For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 18, 2026
The Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) will host a community forum on Consumer Protection from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday, March 5, at the Rockville Memorial Library, located at 21 Maryland Ave.
The in-person event is designed to bring the community together for a facilitated, interactive discussion that prioritizes community dialogue and hearing directly from residents about consumer concerns impacting Montgomery County.
“We want to hear what residents are seeing, whether it’s scams, unfair contracts, housing issues, or deceptive business practices, so we can respond quickly and prevent harm before it spreads,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “Consumer protection works best when government listens first. Too often, people don’t speak up until they’ve already lost money or run into a wall trying to resolve a problem. When residents share what they’re dealing with, it helps us strengthen enforcement, improve education, and hold bad actors accountable. I encourage anyone who has concerns or ideas to join the conversation.”
Community input gathered during the forum will help OCP identify emerging issues and shape future consumer education, outreach, and policy.
“Strong consumer protection is built on understanding the challenges residents are facing and addressing concerns early,” said OCP Director Eric Friedman. “This forum, held during National Consumer Protection Week, is an important opportunity for us to hear directly from the community and use that input to strengthen prevention efforts and improve the services and programs we provide across Montgomery County.”
Participants can expect:
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- A brief overview of what consumer protection is and why it matters to Montgomery County residents.
- Facilitated large and small group discussions focused on consumer concerns impacting the community.
- Opportunities to share experiences with consumer issues, barriers encountered when concerns arise, and trends observed across the County.
- A reflection on key themes shared by participants and a look at next steps for the Office of Consumer Protection.
Space is limited, and advance registration is required by Monday, March 2. Click here to register.
For questions about the forum, email Maurice Valentine at [email protected] or call 240-777-3740.
For general consumer protection inquiries, residents can call 240-777-3636 or visit the OCP website to file a consumer complaint. The Office of Consumer Protection is located at 100 Maryland Ave., Suite 3600, in Rockville. Walk-in hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.
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Release ID: 26-053
Media Contact: Brittany Clingerman 240-777-3732
Categories: Consumer
Read the original article at mcgov
If the County really wants to help the first thing that they need to do is either do away with HOA’s or monitor them better. They need to check all financial records on a yearly basis to protect the members of the HOA from any malfeasance or financial wrongdoing by the Board or Management and check for possible Nepotism and The Board and Management not taking proper corrective action on necessary repairs and doing them in a timely fashion. Unfortunately, the members of many HOA’s do not have the skills necessary to combat the Board and insist that work be done. How can and should the County check and investigate these HOA’s are they’re taking people’s money (sometimes a little other times a lot) and are they even managing it fairly and correctly? Board members lie about the age of buildings so not to do age related inspections and repairs just to save a penny. Our Condos do not even have proper hot water and there are water leaks all the time, and rats and mice, parking lots need to be repaired and striped and curbs need to be painted, elevators are in need of repair and windows leak and are extremely drafty after over 40 years! Yet they are supporting the Presidents’ wife in redecorating the lobbies and community because she wants something to do and says it is to be done every 7 years. Shouldn’t repairs come before new paint, carpet and furniture? Please help!!