920(a)(7)–(8),(11),(13),(b) | High—text. No consumer-cap escape or general creditor-compensation ceiling inferred. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C021** | DSS proportional method allocates total fee according to each debt’s share; no numeric percentage ceiling appears in that clause. | S001 §12-1010(e)(1)(i); §12-1012(a)(2)(iv)–(vi) | High—text. Not a finding that any chosen total is lawful. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C022** | DSS savings method uses enrollment principal less settlement payment; identical percentage for each debt. | S001 §12-1001(j); §12-1010(e)(1)(ii),(2) | High—text. No minimum fee or 30% cap supplied by current clause. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C023** | DSS consultation/report fees and mandatory contributions prohibited; separate setup/monthly/minimum fee safe harbor not established. | S001 §12-1010(b),(e); §12-1012(a)(2)(iv) | High for prohibitions; other fee labels must satisfy actual statute, not presumed independent authority. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C024** | State DSS charge trigger requires executed agreement, alteration of at least one listed debt, and at least one payment under DSS agreement. | S001 §12-1010(c)(1)–(3) | High—text. State-only deposit/per-debt acceleration interpretations held. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C025** | Dedicated-account deposits require insured institution, consumer ownership/interest, independent administrator, no referral exchange; account-related fees permitted. | S001 §12-1010(d)(1)–(5) | High—text. No numeric administrator-fee ceiling established; deposits are not automatically provider receipts. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C026** | DSS withdrawal anytime/no penalty; only compliant earned fees collectible; dedicated balance/interest returned less earned fees within7days. | S001 §12-1010(d)(5),(f); §12-1012(a)(2)(ix),(xi) | High—text. Previously paid earned fees cannot be deducted twice. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C027** | Applicable CSB law prohibits charging/receiving before full performance, certain sole-referral payments, and fees+interest above applicable credit limits. | S002 §14-1902(1),(2),(6),(7) | High—text; exact credit-rate application requires the actual extension/model. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C028** | Covered TSR debt relief requires creditor-agreement performance/payment and permitted per-debt allocation before requesting/receiving fees; dedicated-account return≤7businessdays. | S033 §310.4(a)(5)(i),(ii); S034 “Collecting Fees” | High federal text; staff guide nonbinding. Coverage not assumed for every transaction. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C029** | State fee permission/cap does not waive applicable TSR timing; qualifying DMP arrangements can be federal debt relief. | S033 §§310.2(o),310.4(a)(5),310.6(b)(5)–(6); S034 coverage examples | High conditional conclusion. Full federal applicability audit outside this component. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C030** | DMP state initial investigation=$1,000; initial/renewal license tiers=$500/$1,000/$2,000/$3,000/$4,000 at stated revenue bands. | S001 §12-904; §12-901(b) | High—text. Provider cost, not consumer charge. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C031** | DSS issuance/renewal=$400 each, nonrefundable, plus actual NMLS fees; current exact NMLS amount not verified. | S001 §12-1006(a),(b); S019; S023 | High state amount; NMLS amount **held**. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C032** | DMP locations/names must be accurately maintained; employee remote-work permission has specific conditions and does not cover independent contractors merely by label. | S001 §12-911; S007 .08A–I,.09; S014 | High—text. .08 enumerates DMP/CSB licenses, not DSS registration; no general remote exemption inferred. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C033** | Current OFR application/lookup routes exist, but checklist contents and live status were not retrieved. | S014–S020; S028–S030 | Procedural evidence plus explicit failure. No provider authorization claim. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C034** | OFR’s October20 advisory confirms 2026 renewal workflow; statutory terms/renewal remain applicable. | S021 opening/General Reminders; S001 §§12-912,12-1009 | High procedure/text. Future renewal window is not an existing renewal approval. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C035** | Annual assessment is separate, year-specific provider obligation; not consumer CPI adjustment. | S001 §§12-905(c),2-120(h); S007 .10; S035 | High—text/guidance. Provider-specific amount unresolved. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C036** | DMP nonprofit-only restriction removed in2008; DSS sunset repealed in2016. | S024 §2 and amendments; S025 §§2,4 | High enacted-history support; effective dates as stated. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C037** | 2016 proposed30% cap, 2010 Illinois15% discussion, and obsolete provider-fee tables do not establish current Maryland consumer ceilings. | S026 p.3/status; S027 printedp.11; S022; S023 | High for inspected historical distinctions. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C038** | No consumer CPI/indexing change was established; use verified fixed DMP numbers and actual DSS methods without invented adjustment. | S001 entire§§12-918,12-1010; S010; S016; S035 | High for no indexing clause; bounded search result for notices. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C039** | Old DMP COMAR chapter is repealed; remote/location/assessment final actions have verified permanent effective dates; 2026 earned-wage rule is different subject matter. | S007–S013 | High current text/adoption evidence; no proposal treated as operative. |\n| **S_MD-P1-C040** | Broader creditor counts, general proration/refund rules, state-only DSS payment interpretation, installment failure/fee accrual, and model-specific overlap remain unresolved. | S001 §§12-901(o),916,918,1002,1010; S002 §§14-1901–1903 | **Held**, not negative permission or established exemption. |\n\n## D. Worked examples and coverage/gaps\n\n### 6. Bounded plain-text examples\n\n**Common assumptions:** Dollars are USD. Required Maryland authority, valid agreements, disclosures, and service conditions are satisfied. Any separately applicable CSB timing restriction is either inapplicable on the actual facts or fully satisfied. DSS fee examples assume TSR coverage and its required creditor agreement/payment. Those assumptions are illustrative inputs, not findings about SettleADebt.com or a named provider. All arithmetic below is exact to cents; no rounding convention is needed.\n\n**Example 1 — DMP, lower debt and three creditors. [C012–C015]**\n\nInputs: $900 total debt; three active, participating, listed creditors; $50 consultation; $12 credit-report cost; twelve authorized full months.\n\nOperator: monthly ceiling = minimum of creditor count × $8 and $40.\n\nIntermediate: 3 × $8 = $24; minimum($24, $40) = $24/month.\n\nResult: 12 × $24 = $288 maintenance; $288 + $50 = **$338 total provider fees**. The $12 report cost comes out of the $50, leaving $38 of that consultation payment after the report expense. It is not an extra $12.\n\nThe $900 balance does not change the statutory fixed-dollar formula. Suitability and ability to pay must still be established. A further 10% × $900 = $90 success fee is not an authorized DMP fee pathway identified here.\n\n**Example 2 — DMP, previous fees and a proposed donation. [C014–C015]**\n\nInputs: six active, participating, listed creditors; initial $50 consultation fully paid; $30 first-month maintenance already paid; proposed voluntary contribution $15.\n\nIntermediate: 6 × $8 = $48; monthly ceiling = $40. Authorized consultation plus first-month total = $50 + $40 = $90. Already paid = $50 + $30 = $80.\n\nResult: remaining capacity = $90 − $80 = **$10**. Accepting $15 would produce $95, exceeding the authorized aggregate by **$5**. Because the consultation allowance is fully used, this example does not depend on reallocating an unused consultation allowance.\n\n**Example 3 — DMP, creditor refusal and cancellation. [C017–C018]**\n\nInputs: $400 paid specifically for debt reduction; $240 already disbursed; a creditor listed as participating declines; required notice is given; consumer rescinds under §12-918(h).\n\nOperator: unexpended debt funds = paid debt funds − disbursed debt funds.\n\nResult: $400 − $240 = **$160 refund**; rescission fee = **$0**. A previously earned $30 consultation fee is not automatically added by subsection(h)(4). Other grounds for refund remain separately examinable.\n\n**Example 4 — DSS proportional fee after only part of the program succeeds. [C021, C024, C028]**\n\nInputs: enrollment debts of $1,000, $9,000, and $15,000; total $25,000. Disclosed total program fee $5,000—an assumed contract amount, **not a statutory cap**. Only the $1,000 debt has been validly settled and fully paid.\n\nOperator: total fee × settled debt’s enrollment share.\n\nIntermediate: $1,000 ÷ $25,000 = 0.04. $5,000 × 0.04 = $200.\n\nResult: **$200 allocated to that debt** after the assumed earning conditions. If $80 was already lawfully collected against that earned fee, remaining amount = $200 − $80 = **$120**. The $80 is not assumed to have been a lawful advance fee. The remaining $4,800 is not earned merely because this first debt succeeded under the applicable TSR conditions.\n\n**Example 5 — DSS savings fee, later balance growth, and a smaller debt. [C022, C028]**\n\nInputs: enrollment principal $4,000; later creditor balance $4,400; full settlement payment $2,600; disclosed uniform fee rate 25%, chosen only for illustration.\n\nIntermediate: statutory enrollment savings base = $4,000 − $2,600 = $1,400. Fee = 0.25 × $1,400.\n\nResult: **$350**, not $450 based on the later $4,400 balance.\n\nSecond debt: $1,000 enrollment principal, $800 full settlement payment. Savings = $200; same rate gives **$50**. At $1,000 enrollment and $1,000 settlement, the selected savings formula produces **$0**. An extra minimum charge was not established as a separate lawful pathway.\n\nFor an installment variant, the first installment alone must not be mistaken for the entire amount required to satisfy the debt. FTC guidance uses the full satisfaction amount; state-only accrual/refund consequences if the installment settlement later fails remain held.\n\n**Example 6 — DSS cancellation and avoiding double deduction. [C025–C026]**\n\nInputs: current dedicated-account balance $1,220, including $20 interest, after creditor payments; earned but unpaid compliant fee $200; unearned future fees $1,800.\n\nOperator: current balance − earned unpaid fee.\n\nResult: $1,220 − $200 = **$1,020 returned within Maryland’s seven-day period**. The $1,800 future fee is not deducted. If the $200 was already paid and the current $1,220 balance is after that payment, return is **$1,220**, not $1,020.\n\n**Example 7 — six versus seven settlement payments. [C003–C004]**\n\nInputs: provider periodically receives consumer funds; negotiates principal reduction; all other §12-1002(b) requirements are met.\n\nOperator: test payments per debt against the statutory carveout.\n\nResult with six payments: the payment-count condition is met. Result with seven: it is not met, so the provider cannot rely on that carveout to avoid DMP classification. Reclassify the actual funds activity and required authority. This does not establish that every seven-payment direct-pay settlement is prohibited. No fee entitlement is calculated from incomplete classification.\n\n**Example 8 — attorney connection, CSB overlap, and a fee hold. [C007, C009–C010, C027]**\n\nInputs: a company retains a Maryland lawyer and sells recurring paid programs promising postponed due dates and settlement.\n\nOperator: identify the actual service provider, test the DSS attorney–client/legal-service exclusion, then independently test CSB activity and its exclusions.\n\nIntermediate: a lawyer’s involvement does not prove the company qualifies; represented debt deferral may raise CSB coverage; regular and continuing CSB activity can defeat the lawyer exclusion.\n\nResult: **fee entitlement held pending model-specific classification**. No percentage is assigned from these facts.\n\n**Example 9 — state ceiling with an unsatisfied federal trigger. [C012–C013, C028–C029]**\n\nInputs: licensed DMP provider; signed agreement; proposed $50 consultation charge; TSR applies; no qualifying creditor agreement/payment yet.\n\nOperator: apply both state amount and federal timing rules.\n\nResult: the state ceiling remains $50, but the amount presently requestable/receivable under the assumed TSR facts is **$0**. A ceiling is not advance-fee authorization.