Maryland 2026 Session Status: Introduced 4 D cosponsors

HB1198 — Civil Actions - Coerced Debt - Debtor Protections

Last action — Hearing (Primary, House of Origin)

  1. 1
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House of Delegates
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Introduced February 11, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee referral and hearing.

Odds of enactment

Low chance

Based on the sponsor, cosponsors, and committee posture, this bill has a low chance of becoming law.

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A statistical estimate from our own model of past outcomes — an insight, not a guarantee. Policymaking is volatile.

Prognosis

Not enough signal yet

Not enough signal yet to read this bill's trajectory — we surface a likelihood only once there's real movement (stage, sponsorship, committee, or votes) to point to.

Based on stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes, and cross-state momentum — a description of the observable signals, not a prediction.

Summary

Providing that a debtor may provide certain notice to a creditor and request that the creditor cease debt collection activity relating to a coerced debt; authorizing a debtor, after providing a creditor with certain notice, to bring an action against the creditor seeking certain relief; authorizing a debtor to bring a certain action against a certain individual; and establishing a certain affirmative defense.

Bill Text

We don't have the full text on file for this bill yet.

Read HB1198 on the official Maryland source →

Action History

  1. Hearing (Primary, House of Origin)

  2. First Reading (House of Origin)

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 3 co-sponsors · 184 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (3)

Not signed on (184)

184 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 184 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

finance housing civil-rights labor
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HB1198 do?
Providing that a debtor may provide certain notice to a creditor and request that the creditor cease debt collection activity relating to a coerced debt; authorizing a debtor, after providing a creditor with certain notice, to bring an action against the creditor seeking certain relief; authorizing a debtor to bring a certain action against a certain individual; and establishing a certain affirmative defense.
Who sponsors HB1198?
HB1198 is sponsored by Delegate Lesley J. Lopez (Democrat), Delegate Lorig Charkoudian (Democrat), Delegate Elizabeth Embry (Democrat), and Delegate Emily Shetty (Democrat).
What is the current status of HB1198?
This bill has been introduced in the House of Delegates. Introduced February 11, 2026. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HB1198?
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Last checked for changes 1 day ago · updated continuously

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