Maryland restricts the hours during which businesses may make covered telephone solicitations. State law also limits how many times a caller may contact the same person about one subject within a 24-hour period.
These protections help residents recognize potentially unlawful calling patterns.
Telephone solicitations can become particularly disruptive when they arrive early in the morning, late at night, or repeatedly throughout the day.
Maryland's Stop the Spam Calls Act addresses both timing and frequency.
When telemarketers may call Maryland residents
Under Maryland Commercial Law § 14-4502, covered telephone solicitations are prohibited between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
The restriction uses the recipient's time zone.
This matters when a company operates from another state.
A telemarketing business located in a different time zone must account for the recipient's local time when making covered solicitations.
For example, a Maryland resident receiving a covered sales call at 8:20 p.m. may have grounds to question whether the caller complied with state law.
The call's purpose and applicable exemptions must still be considered.
How Maryland limits repeated calls
The statute also prohibits more than three covered telephone solicitations to the same person during a 24-hour period concerning the same subject.
The restriction applies regardless of the telephone numbers used to place those calls.
A business therefore cannot necessarily avoid the frequency restriction by switching between multiple outgoing numbers.
Imagine a resident receives four calls about the same home improvement offer within one day.
If those communications qualify as covered telephone solicitations and no exemption applies, the fourth call may violate Maryland's frequency rule.
Consumers should preserve the call history to establish the timing and subject matter.
Local insight: Maryland's evening cutoff is earlier than the federal rule
Federal telemarketing rules generally prohibit covered telephone solicitations before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time.
Maryland establishes an 8 p.m. cutoff for covered telephone solicitations.
This one-hour difference can matter when determining which law applies.
A call made between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. may raise an issue under Maryland law even when the federal calling-hours restriction alone would not prohibit it.
The comparison does not mean every call during that hour is unlawful.
The communication must fall within the applicable statutory restrictions.
What consumers can do about repeated calls
Consumers who receive persistent solicitations should document each contact.
Useful information includes the date, time, displayed telephone number, business name, and reason for the call.
It is also helpful to record whether the consumer asked the caller to stop.
When a business repeatedly contacts a consumer, the call history may reveal a pattern that is difficult to identify from a single incident.
Consumers may also report suspected violations to the appropriate state or federal regulator.
Common questions around Maryland telemarketing hours
Can telemarketers call at 8:30 p.m. in Maryland?
Covered telephone solicitations are prohibited during the period between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m.
Can a business call four times in one day?
The law generally prohibits more than three covered calls to the same person about the same subject within 24 hours.
Do different outgoing numbers change the limit?
No. The statute expressly addresses repeated calls regardless of the numbers used.
Do these restrictions apply to every telephone conversation?
No. The rules concern covered telephone solicitations and are subject to statutory exceptions.