\n\n### 7. Component coverage and exact next investigations\n\n| Scope item | Status | Claims | Exact remaining evidence/action |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| DSS/DMP definitions; principal reduction versus concessions; custody boundary | **Answered**, with factual application limits | C002–C005 | For a concrete offering, map provider/agent/account control, representations, and payments per debt. |\n| Consumer/business/agricultural purpose and remote nexus | **Answered** | C002–C003,C006,C010 | Apply definitions to actual debtor and purpose; do not assume every business-related individual debt is excluded. |\n| Authorization and statutory exclusions | **Answered at statutory level** | C006–C011 | Verify legal entity, actual professional/institutional activity, and each claimed exclusion. |\n| Current consumer fee amounts/methods; indexing | **Answered for verified structures** | C013–C027,C038 | No CPI extrapolation needed or justified. Exempt-professional fee regimes remain separate. |\n| State/federal earning and payment timing | **Answered in core; partial at identified edges** | C024–C029,C040 | Locate controlling interpretation of state-only §1010(c)(3), unsettled-debt acceleration, and failed installment settlement accrual/refunds. |\n| Public application route and current operational instructions | **Partial** | C030–C035 | Recover actual current NMLS DMP/DSS/CSB checklists through a functioning public route; verify current NMLS fee and version dates. No filing/contact is authorized here. |\n| Named-provider current status | **Unresolved / not established** | C033 | Obtain a readable NMLS Consumer Access record for a specified entity/identifier, including Maryland authority type and current status. Marketing evidence is insufficient. |\n| Creditor count, partial months, later enrollment after paid counseling | **Unresolved** | C014,C016,C040 | Find controlling OFR interpretation or Maryland decision addressing nonparticipants/paid-off creditors, proration, and credit/refund treatment on later DMP enrollment. |\n| Ordinary cancellation and earned-fee accounting | **Partial** | C017–C018,C026,C040 | Review actual contract and controlling general-law treatment; distinguish earned service fees from unexpended creditor funds. |\n| Self-creditor and mixed DSS/CSB models | **Partial** | C008–C010,C027 | Determine exact contractual promise, payor/compensation, debt purpose, deferral terms, and statutory exclusions before assigning fee permission. |\n| Historical tables, failed proposed cap, sunset, nonprofit change | **Answered** | C036–C039 | Preserve historical labels; do not import old/model/other-state numbers into current cells. |\n| Complete agreement, funds, bonding, accounting, and remedies | **Open—later required pass** | Limited C011–C012,C017–C020,C025–C026 | Read all operative duties, bond amounts/triggers/claims, accounting and contract requirements, enforcement and private remedies together. Current discussion resolves only access/fee dependencies. |\n| Full collection, litigation, limitations, property exemptions, secured debt, sector rules, local/tribal issues, contract law, and case-law coverage | **Open—excluded from completion of this component** | None accepted by implication | Separate primary-source investigations remain required. Student-loan and mortgage disclosures encountered here do not complete those sector passes. |\n\n## E. Researcher self-check\n\n**Actually read:** the operative statutory definitions, full DMP and DSS fee sections, complete exclusion lists, relevant authorization/application provisions, current relevant regulations, the identified final-adoption notices, official 2026 affected-section tables, August enactments used for the currentness check, OFR operational pages, historical materials identified above, and the relevant holdings/passages of *Brown* and *CashCall*. Three parallel research threads supported this consolidated work; this is **not an independent review**.\n\n**Currentness discipline:** the official 2026RS statute PDFs were treated as snapshots. The inaccessible “include enactments” routes for §§12-918 and12-1010 were not represented as read:\n\n- [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gfi&section=12-918&enactments=true](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gfi&section=12-918&enactments=true)\n- [https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gfi&section=12-1010&enactments=true](https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gfi&section=12-1010&enactments=true)\n\nTheir substantive currentness was instead checked against the official amendment records. The failed Register route [https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5202/Assembled.aspx](https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5202/Assembled.aspx) was recovered through the official Archives PDF. These recovered gaps are distinct from the still-unread NMLS checklists.\n\n**Not read or not established:** current NMLS checklist bodies; a live named-provider status record; every page of the 2010 comparative study; every collateral case; every historical proposal incorporated by reference in the adoption notices; or a complete citator treatment history. A bounded official-opinion search located no later reversal or supersession of the particular CSB holdings used here, but that is not a full citator review. No controlling decision directly resolving the identified DSS fee or DMP counting/proration edges was established.\n\nSearch snippets, provider marketing, association charts, older foundation cells, and inaccessible enforcement leads were not used as proof of current permission or fee limits. Proposed, repealed, historical, current, and unread materials are distinguished above.\n\nResearch used public-web retrieval in this conversation, without Deep Research, browser-control access, applications, contacts, purchases, account changes, or publication. The visible model-selector/UI setting was not independently verified, and no separate ChatGPT conversations were opened.\n\n**END S_MD PASS-01**\n\n","tables":[{"headers":["Actual conduct","Maryland classification and boundary","Claim IDs"],"index":0,"links":[],"row_links":[[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[]],"rows":[["Actual conduct","Maryland classification and boundary","Claim IDs"],["Offering or representing that a service will renegotiate, settle, reduce, or otherwise alter payment or other debt terms with unsecured creditors or debt collectors","Potential debt-settlement services, FI §12-1001(d). Coverage includes changes to balances, interest, and fees; principal reduction is not indispensable. An express or implied representation can trigger the definition.","C002"],["Receiving funds periodically from a Maryland-resident individual under an agreement to distribute them among creditors in full or partial payment","Debt-management services, FI §12-901(h), unless a specific exclusion or the settlement carveout applies. A “credit counseling” label does not remove this activity from the definition.","C003–C004"],["Negotiating concessions while the consumer pays creditors directly","Lack of custody does not eliminate settlement coverage. Test the representations and services under §12-1001(d), and separately screen for credit-services activity.","C002, C009"],["Periodically receiving settlement funds while reducing principal","The specific §12-1002(b) carveout removes the activity from DMP coverage only if all its conditions are met: compliance with the settlement subtitle; principal reduction; no more than six settlement payments for each debt; and a dedicated account separate from a DMP trust account and not solely for provider fees.","C004"],["A DMP provider compromises principal","DMP law expressly contemplates compromise with prior written consumer approval and a benefit to the consumer. Principal reduction therefore does not automatically convert a DMP into settlement services.","C005"],["Education or budgeting alone, without receiving distribution funds or representing creditor negotiation","Those facts alone do not establish DMP or DSS coverage. Paid counseling, credit improvement, credit procurement, and related advice still require a separate activity-based screen.","C003, C009, C016"],["Paid services concerning credit improvement or obtaining credit, including some arrangements to defer existing debt","Potential credit services business, CL §14-1901(e), (f), requiring a separate license unless excluded. This can overlap a debt-relief offering.","C009–C010, C027"]]},{"headers":["Person/activity","DMP: FI §12-902","DSS: FI §12-1003","Consequence"],"index":1,"links":[],"row_links":[[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[]],"rows":[["Person/activity","DMP: FI §12-902","DSS: FI §12-1003","Consequence"],["Attorney","Attorney acting in the regular course of the profession","Maryland-Bar-admitted attorney providing professional legal services in an actual attorney–client relationship, in the regular course of the profession","Hiring or associating with a lawyer does not establish the exclusion for the business entity or its nonlegal program."],["Nonprofit","No blanket nonprofit exclusion","No blanket nonprofit exclusion; the provider definition expressly includes nonprofit operations","Analyze required license/registration and the actual entity."],["Escrow agent; CPA; specified banks, credit unions, and savings-and-loan institutions; title insurer/agency/abstract company; judicial officer or court-order actor","Listed regular-course exclusions","Listed regular-course exclusions","The person and activity must fit the actual clause."],["Bill payer","Excluded only if it does not initiate creditor compromise/new-payment-schedule contracts and does not provide debt counseling","Same essential limitations","Adding negotiation or counseling can defeat this exclusion. It does not establish exemption from money-transmission law."],["Accelerated mortgage payment service","Listed regular-course exclusion","Listed regular-course exclusion","Separate defined activity; not general debt-relief permission."],["Business dissolution, winding up, or liquidation","Incidental services excluded","Incidental services excluded","Activity-specific exclusion."],["Trade or mercantile association adjusting debts with a business establishment","Excluded in the stated activity","Excluded in the stated activity","Not an exemption for every commercial negotiator."],["Maryland-licensed mortgage lender","Requires that it not receive consumer funds for distribution among creditors","Licensed lender while engaged in the defined mortgage-lending business; §1003(4)(ii) separately lists an employee of a mortgage lender","The employee clause does not repeat the lender clause’s wording; an affiliate is not automatically an employee."],["Licensed collection agency","No parallel collection-agency exclusion; a DMP licensee is prohibited from operating as a collection agency","Excluded while actually engaged in the defined collection-agency business","A collection license is not general authorization for a separate debtor-side settlement program."],["Original creditor negotiating its own receivable","No freestanding “self-creditor” exclusion appears","No freestanding “self-creditor” exclusion appears","A bilateral workout may fall outside a definition, but an unusual fee-taking model remains a classification hold."]]},{"headers":["Structure","Verified rule","Limits, failures, and refunds"],"index":2,"links":[],"row_links":[[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[]],"rows":[["Structure","Verified rule","Limits, failures, and refunds"],["DMP initial consultation","Maximum $50; the credit-report cost comes from that amount. OFR describes it as initial and one-time.","Not $50 plus a report fee. General state agreement prerequisite and any additional applicable timing rule remain."],["DMP monthly maintenance","Maximum $8 for each creditor listed in the agreement, with $40 total per month.","Creditor count, not enrolled dollars or number of accounts. No separate percentage-of-debt or success-fee pathway appears in §12-918."],["DMP analysis, initial budget, counseling, required education, rescission","No separate fee under §12-918(e).","Renaming one of these components does not create an additional authorized charge."],["DMP voluntary contribution","Cannot be required; accepted contributions plus other consumer DMP fees must remain within the authorized consultation/maintenance aggregate.","A donation is not an escape from the caps."],["DMP standalone counseling/education/materials","Section 12-918(g)(3) permits a charge if the consumer does not enter a DMP agreement. The menu must distinguish included/free and separately charged services.","Cannot require the purchase as a condition of DMP enrollment. No numeric cap appears in this narrow paragraph; other applicable laws remain."],["DMP creditor nonparticipation","If a creditor listed as participating declines, prescribed notice must precede the next scheduled payment by at least five business days. Consumer may modify or rescind.","Rescission under this subsection requires return of all unexpended funds paid for debt reduction. It does not itself say every previously earned service fee must be refunded."],["DMP unauthorized charge","Except for an accidental, bona fide error, unauthorized fees/funds make the agreement void and require return of the unauthorized amount.","This is a specific fee consequence; full remedies remain a later pass."],["DMP dishonored payment","Section 12-918(i) incorporates CL §15-802, including its up-to-$35 collection fee.","The instrument, notice, timing, and defenses matter. This is not an automatic $35 charge for every returned payment."],["DSS proportional allocation","Individual-debt fee must bear the same proportion to the total fee as the individual debt bears to total debt.","No numeric percentage maximum appears in §12-1010(e)(1)(i). Allocation and earning conditions still apply."],["DSS savings percentage","Fee is a percentage of enrollment principal minus the amount paid to settle; the same percentage must apply to every individual debt.","“Principal” is defined as the debt amount when included in the agreement. No statutory 30% ceiling appears in the operative provision."],["DSS consultation/report/contribution","Consultation and credit-report fees are prohibited; a voluntary contribution cannot be required.","No independently authorized setup, monthly, or minimum-per-debt add-on was established."],["DSS dedicated-account administration","A qualifying unaffiliated administrator may charge account-related fees under §12-1010(d)(4).","No numeric state account-fee ceiling was found in that clause. It does not authorize disguised provider compensation or referral exchanges."],["DSS cancellation","Consumer may withdraw anytime without penalty; provider may collect fees lawfully earned.","Dedicated-account funds plus interest, less compliant earned fees, must be returned within seven days."],["CSB overlap","No charging or receiving consideration before full and complete performance of agreed services.","Also subject to the particular extension-of-credit fee-plus-interest limit and the prohibition on certain sole-referral charges. No universal CSB dollar cap was established."]]