MD HB392

Fair housing testers working for federal, state, or local government programs, or qualified nonprofit civil rights organizations, may lawfully record oral communications without consent of all parties when gathering evidence of fair housing violations.

Qualifying nonprofit organizations must be federally recognized fair housing organizations under 24 C.F.R. § 125.103, or Maryland-incorporated tax-exempt civil rights organizations with at least 2 years of experience in complaint intake, investigation, and fair housing testing or enforcement.

The tester must be a party to the communication being recorded, and the recording must be made specifically to obtain evidence of fair housing law violations.

Intercepted communications may only be used for enforcing federal, state, or local fair housing laws and are otherwise inadmissible in courts, grand juries, or other state proceedings.

Effective date: October 1, 2025.