Maryland Robocall Law: Stop the Spam Calls Act and the Maryland TCPA

Two laws, two different jobs

Marylanders have an unusual setup. One statute copies the federal rules into state law and adds a damages remedy. The other, newer statute adds rules the federal law does not have. You may be able to use both.

The Maryland TCPA: federal rules, state remedy

Section 14-3201 says a person may not violate the federal Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act as implemented in the Telemarketing Sales Rule, or the federal TCPA as implemented in the FCC’s telemarketing rules. So a sales call to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry, or a prerecorded sales call without consent, breaks Maryland law too.

The remedy is written generously. An affected individual may recover reasonable attorney fees and damages equal to the greater of $500 for each violation or actual damages (14-3202(b)). “Each prohibited telephone solicitation and each prohibited practice during a telephone solicitation is a separate violation” (14-3202(c)). One call that is both made to a registered number and spoofs caller ID can count twice. This statute has no trebling clause.

The state claim also reaches violations of the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, not only the TCPA. That widens the set of rules a Maryland consumer can point to.

The Stop the Spam Calls Act of 2023

SB 90 and its House twin HB 37 became Chapters 413 and 414 of 2023 and took effect January 1, 2024. The rules apply to “telephone solicitation,” a term borrowed from Public Utilities Article 8-205: an organized campaign to call Maryland residents to sell, offer a prize, or run certain sales surveys.

• Consent for automated calls. Without the called party’s prior express written consent, no one may make a solicitation that uses “an automated system for the selection or dialing of telephone numbers” or plays a recorded message when the call connects (14-4502(a)(3)). The consent must be signed, name the phone number, and say you do not have to agree to buy anything. It may cover calls, texts, or voicemails.
• Hours. No solicitation between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. in your time zone (14-4502(c)(1)).
• Frequency. No more than three calls to the same person in 24 hours on the same subject, “regardless of the telephone numbers used” (14-4502(c)(2)).
• Caller ID. Callers must send their originating number and, when the carrier provides it, their name. They may not block that information or display a different number to hide who they are (14-4502(b)).
• Voice alteration. Intentionally altering a caller’s voice to defraud or confuse is barred (14-4502(c)(3)).
• Area code presumption. A call to a Maryland area code is presumed to reach a Maryland resident (14-4503(b)).

Exemptions in 14-4502(a)(1) include isolated transactions, certain registered nonprofits calling for religious, charitable, political, or educational purposes, business-to-business sales by firms operating at least three years under the same name, and a single call answering your own inquiry. HB 1228 of 2024 added public opinion research.

The 2024 fix that created a clear lawsuit right

As first passed, the Spam Calls Act made violations an unfair or deceptive trade practice, and nothing more. A consumer had to show actual injury or loss under Com. Law 13-408. The legislature changed that quickly. HB 1228 (Chapter 214 of 2024), an emergency bill effective when the governor approved it on April 25, 2024, added 14-4503(a)(2):

A called party who is aggrieved may sue “in accordance with § 13-408” to stop the violations and recover “damages up to $500 or actual damages, whichever is greater.” If the court finds the violation willful or knowing, it may award up to three times that amount.

Notice the word “up to.” Florida and Oklahoma give a flat $500. Maryland’s text leaves room for a court to award less. The statute also does not say whether the amount is per call or per case. The same bill made the Act’s protections impossible to waive in a contract, except in the settlement of a dispute (14-4503(d)). We found no court decision yet interpreting either Maryland statute’s damages language.

Stacking Maryland claims with the federal TCPA

Because the Maryland TCPA imports the federal rules, the same call can support a federal TCPA claim ($500 per violation, up to $1,500 if willful or knowing), a Maryland TCPA claim ($500 per violation plus fees), and a Spam Calls Act claim if one of its extra rules was broken. A court may not let you recover twice for the same harm, but the fee-shifting in 14-3202 is a real advantage the federal statute lacks. The federal limitations period is four years; see our TCPA deadline guide.

Maryland does not keep its own do not call list

The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division sends Marylanders to the National Do Not Call Registry at donotcall.gov or 1-888-382-1222. Registration is free and stays until your number is disconnected or you remove it. Complaints about telemarketers go to the Consumer Protection Division through its online complaint page or the hotline at 410-528-8662.

On enforcement, Attorney General Anthony Brown announced phase two of “Operation Robocall Roundup” on December 3, 2025. The multistate task force directed four large carriers, Inteliquent, Bandwidth, Lumen, and Peerless, to stop carrying suspected illegal robocalls. His office reported that phase one had led 13 providers to be removed from the FCC’s Robocall Mitigation Database.

What to do next if you are in Maryland

Write down each call’s time. A call at 8:15 p.m. is legal under federal law but not under the Spam Calls Act. Count calls per day on the same pitch, because a fourth call is its own violation. If a recording played, note whether you ever signed anything agreeing to it. Our call log template is built for this. If you are on the federal registry and still get sales calls, read how the federal do not call rule works, since Maryland’s TCPA piggybacks on it. The state law hub compares Maryland with its neighbors.