},{"headers":["Payment","Current statutory amount/basis"],"index":3,"links":[],"row_links":[[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[]],"rows":[["Payment","Current statutory amount/basis"],["DSS initial registration","$400, nonrefundable"],["DSS renewal","$400, nonrefundable"],["DSS NMLS fee","Whatever NMLS imposes; current exact amount held"],["DMP initial investigation","$1,000, nonrefundable"],["DMP initial/annual renewal license: prior fiscal-year GAAP gross revenue ≤$3 million","$500"],[">$3 million–$6 million","$1,000"],[">$6 million–$15 million","$2,000"],[">$15 million–$30 million","$3,000"],[">$30 million","$4,000"],["DMP annual assessment","Separately determined under FI §§12-905(c), 2-120(h) and COMAR 09.03.02.10; no provider-specific amount established"]]},{"headers":["Source ID","Title / issuer and direct literal URL","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation"],"index":4,"links":[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+(gfi)&statuteValue=gfi&utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+%28gfi%29&statuteValue=gfi"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+(gcl)&statuteValue=gcl&utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+%28gcl%29&statuteValue=gcl"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters&utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf"},{"href":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html"},{"href":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08"},{"href":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html"},{"href":"https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf"},{"href":"https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf"},{"href":"https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf"},{"href":"https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS&utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS"},{"href":"https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf"},{"href":"https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf"},{"href":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2"},{"href":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4"},{"href":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes"}],"row_links":[[],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+(gfi)&statuteValue=gfi&utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+%28gfi%29&statuteValue=gfi"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+(gcl)&statuteValue=gcl&utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+%28gcl%29&statuteValue=gcl"}],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters&utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters"}],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html"}],[{"href":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08"}],[{"href":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html"}],[{"href":"https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx"}],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf"},{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS&utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS"}],[{"href":"https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2"},{"href":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4"},{"href":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6"}],[{"href":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes"}]],"rows":[["Source ID","Title / issuer and direct literal URL","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation"],["S_MD-P1-S001","Maryland Code, Financial Institutions Article — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf Key fee texts: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf","Read relevant definitions, exclusions, authorization, application, fee, timing, and cancellation provisions: §§12-901–902, 904–912, 914, 916–920; §§12-1001–1016; §2-120. DMP compilation pp.585–622; §918 individual PDF pp.1–3; §1010 pp.1–2. 2026RS snapshot, not assumed to incorporate all later enactments. Currentness bridge: S003–S006/S036. Not all 700 pages read."],["S_MD-P1-S002","Maryland Code, Commercial Law Article — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf","Full listed sections read. §13-101(d)(1), p.1; §14-1901(c),(e),(f), pp.1–2; §1902(1),(2),(6),(7), p.1; §1903(a)–(d), p.1; §15-802(a)–(e), pp.1–2. Snapshot plus S003 currentness check."],["S_MD-P1-S003","2026 Statutes Affected — MGA, article-filtered views. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+%28gfi%29&statuteValue=gfi ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+%28gcl%29&statuteValue=gcl","Tables read; displayed update September 1, 2026. No listed change to FI12-9/12-10 or the CL provisions relied upon here. Contains bill information as well as chapter fields; an introduced bill is not treated as enacted."],["S_MD-P1-S004","Bills Enacted / Chapters — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters","Opening and relevant ending entries read, including Chapters 881/882; displayed update August 5, 2026. Used to check August-session coverage, not as substantive fee law."],["S_MD-P1-S005","2026 Chapter 881 / HB2100 — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf","Full 3 pages read. Constitutional districting proposal, approved August 5 subject to referendum. No target debt-services amendment; not treated as an already-ratified constitutional amendment."],["S_MD-P1-S006","2026 Chapter 882 / HB2101 — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf","Full page read; §§1–4. Emergency enactment August 5, 2026 concerning a duplicate proposed constitutional amendment. No target debt-services amendment."],["S_MD-P1-S007","COMAR 09.03.02, General Regulations — Maryland DSD. https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html","Administrative history and operative relevant text, especially .01; .08 A–I remote work; .09 A–B locations/names; .10 A–D assessments; .13 locations information. Current text; original final actions checked in S011–S012. Scope of other chapter provisions inspected."],["S_MD-P1-S008","COMAR 09.03.08, Debt Management Services [Repealed] — DSD. https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08","History read: .01 repealed effective October 1, 2005, 32:18 Md. R.1518. Historical, not operative fee authority."],["S_MD-P1-S009","COMAR 09.03.10, Credit and Other Regulation — DSD. https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html","Current chapter text/history read, particularly .01 definitions and .02 reporting; July 2026 .01/.06 changes concern earned wage access. No DSS/DMP numeric fee adjustment established here."],["S_MD-P1-S010","Cumulative Table of COMAR Regulations Adopted, Amended, or Repealed — DSD. https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf","Relevant 09.03 entries, PDF p.3, and coverage through October 16, 2026 checked. Currentness discovery/index support; individual operative text and final actions read separately. Initial failed access was later recovered."],["S_MD-P1-S011","Maryland Register 48:8, final action [21-009-F] — DSD/State Archives. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf","Printed p.308, PDF index19, read. Adopted March 22, 2021, as proposed; permanent .08 effective April 19, 2021. Not merely the earlier emergency rule."],["S_MD-P1-S012","Maryland Register 52:2, final action [24-069-F] — DSD/State Archives. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf","Printed p.67, PDF index22, read. Adopted January 6, 2025; .01/.04 amendments and new .09–.13 effective February 3, 2025, as proposed."],["S_MD-P1-S013","Maryland Register 53:14, final action [25-323-F] — DSD. https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx","p.638, notice read: .01 amendments/new .06 adopted June 22, effective July 20, 2026, as proposed. Earned-wage-access subject matter; not a debt-relief fee revision."],["S_MD-P1-S024","2008 Chapter 606 / HB947 — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf","Nonprofit-restriction changes, pp.1,3–5; effective clause §2, p.9. Enacted, effective June 1, 2008. Relevant historical change read."],["S_MD-P1-S025","2016 Chapter 392 / SB471 — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf","§2 and §4 read: DSS termination-date repeal effective June 1, 2016. Separate fund provisions have their own effective treatment; not conflated."],["S_MD-P1-S026","2016 SB1132 first reader and status — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS","Full 3-page bill and actual status/history read. Proposed attorney change p.2 and 30% cap p.3; status first reading Senate Rules. Unenacted proposal, not current law."],["S_MD-P1-S031","Commissioner v. Brown, Brown & Brown, P.C., 449 Md.345 (2016) — Maryland Court of Appeals. https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf","Relevant analysis/holding read: slip pp.15–16,22–27, especially p.22 n.20. Filed August 19, 2016. Historical mortgage facts; CSB definition/attorney construction used narrowly. No full citator certification."],["S_MD-P1-S032","CashCall, Inc. v. Commissioner, 448 Md.412 (2016) — Maryland Court of Appeals. https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf","Holding and relevant compensation analysis read, slip pp.1,20–28. Filed June 23, 2016. Rejects broad direct-payment prerequisite in the business model litigated; not a DSS fee decision."],["S_MD-P1-S033","16 CFR Part310 — eCFR. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2 ; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4 ; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6","Exact provisions read: §310.2(o); §310.4(a)(5)(i)(A)–(C), (ii)(A)–(E); §310.6(b)(5)–(6). Displayed current through October 21, 2026. Federal common context only; eCFR is authoritative but unofficial."],["S_MD-P1-S036","Statutes presentation/version explanation — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes","January/October text and session-enactment explanation read. Establishes why the 2026RS snapshot alone is insufficient evidence of October currentness."]]},{"headers":["Source ID","Title / issuer and direct literal URL","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result"],"index":5,"links":[{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml"},{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml"},{"href":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml"},{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml"},{"href":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf"},{"href":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf"},{"href":"https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/","text":"https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/"},{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml"},{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml"},{"href":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf"},{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf"},{"href":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml"},{"href":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml"},{"href":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf"},{"href":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business"},{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml"}],"row_links":[[],[{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml"}],[{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml"}],[{"href":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml"}],[{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml"}],[{"href":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/","text":"https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/"}],[{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml"}],[{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml"}],[{"href":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml"}],[{"href":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml"}],[{"href":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf"}],[{"href":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business"}],[{"href":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com","text":"https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml"}]],"rows":[["Source