---
type: "Bill"
title: "Consumer Protection - Unfair, Abusive, or Deceptive Trade Practices - Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults"
description: "Consumer Protection - Unfair, Abusive, or Deceptive Trade Practices - Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults"
jurisdiction: "us/states/md"
legislature: "Maryland General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "HB 304"
citation: "Maryland HB 304 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Atterbeary", "Bartlett", "C. Watson", "Carr", "Crutchfield", "D.M. Davis", "Ebersole", "Feldmark", "Fraser-Hidalgo", "Guyton", "Henson", "Hettleman", "Hill", "K. Young", "Kelly", "Kerr", "Korman", "Lehman", "Lierman", "Lopez", "Love", "Luedtke", "Moon", "Palakovich Carr", "Pena-Melnyk", "Qi", "Queen", "R. Watson", "Shetty", "Smith", "Solomon", "Stewart", "Terrasa", "Valderrama", "W. Fisher", "Wilkins"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 15
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2020-01-20"
last_action: "2020-05-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/586f7535-f1f3-4e8f-b3ef-afabaf351fa9"
source_url: "http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Legislation/Details/hb0304?ys=2020RS&search=True"
source_hash: "0b859144fd9df69fa481e0cc8734681c12b6d009d9b65700ef756b9f3e543e22"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-md"]
---

# Maryland HB 304 (2020) — Consumer Protection - Unfair, Abusive, or Deceptive Trade Practices - Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Chapter - Consumer Protection - Unfair, Abusive, or Deceptive Trade Practices - Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/Chapters_noln/CH_160_hb0304t.pdf)
2. **First - Consumer Protection - Unfair, Abusive, or Deceptive Trade Practices - Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/hb/hb0304f.pdf)
3. **Third - Consumer Protection - Unfair, Abusive, or Deceptive Trade Practices - Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults** (committee substitute) — [source](http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/2020RS/bills/hb/hb0304t.pdf)

## Votes

- On Third Reading — **131–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Atterbeary — primary (person)
- Bartlett — primary (person)
- C. Watson — primary (person)
- Carr — primary (person)
- Crutchfield — primary (person)
- D.M. Davis — primary (person)
- Ebersole — primary (person)
- Feldmark — primary (person)
- Fraser-Hidalgo — primary (person)
- Guyton — primary (person)
- Henson — primary (person)
- Hettleman — primary (person)
- Hill — primary (person)
- K. Young — primary (person)
- Kelly — primary (person)
- Kerr — primary (person)
- Korman — primary (person)
- Lehman — primary (person)
- Lierman — primary (person)
- Lopez — primary (person)
- Love — primary (person)
- Luedtke — primary (person)
- Moon — primary (person)
- Palakovich Carr — primary (person)
- Pena-Melnyk — primary (person)
- Qi — primary (person)
- Queen — primary (person)
- R. Watson — primary (person)
- Shetty — primary (person)
- Smith — primary (person)
- Solomon — primary (person)
- Stewart — primary (person)
- Terrasa — primary (person)
- Valderrama — primary (person)
- W. Fisher — primary (person)
- Wilkins — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2020-01-20** First Reading Economic Matters and Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-21** Hearing 2/04 at 1:00 p.m. (Judiciary)
- **2020-01-22** Hearing canceled (Judiciary)
- **2020-01-24** Hearing 2/12 at 1:00 p.m. (Economic Matters) and Hearing canceled (Judiciary)
- **2020-03-14** Favorable Report by Economic Matters `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-14** Favorable Adopted Second Reading Passed `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-15** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-03-16** Referred Finance `referral-committee`
- **2020-03-16** Hearing 3/17 at 1:00 p.m.
- **2020-03-18** Favorable Report by Finance `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-18** Favorable Adopted `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2020-03-18** Second Reading Passed
- **2020-03-18** Third Reading Passed `passage`
- **2020-03-18** Returned Passed
- **2020-05-08** Enacted under Article II, Section 17(c) of the Maryland Constitution - Chapter 160 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/586f7535-f1f3-4e8f-b3ef-afabaf351fa9`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Maryland legislature records).