Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Maryland

Rules of Evidence 3-421

I have filed a Small Claims suit in Maryland against an out-of-state collection agency. The collectiona agency has retained local counsel. The counsel sent a list of Interrogatories to me citing Maryland Rule 3-421. According to the Small Claims filing, to be tried in Small claims court the claimm ust meet the following requirements:

a) Your claim is for $5,000 or less; and,

b) Your claim is for money only, not the return of property or performance of a service; and,

c) You are not planning to request any discovery such as interrogatories (written questions that the other side must answer under oath in writing, before trial).

Im not sure how to proceed because the rules contradict each other. Help?


Asked on 4/08/04, 9:10 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Worsham Michael C. Worsham, Esq.

Re: Rules of Evidence 3-421

There is no conflict in the rules. The conflict is in what the Defendant is trying to do - serve Interrogatories on you - with the rules - which do not allow for Interrogatories in a small claims case. Collectors may raise a bona fide error defense, in which case it may be beneficial to you to agree with the other side to both serve Interrogatories on each other, so you can find out their defenses.

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Answered on 4/08/04, 10:52 am


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