ID","Title / issuer and direct literal URL","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result"],["S_MD-P1-S014","Debt Management Services industry page — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml","Body, license/application links, locations instructions read. Updated May 11, 2026. Operational guidance; update date is not a legal effective date."],["S_MD-P1-S015","Debt Settlement Services Providers — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml","Body, registration requirements and application links read. Updated August 5, 2024. Supports procedure, not exemption or provider-specific status."],["S_MD-P1-S016","Debt Management Services consumer guidance — OFR. https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml","“Your Protection” and cancellation/restriction passages read. Confirms initial one-time $50 and $8/$40 monthly figures. No legal effective date inferred."],["S_MD-P1-S017","License/registration search instructions — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml","Actual body and DMP/DSS lookup routing read. Instructions verified; no named-provider result obtained."],["S_MD-P1-S018","DMP new-application checklist — NMLS, linked by OFR. https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf","Not read: redirected to generic knowledge-center home, zero readable checklist lines. Current detailed checklist held."],["S_MD-P1-S019","DSS new-application checklist — NMLS, linked by OFR. https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf","Not read: same redirect/blank result. Exact current NMLS processing charge not verified."],["S_MD-P1-S020","NMLS Consumer Access. https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/","Failed retrieval / 404 in this tool. Does not establish the service itself is unavailable to everyone. No status record read."],["S_MD-P1-S021","Prepare for Renewal of Your Maryland License or Registration — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml","October 20, 2026; opening, “General Reminders,” NMLS approved-status and automatic-renewal paragraphs read. Later direct retry failed, but previously retrieved body was successfully reopened."],["S_MD-P1-S022","Application and Licensing Fees — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml","DMP/DSS tables and footer read. Updated October 24, 2016; historical/superseded amounts, not current controlling fee evidence."],["S_MD-P1-S023","Debt Settlement NMLS Transition FAQs — OFR. https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf","July 2019, pp.1–2 registration term/fee transition read. Historical NMLS fee not carried forward as current."],["S_MD-P1-S027","Maryland Debt Settlement Services Study — state study. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf","December 2010 cover and printed p.11, PDF index13, visually read. The inspected 15% passage concerns Illinois. Entire 96-page report not read; historical comparative material only."],["S_MD-P1-S028","Credit Services Businesses industry page — OFR. https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml","Full body read; September 16, 2026 update, application/location instructions, and citations to Brown/CashCall. Guidance does not replace statute."],["S_MD-P1-S029","Credit Services Businesses FAQ — OFR. https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml","Particularly Q7–11, remote activity, indirect compensation, exclusions, and other-license overlap. Read; September 16, 2026 guidance, not an individual licensing determination."],["S_MD-P1-S030","CSB new-application checklist — NMLS, linked by OFR. https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf","Not read: generic-home redirect with zero readable checklist text."],["S_MD-P1-S034","Debt Relief Services & the TSR: Guide for Business — FTC staff. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business","“Collecting Fees,” examples12–13, “Requiring a Dedicated Account,” and scope passages read. July 2010, nonbinding staff guidance. Used only where consistent with current S033; old recordkeeping duration not adopted."],["S_MD-P1-S035","2026 Licensee Assessment advisory — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml","May 11, 2026; assessment basis, notices, and year-specific determination paragraphs read. Provider assessment, not a consumer-fee adjustment."]]},{"headers":["Claim ID","Precise assertion","Sources and exact pinpoints","Conditions/currentness/confidence"],"index":6,"links":[],"row_links":[[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[]],"rows":[["Claim ID","Precise assertion","Sources and exact pinpoints","Conditions/currentness/confidence"],["S_MD-P1-C001","The target statutory text is supported through the access date by the snapshot plus the checked 2026 amendment records; a 2026RS path alone is insufficient.","S001–S006; S036; S010 relevant09.03 entries","High for inspected text and amendment check; not certification of every Maryland law or order."],["S_MD-P1-C002","DSS includes represented changes to unsecured debt terms without a custody prerequisite; resident individual/consumer-debt and interstate-channel elements apply; nonprofits included.","S001 §12-1001(b),(d),(g),(i); S002 §13-101(d)(1)","High—text. Agricultural purpose included; DMP expressly excluded."],["S_MD-P1-C003","DMP is periodic receipt for creditor distribution, full or partial payment, for a resident individual; no equivalent express debt-purpose restriction appears.","S001 §12-901(d),(h),(j),(o)","High—text; actual funds flow and exclusions required."],["S_MD-P1-C004","The settlement/DMP carveout requires all §1002(b) conditions, including principal reduction and ≤6 payments per debt.","S001 §12-1002(a),(b)(1)–(3)","High—text. Losing carveout is not a universal prohibition on every seven-payment, noncustodial settlement."],["S_MD-P1-C005","DMP compromise requires prior written approval and consumer benefit; debt buying, lending, security taking, collection-agency operation and listed ancillary conduct are prohibited.","S001 §12-920(a)(1)–(5),(9)–(10)","High—text. A different license does not erase these prohibitions."],["S_MD-P1-C006","Nonexempt DSS requires Commissioner registration; nonexempt DMP requires Commissioner licensure even without a Maryland office; nonprofit status does not generally excuse either.","S001 §§12-1004,12-906(a),12-908(b)(11); S024","High—text; eligibility is not automatic issuance."],["S_MD-P1-C007","The exclusion matrix in A2 states the actual distinct DMP/DSS categories and activity conditions.","S001 entire §§12-902,12-1003","High—text. No blanket attorney-affiliate or nonprofit exclusion inferred."],["S_MD-P1-C008","Neither exclusion list contains a freestanding self-creditor exclusion; an unusual original-creditor fee model needs definition/other-law analysis.","S001 §§12-901(h),12-902,12-1001(d),12-1003; S002 §14-1901(e)","High for absence in those lists; model-specific outcome held."],["S_MD-P1-C009","Paid credit-improvement/credit-obtaining activity can trigger CSB; deferring existing debt is included in “extension of credit”; direct consumer payment is not universally necessary.","S002 §14-1901(e),(f); S031 slippp.15–16; S032 slippp.1,20–28","High statutory/holding support; application to a particular unsecured workout is conditional."],["S_MD-P1-C010","CSB requires its own license absent §1901(e)(3) exclusion and has resident/remote nexus; attorney exclusion has three cumulative conditions.","S002 §§14-1901(e)(3),14-1903(a)–(d); S031 pp.22–27,n.20; S029 Q11","High—text/holding. Brown reserved the employment-based first-prong issue."],["S_MD-P1-C011","DMP entry requires statutory fitness, financial, staffing, application and bond conditions; DSS dedicated-account establishment triggers a $50,000 bond.","S001 §§12-907,12-908,12-914; §12-1014(a),(b)(2)","High—text. Full bond mechanics deferred."],["S_MD-P1-C012","DMP generally cannot impose fees or receive consumer/on-behalf funds before an executed agreement; §916 pre-service conditions also apply.","S001 §12-918(a); §12-916(a),(b)(2)(iii),(vii)","High—text; express(g)(3)/(i) exceptions and additional federal/CSB timing preserved."],["S_MD-P1-C013","DMP consultation ≤$50; credit-report cost included; OFR calls it initial one-time.","S001 §12-918(b); §12-901(c); S016 “Your Protection”","High—text plus agency characterization."],["S_MD-P1-C014","DMP monthly maintenance ≤$8 per listed creditor and≤$40 total; no debt-balance percentage formula.","S001 §12-918(c); §12-901(o)","High—text; edge creditor counts held in C040."],["S_MD-P1-C015","No separate DMP analysis/budget/counseling/required-education/rescission fee; no required contribution; accepted contributions stay within aggregate authorized fees.","S001 §12-918(e),(f),(g)(2)","High—text; not a donation workaround."],["S_MD-P1-C016","Narrow standalone counseling/education/materials charges are allowed when the consumer does not enter DMP, with disclosed service distinctions.","S001 §12-918(g)(1)–(3)","High—text. No numeric cap there; other-law clearance and later-enrollment treatment not established."],["S_MD-P1-C017","Agreement must permit written rescission anytime; creditor refusal triggers ≥5-business-day notice and refund of unexpended debt-reduction funds upon qualifying rescission.","S001 §12-916(b)(2)(vi); §12-918(h),(e)(4)","High—text. Not an automatic refund of all earned service fees."],["S_MD-P1-C018","Unauthorized DMP amounts generally void agreement/require return; required-license persons operating unlicensed face §916(c)’s fee recovery consequence.","S001 §12-918(j); §12-916(c)","High—text. Bona fide-error qualification; do not apply mechanically to a statutorily excluded person."],["S_MD-P1-C019","Dishonor fee pathway cross-references CL15-802, including up-to-$35 collection fee and procedural conditions.","S001 §12-918(i); S002 §15-802(a)–(e)","High—text: ten-day unpaid threshold for notice, thirty-day provisions and defenses; damages are not routine service fees."],["S_MD-P1-C020","Creditor compensation is disclosed; misdirected-payment creditor charges are reimbursed; specified related-party referral fees/incentives prohibited.","S001 §12-916(b)(2)(ix); §12-917(b)(3); §12-920(a)(7)–(8),(11),(13),(b)","High—text. No consumer-cap escape or general creditor-compensation ceiling inferred."],["S_MD-P1-C021","DSS proportional method allocates total fee according to each debt’s share; no numeric percentage ceiling appears in that clause.","S001 §12-1010(e)(1)(i); §12-1012(a)(2)(iv)–(vi)","High—text. Not a finding that any chosen total is lawful."],["S_MD-P1-C022","DSS savings method uses enrollment principal less settlement payment; identical percentage for each debt.","S001 §12-1001(j); §12-1010(e)(1)(ii),(2)","High—text. No minimum fee or 30% cap supplied by current clause."],["S_MD-P1-C023","DSS consultation/report fees and mandatory contributions prohibited; separate setup/monthly/minimum fee safe harbor not established.","S001 §12-1010(b),(e); §12-1012(a)(2)(iv)","High for prohibitions; other fee labels must satisfy actual statute, not presumed independent authority."],["S_MD-P1-C024","State DSS charge trigger requires executed agreement, alteration of at least one listed debt, and at least one payment under DSS agreement.","S001 §12-1010(c)(1)–(3)","High—text. State-only deposit/per-debt acceleration interpretations held."],["S_MD-P1-C025","Dedicated-account deposits require insured institution, consumer ownership/interest, independent administrator, no referral exchange; account-related fees permitted.","S001 §12-1010(d)(1)–(5)","High—text. No numeric administrator-fee ceiling established; deposits are not automatically provider receipts."],["S_MD-P1-C026","DSS withdrawal anytime/no penalty; only compliant earned fees collectible; dedicated balance/interest returned less earned fees within7days.","S001 §12-1010(d)(5),(f); §12-1012(a)(2)(ix),(xi)","High—text. Previously paid earned fees cannot be deducted twice."],["S_MD-P1-C027","Applicable CSB law prohibits charging/receiving before full performance, certain sole-referral payments, and fees+interest above applicable credit limits.","S002 §14-1902(1),(2),(6),(7)","High—text; exact credit-rate application requires the actual extension/model."],["S_MD-P1-C028","Covered TSR debt relief requires creditor-agreement performance/payment and permitted per-debt allocation before requesting/receiving fees; dedicated-account return≤7businessdays.","S033 §310.4(a)(5)(i),(ii); S034 “Collecting Fees”","High federal text; staff guide nonbinding. Coverage not assumed for every transaction."],["S_MD-P1-C029","State fee permission/cap does not waive applicable TSR timing; qualifying DMP arrangements can be federal debt relief.","S033 §§310.2(o),310.4(a)(5),310.6(b)(5)–(6); S034 coverage examples","High conditional conclusion. Full federal applicability audit outside this component."],["S_MD-P1-C030","DMP state initial investigation=$1,000; initial/renewal license tiers=$500/$1,000/$2,000/$3,000/$4,000 at stated revenue bands.","S001 §12-904; §12-901(b)","High—text. Provider cost, not consumer charge."],["S_MD-P1-C031","DSS issuance/renewal=$400 each, nonrefundable, plus actual NMLS fees; current exact NMLS amount not verified.","S001 §12-1006(a),(b); S019; S023","High state amount; NMLS amount held."],["S_MD-P1-C032","DMP locations/names must be accurately maintained; employee remote-work