Md. consumer advocates push for new debt collection laws

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Jailing a person for an unpaid debt has been illegal for almost two centuries in the United States.

But in Maryland, a roundabout court procedure has seen hundreds of people every year jailed for essentially just that: owing money.

In debt collection cases, a creditor can file a judgment — a claim that a debt is owed — to compel a debtor to appear in court to answer questions about their assets. Many of these cases result in garnishment — the legal collection of a portion of a debtor’s wages, property or bank accounts to pay back a debt.

In 2016, more than 76,000 debt collection cases resulted in garnishment statewide, according to a comprehensive report published last June by the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition.

About two-thirds of debtors saw their wages garnished; the rest had some sort of property garnished, the report found.

Several hundred body attachments — the term for an arrest warrant for an individual who fails to appear in court — are issued each year, and about 20% of all debt collection cases result in an arrest.

In Baltimore County, more than 10,000 residents saw their wages garnished in 2016, the most in the state. The four most populous jurisdictions in the state, Montgomery, Prince George’s and Baltimore counties, and Baltimore City — about 57% of Maryland’s 6 million residents — account for more than 70% of all garnishment cases.

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