Terms Used In Maryland Code, FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 12-1013

  • Guarantor: A party who agrees to be responsible for the payment of another party's debts should that party default. Source: OCC
  • Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(a) An advertisement for debt settlement services shall include clearly and conspicuously a disclosure that, to the extent that any aspect of the debt settlement services relies on or results in the consumer’s failure to make timely payments to the consumer’s creditors or debt collectors, the use of the debt settlement services:

(1) Will likely adversely affect the consumer’s creditworthiness;

(2) May result in the consumer being subject to collections or being sued by creditors or debt collectors; and

(3) May increase the amount of money the consumer owes due to the accrual of fees and interest by creditors or debt collectors.

(b) An advertisement for debt settlement services for student education loan debt relief shall include clearly and conspicuously a disclosure in substantially the following form:

“(Name of company) is a private company, and is not affiliated with the United States Department of Education or any other academic entity or governmental agency. (Name of company) is not a lender, guarantor, or servicer of federal student loans. You can apply for consolidation and other repayment plans without paid assistance through the United States Department of Education. More information is available on the Department’s website or through your federal student loan servicer. You can find out who your servicer is through the United States Department of Education.”.