permission has specific conditions and does not cover independent contractors merely by label.","S001 §12-911; S007 .08A–I,.09; S014","High—text. .08 enumerates DMP/CSB licenses, not DSS registration; no general remote exemption inferred."],["S_MD-P1-C033","Current OFR application/lookup routes exist, but checklist contents and live status were not retrieved.","S014–S020; S028–S030","Procedural evidence plus explicit failure. No provider authorization claim."],["S_MD-P1-C034","OFR’s October20 advisory confirms 2026 renewal workflow; statutory terms/renewal remain applicable.","S021 opening/General Reminders; S001 §§12-912,12-1009","High procedure/text. Future renewal window is not an existing renewal approval."],["S_MD-P1-C035","Annual assessment is separate, year-specific provider obligation; not consumer CPI adjustment.","S001 §§12-905(c),2-120(h); S007 .10; S035","High—text/guidance. Provider-specific amount unresolved."],["S_MD-P1-C036","DMP nonprofit-only restriction removed in2008; DSS sunset repealed in2016.","S024 §2 and amendments; S025 §§2,4","High enacted-history support; effective dates as stated."],["S_MD-P1-C037","2016 proposed30% cap, 2010 Illinois15% discussion, and obsolete provider-fee tables do not establish current Maryland consumer ceilings.","S026 p.3/status; S027 printedp.11; S022; S023","High for inspected historical distinctions."],["S_MD-P1-C038","No consumer CPI/indexing change was established; use verified fixed DMP numbers and actual DSS methods without invented adjustment.","S001 entire§§12-918,12-1010; S010; S016; S035","High for no indexing clause; bounded search result for notices."],["S_MD-P1-C039","Old DMP COMAR chapter is repealed; remote/location/assessment final actions have verified permanent effective dates; 2026 earned-wage rule is different subject matter.","S007–S013","High current text/adoption evidence; no proposal treated as operative."],["S_MD-P1-C040","Broader creditor counts, general proration/refund rules, state-only DSS payment interpretation, installment failure/fee accrual, and model-specific overlap remain unresolved.","S001 §§12-901(o),916,918,1002,1010; S002 §§14-1901–1903","Held, not negative permission or established exemption."]]},{"headers":["Scope item","Status","Claims","Exact remaining evidence/action"],"index":7,"links":[],"row_links":[[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[],[]],"rows":[["Scope item","Status","Claims","Exact remaining evidence/action"],["DSS/DMP definitions; principal reduction versus concessions; custody boundary","Answered, with factual application limits","C002–C005","For a concrete offering, map provider/agent/account control, representations, and payments per debt."],["Consumer/business/agricultural purpose and remote nexus","Answered","C002–C003,C006,C010","Apply definitions to actual debtor and purpose; do not assume every business-related individual debt is excluded."],["Authorization and statutory exclusions","Answered at statutory level","C006–C011","Verify legal entity, actual professional/institutional activity, and each claimed exclusion."],["Current consumer fee amounts/methods; indexing","Answered for verified structures","C013–C027,C038","No CPI extrapolation needed or justified. Exempt-professional fee regimes remain separate."],["State/federal earning and payment timing","Answered in core; partial at identified edges","C024–C029,C040","Locate controlling interpretation of state-only §1010(c)(3), unsettled-debt acceleration, and failed installment settlement accrual/refunds."],["Public application route and current operational instructions","Partial","C030–C035","Recover actual current NMLS DMP/DSS/CSB checklists through a functioning public route; verify current NMLS fee and version dates. No filing/contact is authorized here."],["Named-provider current status","Unresolved / not established","C033","Obtain a readable NMLS Consumer Access record for a specified entity/identifier, including Maryland authority type and current status. Marketing evidence is insufficient."],["Creditor count, partial months, later enrollment after paid counseling","Unresolved","C014,C016,C040","Find controlling OFR interpretation or Maryland decision addressing nonparticipants/paid-off creditors, proration, and credit/refund treatment on later DMP enrollment."],["Ordinary cancellation and earned-fee accounting","Partial","C017–C018,C026,C040","Review actual contract and controlling general-law treatment; distinguish earned service fees from unexpended creditor funds."],["Self-creditor and mixed DSS/CSB models","Partial","C008–C010,C027","Determine exact contractual promise, payor/compensation, debt purpose, deferral terms, and statutory exclusions before assigning fee permission."],["Historical tables, failed proposed cap, sunset, nonprofit change","Answered","C036–C039","Preserve historical labels; do not import old/model/other-state numbers into current cells."],["Complete agreement, funds, bonding, accounting, and remedies","Open—later required pass","Limited C011–C012,C017–C020,C025–C026","Read all operative duties, bond amounts/triggers/claims, accounting and contract requirements, enforcement and private remedies together. Current discussion resolves only access/fee dependencies."],["Full collection, litigation, limitations, property exemptions, secured debt, sector rules, local/tribal issues, contract law, and case-law coverage","Open—excluded from completion of this component","None accepted by implication","Separate primary-source investigations remain required. Student-loan and mortgage disclosures encountered here do not complete those sector passes."]]}],"claims":[{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C001","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C001","Precise assertion":"The target statutory text is supported through the access date by the snapshot plus the checked 2026 amendment records; a 2026RS path alone is insufficient.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001–S006; S036; S010 relevant09.03 entries","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High for inspected text and amendment check; not certification of every Maryland law or order."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C002","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C002","Precise assertion":"DSS includes represented changes to unsecured debt terms without a custody prerequisite; resident individual/consumer-debt and interstate-channel elements apply; nonprofits included.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-1001(b),(d),(g),(i); S002 §13-101(d)(1)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. Agricultural purpose included; DMP expressly excluded."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C003","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C003","Precise assertion":"DMP is periodic receipt for creditor distribution, full or partial payment, for a resident individual; no equivalent express debt-purpose restriction appears.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-901(d),(h),(j),(o)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text; actual funds flow and exclusions required."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C004","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C004","Precise assertion":"The settlement/DMP carveout requires all §1002(b) conditions, including principal reduction and ≤6 payments per debt.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-1002(a),(b)(1)–(3)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. Losing carveout is not a universal prohibition on every seven-payment, noncustodial settlement."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C005","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C005","Precise assertion":"DMP compromise requires prior written approval and consumer benefit; debt buying, lending, security taking, collection-agency operation and listed ancillary conduct are prohibited.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-920(a)(1)–(5),(9)–(10)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. A different license does not erase these prohibitions."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C006","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C006","Precise assertion":"Nonexempt DSS requires Commissioner registration; nonexempt DMP requires Commissioner licensure even without a Maryland office; nonprofit status does not generally excuse either.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §§12-1004,12-906(a),12-908(b)(11); S024","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text; eligibility is not automatic issuance."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C007","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C007","Precise assertion":"The exclusion matrix in A2 states the actual distinct DMP/DSS categories and activity conditions.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 entire §§12-902,12-1003","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. No blanket attorney-affiliate or nonprofit exclusion inferred."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C008","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C008","Precise assertion":"Neither exclusion list contains a freestanding self-creditor exclusion; an unusual original-creditor fee model needs definition/other-law analysis.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §§12-901(h),12-902,12-1001(d),12-1003; S002 §14-1901(e)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High for absence in those lists; model-specific outcome held."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C009","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C009","Precise assertion":"Paid credit-improvement/credit-obtaining activity can trigger CSB; deferring existing debt is included in “extension of credit”; direct consumer payment is not universally necessary.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S002 §14-1901(e),(f); S031 slippp.15–16; S032 slippp.1,20–28","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High statutory/holding support; application to a particular unsecured workout is conditional."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C010","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C010","Precise assertion":"CSB requires its own license absent §1901(e)(3) exclusion and has resident/remote nexus; attorney exclusion has three cumulative conditions.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S002 §§14-1901(e)(3),14-1903(a)–(d); S031 pp.22–27,n.20; S029 Q11","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text/holding. Brown reserved the employment-based first-prong issue."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C011","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C011","Precise assertion":"DMP entry requires statutory fitness, financial, staffing, application and bond conditions; DSS dedicated-account establishment triggers a $50,000 bond.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §§12-907,12-908,12-914; §12-1014(a),(b)(2)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. Full bond mechanics deferred."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C012","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C012","Precise assertion":"DMP generally cannot impose fees or receive consumer/on-behalf funds before an executed agreement; §916 pre-service conditions also apply.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-918(a); §12-916(a),(b)(2)(iii),(vii)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text; express(g)(3)/(i) exceptions and additional federal/CSB timing preserved."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C013","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C013","Precise assertion":"DMP consultation ≤$50; credit-report cost included; OFR calls it initial one-time.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-918(b); §12-901(c); S016 “Your Protection”","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text plus agency characterization."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C014","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C014","Precise assertion":"DMP monthly maintenance ≤$8 per listed creditor and≤$40 total; no debt-balance percentage formula.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-918(c); §12-901(o)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text; edge creditor counts held in C040."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C015","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C015","Precise assertion":"No separate DMP analysis/budget/counseling/required-education/rescission fee; no required contribution; accepted contributions stay within aggregate authorized fees.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-918(e),(f),(g)(2)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text; not a donation workaround."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C016","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C016","Precise assertion":"Narrow standalone counseling/education/materials charges are allowed when the consumer does not enter DMP, with disclosed service distinctions.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-918(g)(1)–(3)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. No numeric cap there; other-law clearance and later-enrollment treatment not established."