What Maryland's mini-TCPA means for your campaigns

What HB-37 requires

Maryland's HB-37 took effect on January 1, 2024. It follows the same model as Florida's mini-TCPA: sales calls to Maryland phone numbers are limited to three per number within any 24-hour window, and all calling must occur between 8 am and 8 pm local Maryland time. The structure is intentionally close to Florida's law, which means the VICIdial configuration steps are nearly identical.

Like Florida, Maryland uses an area-code presumption to determine residency. If the phone number carries a Maryland area code (240, 301, 410, 443, or 667), the law presumes the contact is a Maryland resident and the restrictions apply. You cannot rely on a mailing address or CRM field to opt out of the rule.

Configuring the 24-hour count limit for Maryland

flowchart LR
  A[Number enters hopper] --> B{Maryland area code?}
  B -- Yes --> C{Called 3+ times in last 24 hrs?}
  C -- Yes --> D[Hold out of dialing]
  C -- No --> E[Dial permitted]
  B -- No --> F[Apply other campaign rules]
  F --> E

VICIdial's 24-Hour Called Count Limit Override field is where you enforce this. Add the entry "state => USA,MD,3" to the override table inside your campaign's Call Count Limits section. The Dialer pacing engine checks this table every time a number is pulled into the Hopper, so no calls slip through once the row is saved.

If you already have a Florida entry ("state => USA,FL,3"), adding Maryland is a single additional row. Both entries coexist in the same table and fire independently based on the number's area code.

Calling hours enforcement

The 8 am–8 pm window is handled by VICIdial's Call times settings, not the count-limit table. Maryland observes Eastern Time, so you need a call-times rule scoped to the Eastern zone. If your server runs in a different timezone, the offset matters: a server set to UTC will reach 8 am Eastern at 12:00 UTC in winter and 13:00 UTC in summer. Misconfiguring the offset is a common source of compliance violations.

What counts as a sales call under HB-37

HB-37 covers telemarketing and solicitation calls. If your campaign involves any attempt to sell, promote, or solicit, the law applies. Purely informational calls — appointment reminders, service notifications — may fall outside the definition, but the safer approach is to apply the 3-call cap broadly and seek legal counsel on specific exemptions.

Multi-state setup tip

Maryland, Florida, Oklahoma, and Oregon all share the 3-calls-in-24-hours structure. A single campaign that dials all four states needs four override rows. The Lead filter system can also help you pre-segment lists by state before they enter the Campaign, giving you granular visibility into which contacts are subject to which rules.

For the full context on state calling rules and how they interact with federal regulations, read the VICIdial compliance overview. To see how Florida's version of the same law works, visit Florida's three-calls-in-24-hours rule.

Want managed hosting with state call-count rules pre-configured? See pricing and get started quickly.