Consumer Complaints and Inquiries - Financial Regulation

NOTICE: Our Office cannot give legal advice regarding a foreclosure or court matter. Please consult a Legal Assistance or Financial Counseling agency.

How to Submit a Complaint

First, contact the financial service provider to try to resolve the issue. If that is unsuccessful or if they are unresponsive, please follow the instructions below to submit a complaint to our Office.

1. Confirm that the subject of your complaint is regulated by our Office.
   • If your complaint is about a bank or credit union, see the Directory of Maryland-Chartered Financial Institutions to confirm that the bank or credit union is supervised by our Office. If the bank or credit union is not on our list, see Complaints About Banks or Credit Unions for further assistance.
   • If your complaint is about another type of financial service provider, see Industries and Activities Regulated by the Office to confirm that we are the appropriate agency to receive your complaint.
   • If you are a small business with a complaint about a credit card merchant processing agreement, see Credit Card Merchant Processing Agreements.
   • If you are unsure whether the subject of your complaint is regulated by our Office, please contact the Consumer Services Unit for assistance, by email at CSU.Complaints@maryland.gov or by phone at 410-230-6077.
2. Complete the complaint form (or formulario de denuncia). Or, you may write a letter or email about your complaint.
   • Briefly describe your complaint by stating only the facts.
   • Briefly describe what you believe would be an acceptable resolution to your complaint.
   • Include the name of the business or individual that is the subject of your complaint, your account number, your own name and address, your daytime phone number, and your email address.
   • If you are an attorney or other consumer representative, your client must sign our complaint form and third-party authorization agreement.
   File a Complaint

   Formulario de denuncia
3. Submit your complaint and any supporting documentation.
   If you have completed the downloadable complaint form or if you are using the formulario de denuncia , you may submit your complaint to our Office via email, mail, fax, or in-person.
   • E-mail: CSU.Complaints@maryland.gov
     Remember to attach the complaint form and documentation to your email.
   • Mail: Office of Financial Regulation
     ATTN: Consumer Services Unit
     100 S. Charles Street Tower 1, Suite 5300
     Baltimore, MD 21201
     If you are mailing your complaint, include copies of supporting documents. Do not mail originals.
   • Fax: 410-333-3866
     Mark your fax to the attention of the Consumer Services Unit.
   • In-person: Appointments are available to hand-deliver documents or meet with Financial Regulation staff at our offices in Baltimore City. To schedule an appointment online, please visit the online scheduling system.
     

Complaint Investigation Process

Our consumer complaint investigations generally follow these steps:

1. Complaints are logged into our system upon receipt, and if the complaint is not subject to our Office’s jurisdiction, it will be forwarded to the financial service provider and the appropriate regulatory agency, and we will notify you of that referral. Otherwise, our Office will mail you an acknowledgement of receipt of the complaint and proceed to investigate the allegations.
2. Complaints are assigned to a Financial Examiner in the Consumer Services Unit who sends a copy of the complaint to the financial service provider for response.
3. The Examiner reviews their response, and may request additional information from you (the complainant) or the financial service provider. The Examiner continues communicating with the parties until they have obtained sufficient information to properly assess the complaint.
4. Once the Examiner concludes work on the complaint (whether by resolution, referral, or otherwise), they will mail or email you (the complainant) a closing letter notifying you of the outcome of the investigation and that our Office is closing the file on the complaint. Typically, complaint investigations are completed within 60 days.

When determining an appropriate resolution to a complaint, the Examiner considers issues of harm or potential harm to the general public as well as specific to the individual complainant. If the investigation reveals that violations of law have occurred, further action may be taken by our Office. Such actions may include requiring the reimbursement of fees, interest or other consumer restitution, and/or imposing fines or other civil penalties on the financial service provider. The complaint may also be referred to our Office’s Enforcement Unit for further investigation.

If you have questions about a financial service provider or the complaint resolution process, please contact our Office’s Consumer Services Unit by e-mail at CSU.Complaints@maryland.gov or by phone at 410-230-6077.