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C017","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C017","Precise assertion":"Agreement must permit written rescission anytime; creditor refusal triggers ≥5-business-day notice and refund of unexpended debt-reduction funds upon qualifying rescission.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-916(b)(2)(vi); §12-918(h),(e)(4)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. Not an automatic refund of all earned service fees."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C018","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C018","Precise assertion":"Unauthorized DMP amounts generally void agreement/require return; required-license persons operating unlicensed face §916(c)’s fee recovery consequence.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-918(j); §12-916(c)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. Bona fide-error qualification; do not apply mechanically to a statutorily excluded person."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C019","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C019","Precise assertion":"Dishonor fee pathway cross-references CL15-802, including up-to-$35 collection fee and procedural conditions.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-918(i); S002 §15-802(a)–(e)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text: ten-day unpaid threshold for notice, thirty-day provisions and defenses; damages are not routine service fees."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C020","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C020","Precise assertion":"Creditor compensation is disclosed; misdirected-payment creditor charges are reimbursed; specified related-party referral fees/incentives prohibited.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-916(b)(2)(ix); §12-917(b)(3); §12-920(a)(7)–(8),(11),(13),(b)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. No consumer-cap escape or general creditor-compensation ceiling inferred."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C021","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C021","Precise assertion":"DSS proportional method allocates total fee according to each debt’s share; no numeric percentage ceiling appears in that clause.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-1010(e)(1)(i); §12-1012(a)(2)(iv)–(vi)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. Not a finding that any chosen total is lawful."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C022","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C022","Precise assertion":"DSS savings method uses enrollment principal less settlement payment; identical percentage for each debt.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-1001(j); §12-1010(e)(1)(ii),(2)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. No minimum fee or 30% cap supplied by current clause."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C023","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C023","Precise assertion":"DSS consultation/report fees and mandatory contributions prohibited; separate setup/monthly/minimum fee safe harbor not established.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-1010(b),(e); §12-1012(a)(2)(iv)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High for prohibitions; other fee labels must satisfy actual statute, not presumed independent authority."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C024","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C024","Precise assertion":"State DSS charge trigger requires executed agreement, alteration of at least one listed debt, and at least one payment under DSS agreement.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-1010(c)(1)–(3)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. State-only deposit/per-debt acceleration interpretations held."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C025","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C025","Precise assertion":"Dedicated-account deposits require insured institution, consumer ownership/interest, independent administrator, no referral exchange; account-related fees permitted.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-1010(d)(1)–(5)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. No numeric administrator-fee ceiling established; deposits are not automatically provider receipts."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C026","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C026","Precise assertion":"DSS withdrawal anytime/no penalty; only compliant earned fees collectible; dedicated balance/interest returned less earned fees within7days.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-1010(d)(5),(f); §12-1012(a)(2)(ix),(xi)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. Previously paid earned fees cannot be deducted twice."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C027","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C027","Precise assertion":"Applicable CSB law prohibits charging/receiving before full performance, certain sole-referral payments, and fees+interest above applicable credit limits.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S002 §14-1902(1),(2),(6),(7)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text; exact credit-rate application requires the actual extension/model."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C028","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C028","Precise assertion":"Covered TSR debt relief requires creditor-agreement performance/payment and permitted per-debt allocation before requesting/receiving fees; dedicated-account return≤7businessdays.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S033 §310.4(a)(5)(i),(ii); S034 “Collecting Fees”","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High federal text; staff guide nonbinding. Coverage not assumed for every transaction."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C029","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C029","Precise assertion":"State fee permission/cap does not waive applicable TSR timing; qualifying DMP arrangements can be federal debt relief.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S033 §§310.2(o),310.4(a)(5),310.6(b)(5)–(6); S034 coverage examples","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High conditional conclusion. Full federal applicability audit outside this component."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C030","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C030","Precise assertion":"DMP state initial investigation=$1,000; initial/renewal license tiers=$500/$1,000/$2,000/$3,000/$4,000 at stated revenue bands.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-904; §12-901(b)","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. Provider cost, not consumer charge."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C031","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C031","Precise assertion":"DSS issuance/renewal=$400 each, nonrefundable, plus actual NMLS fees; current exact NMLS amount not verified.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-1006(a),(b); S019; S023","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High state amount; NMLS amount held."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C032","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C032","Precise assertion":"DMP locations/names must be accurately maintained; employee remote-work permission has specific conditions and does not cover independent contractors merely by label.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §12-911; S007 .08A–I,.09; S014","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text. .08 enumerates DMP/CSB licenses, not DSS registration; no general remote exemption inferred."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C033","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C033","Precise assertion":"Current OFR application/lookup routes exist, but checklist contents and live status were not retrieved.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S014–S020; S028–S030","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"Procedural evidence plus explicit failure. No provider authorization claim."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C034","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C034","Precise assertion":"OFR’s October20 advisory confirms 2026 renewal workflow; statutory terms/renewal remain applicable.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S021 opening/General Reminders; S001 §§12-912,12-1009","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High procedure/text. Future renewal window is not an existing renewal approval."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C035","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C035","Precise assertion":"Annual assessment is separate, year-specific provider obligation; not consumer CPI adjustment.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §§12-905(c),2-120(h); S007 .10; S035","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High—text/guidance. Provider-specific amount unresolved."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C036","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C036","Precise assertion":"DMP nonprofit-only restriction removed in2008; DSS sunset repealed in2016.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S024 §2 and amendments; S025 §§2,4","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High enacted-history support; effective dates as stated."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C037","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C037","Precise assertion":"2016 proposed30% cap, 2010 Illinois15% discussion, and obsolete provider-fee tables do not establish current Maryland consumer ceilings.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S026 p.3/status; S027 printedp.11; S022; S023","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High for inspected historical distinctions."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C038","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C038","Precise assertion":"No consumer CPI/indexing change was established; use verified fixed DMP numbers and actual DSS methods without invented adjustment.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 entire§§12-918,12-1010; S010; S016; S035","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High for no indexing clause; bounded search result for notices."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C039","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C039","Precise assertion":"Old DMP COMAR chapter is repealed; remote/location/assessment final actions have verified permanent effective dates; 2026 earned-wage rule is different subject matter.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S007–S013","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"High current text/adoption evidence; no proposal treated as operative."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"claim_id":"S_MD-P1-C040","area_numbers":[66],"area_assignment_method":"task_scope_fallback","researcher_record":{"Claim ID":"S_MD-P1-C040","Precise assertion":"Broader creditor counts, general proration/refund rules, state-only DSS payment interpretation, installment failure/fee accrual, and model-specific overlap remain unresolved.","Sources and exact pinpoints":"S001 §§12-901(o),916,918,1002,1010; S002 §§14-1901–1903","Conditions/currentness/confidence":"Held, not negative permission or established exemption."},"coordinator_verification_status":"all_claim_conditions_read_selected_support_only_no_blanket_currentness_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"}],"sources":[{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S001","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S001","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Maryland Code, Financial Institutions Article — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/gfi.pdf Key fee texts: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-918.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gfi/12-1010.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Read relevant definitions, exclusions, authorization, application, fee, timing, and cancellation provisions: §§12-901–902, 904–912, 914, 916–920; §§12-1001–1016; §2-120. DMP compilation pp.585–622; §918 individual PDF pp.1–3; §1010 pp.1–2. 2026RS snapshot, not assumed to incorporate all later enactments. Currentness bridge: S003–S006/S036. Not all 700 pages read."},"coordinator_verification_status":"selected_passages_only_see_check_limits","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S002","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S002","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Maryland Code, Commercial Law Article — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/13-101.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1901.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1902.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/14-1903.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/Statute_Web/gcl/15-802.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Full listed sections read. §13-101(d)(1), p.1; §14-1901(c),(e),(f), pp.1–2; §1902(1),(2),(6),(7), p.1; §1903(a)–(d), p.1; §15-802(a)–(e), pp.1–2. Snapshot plus S003 currentness check."