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Registration relief is not relief from every duty
Business Regulation section 14-201 includes express/implied, oral/written arrangements with a substantially prescribed marketing plan/system, substantial brand association and a direct or indirect fee, including area franchises. Goods/services payments can count, subject to specified wholesale, fair-market-value and other exclusions.
Section 14-214 requires registration before covered offers, including advertising, or sales unless excluded or exempt. COMAR 02.02.08.10 has particular exemption routes. For D–G, absent a contrary order, deliver the offering circular and proposed agreements at the earlier of the first personal meeting or ten business days before signing/payment; specified routes also have notice conditions.
The regulation uses older Uniform Franchise Offering Circular terminology. A newer Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) name does not remove its earlier meeting trigger. The independent federal period must also be met. Moving a Belgian prospect’s payment later would not remove an applicable first-meeting condition.
If registration is required, these are different events
Use the actual route and order conditions; these are not one universal timetable.
| Event | Stated requirement |
|---|---|
| Effectiveness: section 14-218 | Absent a stop order, noon on the thirtieth business day after the application or last amendment filing, or earlier Commissioner-set time. A filing receipt is not itself effectiveness. |
| Renewal: section 14-219 | Normally the first-anniversary regime, with materials at least 15 business days before expiry, subject to order and other conditions. |
| Material change: section 14-220 | Prompt amendment; if approved, the Commissioner sets its effective date. No fixed 30-day allowance is supplied. |
| Advertising: COMAR .09 | For an offering subject to registration, submit covered advertising at least five days before anticipated initial use. |
Check sale-conditioned waivers separately
Section 14-226 bars requiring specified release, assignment, novation, waiver or estoppel arrangements relieving a person of statutory liability as a condition of sale. These can surrender, transfer, replace or prevent assertion of rights. The provision does not decide every later settlement, termination or choice-of-law issue.
Scope
- Exact exemption, fee exclusions, orders and current agency instructions need application to the offer. The legacy meeting trigger is preserved; the waiver rule is limited to its stated sale condition.
Next step
Before a personal sales meeting, identify the precise exemption or effective registration route and the documents and notice it requires.
Sources & review notes
Maryland General Assembly / Division of State Documents
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · COMAR 02.02.08.09; .10
A copy of each advertisement to be used by or on behalf of a franchisor
Narrow cited passages reviewed. This is not a complete jurisdictional survey.
Maryland General Assembly / Division of State Documents
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Business Regulation 14-214(a)
a person must register the offer of a franchise with the Commissioner before the person offers to sell
Narrow cited passages reviewed. This is not a complete jurisdictional survey.
Maryland General Assembly
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Complete 14-201
a purchaser is granted the right to engage in the business
Read complete definition section including area franchise and all fee exclusions.
Maryland General Assembly
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Complete 14-218
noon on the 30th business day
Read complete section: automatic effectiveness conditioned on no stop order and date measured from application or last amendment; commissioner can set earlier time.
Maryland General Assembly
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Complete 14-219
at least 15 business days before
Read complete section: anniversary term, possible different term/order, filing condition and renewal effectiveness. Fee and exception are not generalized to other filings.
Maryland General Assembly
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Complete 14-220
file promptly with the Commissioner
Read complete section: prompt application, verification, fee and commissioner-set effective date of approved amendment; no invented 30-day amendment period.
Maryland General Assembly
Passage, dates and research notes
primary · Complete 14-226
As a condition of the sale of a franchise
Read complete section. It is a condition-of-sale restriction, not a decision invalidating every later dispute settlement or every contractual waiver.
Detailed rule records (6)
Section 14-214 requires registration before offering through advertisement or otherwise, or selling in the state, subject to its stated exclusions and exemptions.
Laws - Statute TextCOMAR 02.02.08.10 describes specified exemptions with notice conditions and a separate disclosure rule. For exemptions in D–G, absent a contrary order, disclosure and proposed agreements are due at the earlier of the first personal meeting or ten business days before signing/payment.
Chapter 08 Franchise Registration and Disclosure | Library of Maryland RegulationsCOMAR 02.02.08.09 requires covered franchise advertising submitted at least five days before anticipated initial use.
Chapter 08 Franchise Registration and Disclosure | Library of Maryland RegulationsApply 14-201’s model/symbol/fee elements, area-franchise inclusion and actual payment exclusions.
Maryland Business Regulation 14-201 — definitionsApply 14-218’s conditional 30th-business-day effectiveness,14-219’s anniversary/15-business-day renewal conditions and 14-220’s prompt material-change/approved-amendment effective-date requirements.
Maryland Business Regulation 14-218 — registration effectiveness Maryland Business Regulation 14-219 — renewal Maryland Business Regulation 14-220 — material changes14-226 prohibits the stated prospective-franchisee release/waiver arrangements as a condition of sale where they relieve liability under the subtitle.
Maryland Business Regulation 14-226 — sale-conditioned releasesKeep this reading in your learning library.
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