A. [§ 12.2] Consumer Protection Act—Generally

• Jurisdiction: Maryland

A. [§ 12.2] Consumer Protection Act—Generally

Although most consumer protection suits are instituted by the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, a private cause of action exists under a wide variety of consumer protection statutes. In the Commercial Law Article, Title 12 sets forth consumer lending regulations, Title 13 contains the Consumer Protection Act ("the Act"), and Title 14 contains miscellaneous consumer protection provisions. A consumer may obtain additional relief under the Health Occupations Article, the Real Property Article, and the Transportation Article.

Enacted in 1973, the Act is the heart of Maryland consumer protection legislation. See Citaramanis v. Hallowell, 328 Md. 142, 613 A.2d 964 (1992); Consumer Prot. Div. v. Outdoor World Corp., 91 Md. App. 275, 603 A.2d 1376, cert. denied, 327 Md. 523, 610 A.2d 796 (1992). The purpose of the Act is to establish minimum standards of conduct in the marketplace to protect the consumer and restore public confidence in merchants. Md. Code Ann., Commercial Law III §§ 13-102(b), 13-103(a) (2013 & Supp. 2021) (hereinafter Com. Law I, II, or III § ___); see also Crowder v. Master Fin., Inc., 176 Md. App. 631, 655, 933 A.2d 905, 919 (2007), aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 409 Md. 51, 972 A.2d 864 (2009); Consumer Prot. Div. v. Luskin's, Inc., 120 Md. App. 1, 26, 706 A.2d 102 (1998), aff'd in part, rev'd in part on other grounds, 353 Md. 335, 726 A.2d 702 (1999); Klein v. State, 52 Md. App. 640, 452 A.2d 173 (1982), cert. denied, 295 Md. 440 (1983); Alexander v. Carrington Mortg. Servs., LLC, 23 F.4th 370, 372 (4th Cir. 2022). In enacting the statute, the "Legislature concluded that the State 'should take strong protective and preventative steps to investigate unlawful consumer practices, to assist the public in obtaining relief from these practices and to prevent these practices from occurring in Maryland.'" Andrews & Lawrence Pro. Servs., LLC v. Mills, 467 Md. 126, 150, 223 A.3d 947, 961 (2020) (citation omitted).

Section 13-408 provides the basis for a private action for damages under the Consumer Protection Act. Williams v. Ewrit Filings, LLC, 253 Md. App. 545, 552, 268 A.3d 960, 964, cert. denied sub nom. Writ Filings v. Williams, 478 Md. 518, 275 A.3d 349 (2022).

In Crowder, the Court of Special Appeals differentiated § 13-408 from § 12-413 of the Secondary Mortgage Loan Law, noting that the statutory remedies the sections provide are "simply not the same," and that the remedy under the Consumer Protection Act "is limited to a consumer's 'injury or loss sustained . . . as a result of a practice prohibited by [the CPA].'" 176 Md. App. at 656-57, 933 A.2d at 920; see also Lloyd v. General Motors Corp., 397 Md. 108, 143, 916 A.2d 257, 277 (2007) (private party suing under Consumer Protection Act must establish "actual injury or loss"). The Court of Appeals reiterated that to prevail in an action pursuant to 13-408, the plaintiff "must prove 'actual injury or loss[,]" in Wheeling v. Selene Fin. LP, 473 Md. 356, 388, 250 A.3d 197, 216 (2021).

In Wheeling, the Court of Appeals rejected the Court of Special Appeals' conclusion that the "MCPA requires more in order for a complaint to survive a motion to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action." Id. at 372 (quoting Wheeling v. Selene Fin. LP, 246 Md. App. 255, 286, 228 A.3d 791, 809, cert. granted, 471 Md. 72, 238 A.3d 269 (2020), and aff'd in part, rev'd in part, 473 Md. 356, 250 A.3d 197 (2021)). It reasoned that "because 'actual loss or injury' is a necessary element to bring a private cause of action under the MCPA, it must be pleaded in the same fashion as would be required in any other cause of action where the plaintiff...