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S003","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+%28gfi%29&statuteValue=gfi","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+%28gcl%29&statuteValue=gcl","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+(gfi)&statuteValue=gfi&utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+(gcl)&statuteValue=gcl&utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S003","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"2026 Statutes Affected — MGA, article-filtered views. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Financial+Institutions+-+%28gfi%29&statuteValue=gfi ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatutesAffected?statuteText=Commercial+Law+-+%28gcl%29&statuteValue=gcl","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Tables read; displayed update September 1, 2026. No listed change to FI12-9/12-10 or the CL provisions relied upon here. Contains bill information as well as chapter fields; an introduced bill is not treated as enacted."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S004","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters&utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S004","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Bills Enacted / Chapters — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Report?id=chapters","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Opening and relevant ending entries read, including Chapters 881/882; displayed update August 5, 2026. Used to check August-session coverage, not as substantive fee law."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S005","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S005","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"2026 Chapter 881 / HB2100 — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_881_hb2100T.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Full 3 pages read. Constitutional districting proposal, approved August 5 subject to referendum. No target debt-services amendment; not treated as an already-ratified constitutional amendment."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S006","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S006","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"2026 Chapter 882 / HB2101 — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2026RS/chapters_noln/Ch_882_hb2101T.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Full page read; §§1–4. Emergency enactment August 5, 2026 concerning a duplicate proposed constitutional amendment. No target debt-services amendment."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S007","urls":["https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html","https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S007","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"COMAR 09.03.02, General Regulations — Maryland DSD. https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.02/index.full.html","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Administrative history and operative relevant text, especially .01; .08 A–I remote work; .09 A–B locations/names; .10 A–D assessments; .13 locations information. Current text; original final actions checked in S011–S012. Scope of other chapter provisions inspected."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S008","urls":["https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08","https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S008","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"COMAR 09.03.08, Debt Management Services [Repealed] — DSD. https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.08","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"History read: .01 repealed effective October 1, 2005, 32:18 Md. R.1518. Historical, not operative fee authority."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S009","urls":["https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html","https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S009","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"COMAR 09.03.10, Credit and Other Regulation — DSD. https://regs.maryland.gov/us/md/exec/comar/09.03.10/index.full.html","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Current chapter text/history read, particularly .01 definitions and .02 reporting; July 2026 .01/.06 changes concern earned wage access. No DSS/DMP numeric fee adjustment established here."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S010","urls":["https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf","https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S010","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Cumulative Table of COMAR Regulations Adopted, Amended, or Repealed — DSD. https://dsd.maryland.gov/PDF/CumulativeTable.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Relevant 09.03 entries, PDF p.3, and coverage through October 16, 2026 checked. Currentness discovery/index support; individual operative text and final actions read separately. Initial failed access was later recovered."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S011","urls":["https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf","https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S011","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Maryland Register 48:8, final action [21-009-F] — DSD/State Archives. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/024900/024973/20210117e.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Printed p.308, PDF index19, read. Adopted March 22, 2021, as proposed; permanent .08 effective April 19, 2021. Not merely the earlier emergency rule."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S012","urls":["https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf","https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S012","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Maryland Register 52:2, final action [24-069-F] — DSD/State Archives. https://msa.maryland.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc5300/sc5339/000113/027000/027036/20250133e.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Printed p.67, PDF index22, read. Adopted January 6, 2025; .01/.04 amendments and new .09–.13 effective February 3, 2025, as proposed."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S013","urls":["https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx","https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S013","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Maryland Register 53:14, final action [25-323-F] — DSD. https://dsd.maryland.gov/MDRIssues/5314/Assembled.aspx","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"p.638, notice read: .01 amendments/new .06 adopted June 22, effective July 20, 2026, as proposed. Earned-wage-access subject matter; not a debt-relief fee revision."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S024","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S024","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"2008 Chapter 606 / HB947 — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2008rs/chapters_noln/Ch_606_hb0947T.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Nonprofit-restriction changes, pp.1,3–5; effective clause §2, p.9. Enacted, effective June 1, 2008. Relevant historical change read."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S025","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S025","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"2016 Chapter 392 / SB471 — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/Chapters_noln/CH_392_sb0471t.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"§2 and §4 read: DSS termination-date repeal effective June 1, 2016. Separate fund provisions have their own effective treatment; not conflated."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S026","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS&utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S026","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"2016 SB1132 first reader and status — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2016RS/bills/sb/sb1132f.pdf ; https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/sb1132?ys=2016RS","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Full 3-page bill and actual status/history read. Proposed attorney change p.2 and 30% cap p.3; status first reading Senate Rules. Unenacted proposal, not current law."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S031","urls":["https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf","https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S031","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Commissioner v. Brown, Brown & Brown, P.C., 449 Md.345 (2016) — Maryland Court of Appeals. https://www.courts.state.md.us/data/opinions/coa/2016/102a15.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Relevant analysis/holding read: slip pp.15–16,22–27, especially p.22 n.20. Filed August 19, 2016. Historical mortgage facts; CSB definition/attorney construction used narrowly. No full citator certification."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S032","urls":["https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf","https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S032","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"CashCall, Inc. v. Commissioner, 448 Md.412 (2016) — Maryland Court of Appeals. https://www.mdcourts.gov/data/opinions/coa/2016/80a15.pdf","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Holding and relevant compensation analysis read, slip pp.1,20–28. Filed June 23, 2016. Rejects broad direct-payment prerequisite in the business model litigated; not a DSS fee decision."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S033","urls":["https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2","https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4","https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6","https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2?utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4?utm_source=chatgpt.com","https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S033","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"16 CFR Part310 — eCFR. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.2 ; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.4 ; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310/section-310.6","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"Exact provisions read: §310.2(o); §310.4(a)(5)(i)(A)–(C), (ii)(A)–(E); §310.6(b)(5)–(6). Displayed current through October 21, 2026. Federal common context only; eCFR is authoritative but unofficial."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S036","urls":["https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes","https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S036","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Statutes presentation/version explanation — MGA. https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/laws/statutes","Exact pinpoint, version, effective status, and read limitation":"January/October text and session-enactment explanation read. Establishes why the 2026RS snapshot alone is insufficient evidence of October currentness."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S014","urls":["https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml","https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S014","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Debt Management Services industry page — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtmgmt.shtml","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"Body, license/application links, locations instructions read. Updated May 11, 2026. Operational guidance; update date is not a legal effective date."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S015","urls":["https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml","https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S015","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Debt Settlement Services Providers — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlement.shtml","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"Body, registration requirements and application links read. Updated August 5, 2024. Supports procedure, not exemption or provider-specific status."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S016","urls":["https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml","https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S016","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Debt Management Services consumer guidance — OFR. https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtmgmtserv.shtml","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"“Your Protection” and cancellation/restriction passages read. Confirms initial one-time $50 and $8/$40 monthly figures. No legal effective date inferred."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S017","urls":["https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml","https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S017","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"License/registration search instructions — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licsearch.shtml","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"Actual body and DMP/DSS lookup routing read. Instructions verified; no named-provider result obtained."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S018","urls":["https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf","https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S018","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"DMP new-application checklist — NMLS, linked by OFR. https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Management-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"Not read: redirected to generic knowledge-center home, zero readable checklist lines. Current detailed checklist held."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S019","urls":["https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf","https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S019","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"DSS new-application checklist — NMLS, linked by OFR. https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Debt_Settlement_Services_Provider_Registration-Company-New_App-Checklist.pdf","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"Not read: same redirect/blank result. Exact current NMLS processing charge not verified."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S020","urls":["https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S020","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"NMLS Consumer Access. https://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"Failed retrieval / 404 in this tool. Does not establish the service itself is unavailable to everyone. No status record read."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S021","urls":["https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml","https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S021","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Prepare for Renewal of Your Maryland License or Registration — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-prepare-for-renewal-of-your-maryland-license-or-registration.shtml","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"October 20, 2026; opening, “General Reminders,” NMLS approved-status and automatic-renewal paragraphs read. Later direct retry failed, but previously retrieved body was successfully reopened."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S022","urls":["https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml","https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S022","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Application and Licensing Fees — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/licfees.shtml","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"DMP/DSS tables and footer read. Updated October 24, 2016; historical/superseded amounts, not current controlling fee evidence."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S023","urls":["https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf","https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S023","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Debt Settlement NMLS Transition FAQs — OFR. https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/debtsettlementtransitionfaqs.pdf","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"July 2019, pp.1–2 registration term/fee transition read. Historical NMLS fee not carried forward as current."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S027","urls":["https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf","https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S027","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Maryland Debt Settlement Services Study — state study. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/consumers/debtsettlementstudy.pdf","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"December 2010 cover and printed p.11, PDF index13, visually read. The inspected 15% passage concerns Illinois. Entire 96-page report not read; historical comparative material only."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S028","urls":["https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml","https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S028","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Credit Services Businesses industry page — OFR. https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditserv.shtml","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"Full body read; September 16, 2026 update, application/location instructions, and citations to Brown/CashCall. Guidance does not replace statute."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S029","urls":["https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml","https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S029","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Credit Services Businesses FAQ — OFR. https://labor.maryland.gov/finance/industry/creditservfaq.shtml","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"Particularly Q7–11, remote activity, indirect compensation, exclusions, and other-license overlap. Read; September 16, 2026 guidance, not an individual licensing determination."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S030","urls":["https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf","https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S030","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"CSB new-application checklist — NMLS, linked by OFR. https://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/slr/PublishedStateDocuments/MD_Credit_Services_Business-Company-New-App-Checklist.pdf","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"Not read: generic-home redirect with zero readable checklist text."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S034","urls":["https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business","https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S034","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"Debt Relief Services & the TSR: Guide for Business — FTC staff. https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/debt-relief-services-telemarketing-sales-rule-guide-business","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"“Collecting Fees,” examples12–13, “Requiring a Dedicated Account,” and scope passages read. July 2010, nonbinding staff guidance. Used only where consistent with current S033; old recordkeeping duration not adopted."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"},{"source_id":"S_MD-P1-S035","urls":["https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml","https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml?utm_source=chatgpt.com"],"researcher_record":{"Source ID":"S_MD-P1-S035","Title / issuer and direct literal URL":"2026 Licensee Assessment advisory — OFR. https://www.labor.maryland.gov/finance/advisories/advisory-ind-2026licenseeassessment.shtml","Pinpoint, status, and actual check result":"May 11, 2026; assessment basis, notices, and year-specific determination paragraphs read. Provider assessment, not a consumer-fee adjustment."},"coordinator_verification_status":"not_yet_checked"}],"coverage":[{"topic":"DSS/DMP definitions; principal reduction versus concessions; custody boundary","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"DSS/DMP definitions; principal reduction versus concessions; custody boundary","Status":"Answered, with factual application limits","Claims":"C002–C005","Exact remaining evidence/action":"For a concrete offering, map provider/agent/account control, representations, and payments per debt."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Consumer/business/agricultural purpose and remote nexus","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Consumer/business/agricultural purpose and remote nexus","Status":"Answered","Claims":"C002–C003,C006,C010","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Apply definitions to actual debtor and purpose; do not assume every business-related individual debt is excluded."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Authorization and statutory exclusions","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Authorization and statutory exclusions","Status":"Answered at statutory level","Claims":"C006–C011","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Verify legal entity, actual professional/institutional activity, and each claimed exclusion."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Current consumer fee amounts/methods; indexing","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Current consumer fee amounts/methods; indexing","Status":"Answered for verified structures","Claims":"C013–C027,C038","Exact remaining evidence/action":"No CPI extrapolation needed or justified. Exempt-professional fee regimes remain separate."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"State/federal earning and payment timing","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"State/federal earning and payment timing","Status":"Answered in core; partial at identified edges","Claims":"C024–C029,C040","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Locate controlling interpretation of state-only §1010(c)(3), unsettled-debt acceleration, and failed installment settlement accrual/refunds."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Public application route and current operational instructions","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Public application route and current operational instructions","Status":"Partial","Claims":"C030–C035","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Recover actual current NMLS DMP/DSS/CSB checklists through a functioning public route; verify current NMLS fee and version dates. No filing/contact is authorized here."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Named-provider current status","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Named-provider current status","Status":"Unresolved / not established","Claims":"C033","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Obtain a readable NMLS Consumer Access record for a specified entity/identifier, including Maryland authority type and current status. Marketing evidence is insufficient."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Creditor count, partial months, later enrollment after paid counseling","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Creditor count, partial months, later enrollment after paid counseling","Status":"Unresolved","Claims":"C014,C016,C040","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Find controlling OFR interpretation or Maryland decision addressing nonparticipants/paid-off creditors, proration, and credit/refund treatment on later DMP enrollment."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Ordinary cancellation and earned-fee accounting","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Ordinary cancellation and earned-fee accounting","Status":"Partial","Claims":"C017–C018,C026,C040","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Review actual contract and controlling general-law treatment; distinguish earned service fees from unexpended creditor funds."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Self-creditor and mixed DSS/CSB models","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Self-creditor and mixed DSS/CSB models","Status":"Partial","Claims":"C008–C010,C027","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Determine exact contractual promise, payor/compensation, debt purpose, deferral terms, and statutory exclusions before assigning fee permission."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Historical tables, failed proposed cap, sunset, nonprofit change","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Historical tables, failed proposed cap, sunset, nonprofit change","Status":"Answered","Claims":"C036–C039","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Preserve historical labels; do not import old/model/other-state numbers into current cells."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Complete agreement, funds, bonding, accounting, and remedies","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Complete agreement, funds, bonding, accounting, and remedies","Status":"Open—later required pass","Claims":"Limited C011–C012,C017–C020,C025–C026","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Read all operative duties, bond amounts/triggers/claims, accounting and contract requirements, enforcement and private remedies together. Current discussion resolves only access/fee dependencies."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"},{"topic":"Full collection, litigation, limitations, property exemptions, secured debt, sector rules, local/tribal issues, contract law, and case-law coverage","researcher_record":{"Scope item":"Full collection, litigation, limitations, property exemptions, secured debt, sector rules, local/tribal issues, contract law, and case-law coverage","Status":"Open—excluded from completion of this component","Claims":"None accepted by implication","Exact remaining evidence/action":"Separate primary-source investigations remain required. Student-loan and mortgage disclosures encountered here do not complete those sector passes."},"coordinator_acceptance":"scope_row_reviewed_material_holds_remain_no_state_acceptance","coordinator_review":"[internal evidence reference]"}],"annotations":{},"corrections":[],"resolved_corrections":[],"review_history":[]}